The Intellectual Construction of America: Exceptionalism and Identity from 1492 to 1800

by Jack P. Greene

Jack Greene explores the changing definitions of America from the time of Europe's first contact with the New World through the establishment of the American republic. Challenging historians who have argued that colonial American societies differed little from those of early modern Europe, he shows that virtually all contemporary observers emphasized the distinctiveness of the new worlds being created in America. Rarely considering the high costs paid by Amerindians and Africans in the construction of those worlds, they cited the British North American colonies as evidence that America was for free people a place of exceptional opportunities for individual betterment and was therefore fundamentally different from the Old World. Greene suggests that this concept of American societies as exceptional was a central component in their emerging identity. The success of the American Revolution helped subordinate Americans' long-standing sense of cultural inferiority to a more positive sense of collective self that sharpened and intensified the concept of American exceptionalism.

Genres: History, American History, Nonfiction

228 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Jack P. Greene is Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at The Johns Hopkins University.

Reviews

[Andrew Dionne · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative and exceptionally dense read. A helpful resource for demonstrating that American exceptionalism is not an 18th century invention, but a intellectual movement that began in the minds of Europeans in the 17th century, which focused on land, opportunity, and individuality.

[Josh G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful breakdown of American self-conception during key time periods of discovery, exploration, revolution, and expansion. Greene pulls together a variety of sources and commentators to provide a detailed picture of American self-identity through the years.