Is America Exceptional?

Sam Lehn

Is America Exceptional?

The United States was founded on the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as stated in the Declaration of Independence. These rights, combined with the establishment of governments to guarantee those rights, contain the principles that the US was founded on. America is exceptional because it is a nation based on the rights of the people, creating a fair justice system, freedom for the individual, and a fair way to elect leadership in the government.

One might argue that the US is not exceptional. One could argue that the justice system is not always fair and the government does not always follow the justice system and due process. An example of this is the true story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a Syrian-American who, after surviving Hurricane Katrina, was captured by the US military and jailed in several different locations without being given a trial. One could argue that not all inhabitants of the US are given equal rights such as African Americans before the Civil War and Japanese-American citizens put in detention camps during WWII. One could also argue that the way of electing leaders in the US government is flawed because sometimes people are elected because of propaganda and connections. While the US is not perfect, and its principles and ideas are not reached 100% of the time, the US does strive to protect the rights of its citizens.

The justice system of the US is not perfect, however it is better than in countries such as China where people are routinely unfairly jailed by their government. An example of the mistreatment of one’s rights is in the case of Chen Guangcheng, a Chinese civil rights activist who worked on human rights issues in rural areas of China. To suppress the petition for civil rights change, the Chinese government attempted to lock Guangcheng away by convicting him for “intentionally damaging property”, and “gathering crowds to undermine traffic order”, two false convictions that put Guangcheng in jail. The US Bill of Rights states specific rights that each person is guaranteed. These rights are so much a part of the principles of the US that they are repeated as the first 10 amendments of the Constitution. The fifth, sixth and eighth amendments of the Bill of Rights pertain to the justice system and contain provisions concerning prosecution, the right to a speedy, public, and impartial trial with a defense counsel, the right to cross-examine witnesses and the right to no cruel or unusual punishments. In the US courts, people are innocent until proven guilty. Following the saying of English jurist William Blackstone, “It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death”.  By basing the justice system on the rights of the people, the US created a fair way to treat people and a way the US can strive for fairness for all. The Constitution gives people in the US the freedom to be individuals, and express their own beliefs. Not all people were given the rights stated in the Constitution at first, but this changed as time passed. After the Civil War, African Americans were given freedom as citizens through Amendments 13. Amendment 15, established in 1870, prohibiting the denial of suffrage based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. The US government took steps to promote the rights of minorities in the US. In 1954, “the Supreme Court ordered the desegregation of schools” (http://www.nola.com). Then in 1960, a 6 year old African American girl named Ruby Bridges was “escorted to and from William Frantz Elementary by deputy U.S. marshals” (http://www.nola.com) to protect her from the segregationist protesters. The road to equality is a process, and because of the rights given to the people in the US, we are able to make changes necessary to strive for the equality of all.

The elections for office in the US have created a government of officials based on the will of the people. In the US, citizens choose the leaders of government through elections so that their opinions and beliefs can be brought to where they can make a change. In this process, all citizens of the US get a say in the government, unlike in countries such as North Korea where dictators decide the fate of the nation. In North Korea, the position of ruler is passed down through heredity, giving the people no say in the government. After Kim Jong-Il, dictator of North Korea, died, his “chosen successor, his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, was in charge” (NYtimes). In the US, the Electoral College was established in the constitution to make sure the elections stayed in the hands of the public. During the Constitutional Convention, the Great Compromise was created, which established fair representation for each state in the federal government. In 1951, Amendment 22 was passed which limited the president to two elected terms, or a maximum of 10 years. These laws, based on the rights of the public, give US citizens the opportunity to play a role in the government. Although the US is not perfect, the rights it is based on give its people the ability to defend themselves, express their opinions, and have a role in government. The US is exceptional because it is based on the principles of providing its people with the ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and providing a strong government to help ensure those rights.