Is America exceptional? If so, how so? If no, why not? (Try to reference Winthrop and/or Crèvecoeur in your response, please).

When I think about this question, I have a double reaction to it. On one hand, I agree with Crèvecoeur and Winthrop in that as a young, brand new (to the Europeans, at least) continent, America held and still holds a lot of potential and opportunity. Like Crèvecoeur, I appreciate the Puritan work ethic, the opportunities that lay in America, and the melting pot of cultures that became America. On the other hand, I cannot go as far as Winthrop and Crèvecoeur in their praise of America. They both portray America as the golden society, or the chosen land. Like I said, I think America has a lot going for it, but there is also great value in the long, rich histories of older countries. To ignore these values because of a belief that America is perfect is, I think, a serious issue. There is so much to learn from European history, and I think that America could learn from the old world’s “experience,” so to speak. Also, if a group of people does not believe they can have flaws, then they have no potential for improvement. That belief in perfection is, as I see it, a flaw in itself.