Howard Zinn: The Myth of American Exceptionalism

Image by Jagz Mario via Flickr

by Howard Zinn
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally posted June 9, 2010
June 11, 2018

Video Lectures
March 14, 2005

Running Time: 1:32:02

Americans have long embraced a notion of superiority, claims Howard Zinn. Governor Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony described establishing “a city on a hill,” to serve the world as a beacon of liberty. So far, so good. But driving this sense of destiny, says Zinn, was an assumption of divine agency—“an association between what the government does and what God approves of.” And too frequently, continues Zinn, Americans have invoked God to expand “into someone else’s territory, occupying and dealing harshly with people who resist occupation.”

Zinn offers numerous examples of how the American government has used “divine ordination” and rationales of spreading civilization and freedom to justify its most dastardly actions: the extermination of Native Americans and takeover of their land; the annexation of Texas and war with Mexico; war against the Philippines; U.S. involvement in coups in Latin America; bloody efforts to expand U.S. influence in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The battle against Communism, often bolstered by arguments of America’s divine mission in the world, was merely a convenient excuse to maintain U.S. economic and military interests in key regions.

Today, says Zinn, we have a president, who more than any before him, claims a special relationship with God. Zinn worries about an administration that deploys Christian zealotry to justify a war against terrorism, a war that in reality seems more about establishing a new beachhead in the oil-rich Middle East. He also sees great danger in Bush’s doctrines of unilateralism and pre-emptive war, which mark a great leap away from international standards of morality.

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[Same video in 7 parts.]

Howard Zinn – The Myth of American Exceptionalism 1/7 (Playlist)

Peter Pan on Jul 4, 2011

[Zinn begins at 6:15 minutes into the video.]

from the archives:

Exceptionally Innocent by David Swanson

Memorial Day Myths by David Swanson

David Swanson: How American Exceptionalism Is Exploited to Justify War + How Suzy Hansen Lost Her U.S. Exceptionalism

Capitalism Is Always At War by William T. Hathaway

David Swanson: Debunking the Myth of American Exceptionalism + The Day DC Was Bombed

The Behavior of a Rogue Nation by David Swanson

History of Capitalism in the United States: Exposing the Myth of America + Full Transcript

Am I an American Supremacist? by Adele Roof

Chris Hedges: Home Grown Hatred–Anger and Alienation in the US (2009)

Put Away The Flags by Howard Zinn

Abby Martin and Chris Hedges: Donald Trump and Christianized Fascism