Mr. Aubrecht,

I have enjoyed many of your posts over the months and found your research to be excellent and interesting. I have to question a few statements made in your September 8th blog though. First, posting five points that you "don't think anyone can argue with" is an odd assertion. What has the study of history been but a long series of differing voices sifting through facts and arguing their meaning while hoping to come closer to the truth?

And as for America being exceptional, were not observations of the early Republic by an outside voice (de Tocqueville) arguing it so? And does believing America to be exceptional mean that there have not been and are not other exceptional societies? Was Rome not exceptional, or ancient Greece, or ancient China, or England? One can believe in America being exceptional and unique and even, dare I say it, good- without saying that others are bad. Of course Americans believe their country to be exceptional, when any country stops believing that they begin a sharp decline.

That is not to say that America is always right or always lives up to it's own vision of itself just as most people have failed at times to live up to their own ideals but to abandon your ideals is to embrace destruction. So to your 5 inarguable points:

1. America has created a revised version of its own story. This adaptation is taught to its youth and contaminates their fundamental understanding of history for the rest of their lives.

American historians have gone through many stages including one of idol building that encouraged beliefs with a mix of facts and fiction, to revisionism that demonized with a mix of the same. Most American school children have been getting very little substantial American history for the last 30 years and as a result have no idea what core beliefs and actions the country was founded on. 

2. The nation’s founding documents are revered more like divine scriptures than legal documents. This is the primary cause of never-ending controversy and misinterpretation.

The founding documents were a repository of the founding thought, debated and tested and resolved to lay out a platform on which the country could be built. As in building construction the foundation is critical to future survival of the structure. People revere that because it is a window to what the founding architects thought and why they thought it. That isn't religious but it is revered and when we fail to respect it we endanger the structure.

3. The vision of an underdog rising against tyrants has indelibly been etched in the nation's consciousness. Americans believe that their fight for independence trumps all others.

The early Americans valued the stories of Romans standing up to tyranny. Modern Americans were awed by the pictures of Tiananmen square. Americans despise tyranny anywhere. They enjoy their story of a fight against tyranny more than others because everyone likes stories about themselves. I hope other countries feel the same way about their stories.

4. Misguided and inappropriate hero-worship abounds in America. There is no distinction between the real contributions of a George Washington and the fantasy ones of a John Wayne.

Everybody in every country has and enjoys heroes. No hero is without flaws but we choose to celebrate what is heroic in people. This is not only human nature but it is beneficial as we model what we admire. If we did not look at the heroic nature of those that came before us then we would not have preserved their writings, homes, battlefields and personal effects in which case you would have nothing to write about. I would agree that there are issues with Americans recognizing the differences between movie heroes and real world accomplishments. I think this is a problem with how we get our information. Even the Civil War seems much more real to our very visual society because we have photographs of it compared to the stiff and mannered paintings of the 18th century. Our change from a reading society to a largely TV, film and internet based society for the communication of ideas makes the job of historians like yourself much harder.

5. America persists in describing itself as the freest country on earth, although by nearly every objective criterion, most European nations are more liberal and free than the United States.

America was the freest country on earth. The term liberal is no longer applicable since classical liberalism is almost the antithesis of political liberalism today. Many European nations are in some respects freer today I agree with you. In issues of personal morality they do trend towards liberty but in regulation and government involvement they trend away from liberty. I agree with you that America has not lived up to its vision of expanding liberty but isn't that where history and those documents that you think we should not revere become important? Isn't that where we should seek to emulate what we find to be heroic in our past? In short isn't that why we need history and historians? History tells us where we have been, what was good and what was bad which allows us to move forward making choices about who we are and who we want to be.

Finally sir, I would ask you to look at the motivations of those who want us to abandon that history. Our history does shape our worldview but that is not necessarily a negative thing. I love visiting other countries and I love seeing what is different in them. I like to see what works and what does not (in my opinion) and viewing that world through my American eyes. You see there are lots of exceptional people in the world and acknowledging that one is exceptional does not mean others aren't. Kind of like an exceptional country.

With sincere regards, Dan Shippey