“The American invents as the Greeks sculpted and the Italians painted; it is genius.” The London Times, 1876

I saw this quote at the National Museum of Industrial History located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. My wife and I decided to visit to find out more about our country’s growth as the Industrial Revolution was taking place at a critical time during our nation’s history – its rapid growth phase from a revolutionary startup to a super power only 200 years later. That’s quite a transformation.

Countries that ruled the world had dominated during different eras in world history. England, Germany, Spain, Italy and other European countries ruled supreme during different reigns throughout history. The great Asian countries including China and Japan had their own dynasties that flourished in the past 2,000 years. These countries were formed and reformed throughout thousands of generations, upheavels, marauders, wars and world events.

America has only been around for approximately 13 generations if we start from 1776 to the present. If we want to go back to the beginning when Columbus told the world about our existence, in 1492, we can then say America has existed for about 27 generations. Of course, this is not fair since it ignores the existence and accomplishments of Native Americans. But America is defined by its huge immigrant influx; after all, that is when the country began to expand at an exponential rate.

And it is that immigrant growth that catapulted America to the top. America was a new country and it had a lot of catching up to do to try to exist on a par with the rest of the world. From the early Spaniards who started appearing in our ports to the Pilgrims and other groups seeking religious freedom to later waves of British, German, Jewish and Italian immigrants who came in huge waves of immigration.

Two main thrusts: the notion of religious freedom and hope. The main driver was attitude, not political affiliation or party preference. Eventually we began attracting people from Pakistan, India and countries from all over the globe. South America and Mexico were much closer and many more different cultures and customs began pouring into the country.

And that is one of the drivers of American Exceptionalism: the combination of customs, cultures, farming practices, knowledge, experience and engineering expertise from the incredible melting pot that accelerated our growth at a time we needed to grow up fast. As we grew, we were being challenged, mostly by the British Empire who regarded us dimly as just another colony. The Revolutionary War did not completely unite the new country as many citizens still felt loyal to the British. But we fought a long bitter war and the soaring cost of war to England was becoming larger each year (without corresponding victories to justify it), to the point that the British began to view the growing colony as a major trade partner rather than an enemy.

Enough history. The context is we grew fast and as we grew, everything we did design and build was with our future in mind. That meant we did not have to worry about old roads, buildings and connecting old towns. Everything was new and the country was thinking about how to build a better future that would fit into and benefit the wide open boundaries of the continent and connect fast-growing cities with new railroads, roads and canals for the transportation of not just people, but products. Aha, now business could really take off. So the stage was set for a modern infrastructure (for its time) to connect the rapidly expanding country.

It was time to catch up to the rest of the developed world. It didn’t take long. With so many new immigrants flooding in, there was always a fresh ample supply of labor as many immigrants just wanted an opportunity to gain a foothold in the growth that was America.

Another factor in American Exceptionalism is attracting the best and the brightest. Sure, all economic classes came to our shores in the last 600 years but as more educated Europeans looked out across the Atlantic Ocean, they saw a land of opportunity, a land where they could launch their ideas without restrictions from their home countries. Those with money and possessions could afford to move to America and set up shop and of course, there was plenty of available labor. As long as they could find newly arrived immigrants eager to learn new skills, they would soon be in business. And plenty of new immigrants might have been considered artisans or skilled laborers or artists back in their home countries. So there was quite a large labor pool to consider. It would take time to find and nurture the appropriate talent but in a country growing so quickly, it was not difficult.

And once the Industrial Revolution began in 1760 and ended by 1840, that was the sweet spot in time in American growth. As the American Revolution ended and the US declared its independence in 1776, our development went into over-drive and we used the Machine Age to build new machines, railroads, locomotives, factories and farming equipment. We started building bigger and taller buildings in our cities, more bridges to traverse the rivers and started pushing our westward expansion.

We could handle it all. We had available labor, plenty of farmers and farms to provide food and a can-do attitude. It is astounding how fast we grew as a nation in such a short time.

America got used to solving things, pushing new ideas forward and quickly becoming something else: quite successful. And I think that is the key to our American Exceptionalism. With this melting pot of the best and brightest from all those varied backgrounds, nationalities and cultures, we formed a perfect blend. No wonder why so many wanted to start their lives over by emigrating here.

So we continued to evolve and become the super power to the world by the end of World War II. We were expected to protect everyone. The birth of the nuclear age in 1945 and beyond though became a great equalizer: with the Cold War with Russia and later Korea and Cuba, nuclear weapons became a problem. No one could use them but we had to produce them from more of a defensive posture.

We still have one of the best educational systems here and millions of foreign students from all over the world have graduated from our top universities and gone on to tremendous success working for US corporations and startups. However, a growing faction are now returning to their home countries and applying their brainpower to create opportunities back home. With all the hatred here directed at foreigners, many get what they need here and then export it back to their native cultures to build a better world there.

So we are the beacon that goes out to all the world. Many come here to learn and then spread that knowledge elsewhere; many others still arrive here with every intention of becoming successful here. It raises all boats. However, we have so many problems with people who don’t want to share the American Ideal. They think we should close up our borders and return to what we once were. But what we once were, of course, was a nation of immigrants. We all benefitted. We all had to adapt, change and sometimes, move on. Right now, unemployment is at a low – and that coincides with the “Great Resignation” or the “Great Restructuring.” That’s just America adapting to a crisis (Covid) and moving on – and at a crossroads in figuring out how the world will look in 10 years.

And it is how America will continue to lead, to influence, to educate its citizens and the rest of the world. The 1900s were labeled the American Century. It will be interesting to see how Historians label the 2000s. We’re not going away anytime soon.

Chris Ebel
4/26/22

Image credit: @ca1999123
Photo detail from Franco Alessandrini’s Immigrant statue