I quickly learned I was researching something that spanned political, historical and religious backgrounds and tapped into the heart of the American attitude most recently seen in Obama's election victory speech of "yes we can".1 Despite this, the president recently appeared to be hesitant to proclaim views of support for exceptionalism. ... Heralding John Winthrop's famous metaphor as the new state being a "City upon a hill"9 the puritan founders have implemented an idea that the New England community would grow to become a model for the rest of humanity. ... In ...

• Word Count: 4596
• Approx Pages: 18