The idea that America is exceptional, whether because of its founding creed, natural abundance, or Protestant origins, has been the subject of fierce debate going back to the founding. Rather than argue for one side or the other, Volker Depkat explores the diverse ways in which Americans have described their country as exceptional. Describing how narratives of exceptionalism have never been a purely American affair, Depkat shows how, for example, European, African, and Asian immigrants pro...

Die Amerikanische Revolution begann als Steuerstreit, doch dabei blieb es nicht. Schon bald ging es auch um die Frage, was legitime Herrschaft eigentlich ausmacht. Deren Grundlagen wurden mit der Amerikanischen Unabhängigkeitserklärung vom 4. Juli 1776 neu definiert. In ihrer Revolution erfanden die Amerikaner nicht nur die liberale Demokratie, sondern auch den modernen Konstitutionalismus und Föderalismus. Volker Depkat beschreibt den nach 1763 eskalierenden Konflikt zwischen Mutterland u...

The United States of America are the only remaining superpower in an increasingly confusing world at the start of the twenty-first century. This volume discusses the stages of the country's rise to the status of world power and analyses the USA's fascinating and complex history on the basis of several fundamental subjects. The survey starts with the experiment of establishing a democracy, which was initiated through revolution and is unfinished even today. The USA's development to become a...

The Yearbook of Transnational History is dedicated to disseminating pioneering research in the field of transnational history. This fifth volume advances the frontier of transnational history into early modern times. The six chapters of this volume explore topics and themes from early modern times to the fall of Communism. This volume includes chapters about the Huguenots and Sephardi Jews as transnational nations in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the construction of cannabis know...