In the context of the development and principles of American democracy and the Constitution as well as the concept of “American exceptionalism,” it is necessary to start with the beginnings of settler colonialism on the American continent and the Puritans who fled from religious persecution in England to Northern America in 1620 and 1630.
Settler colonialism is a specific colonial formation: a group of people (family, community) move to a foreign region in order to settle down there. Land is the key resource, as opposed to other forms of colonialism in which natural and human resources are the main motivation. Settler colonialism is therefore not temporary but permanent, as the colonizers invade the region in order to stay (while in other forms of colonialism they invade in order to exploit the region and take the resources back to their home country).
In the case of the American continent, the colonies that were founded are referred to as “charter colonies“, a charter being a royal patent (permission) to start a colony, i.e. permission by the crown to colonize the New World. Unlike a royal colony, a charter colony enjoys more liberties as the crown does not interfere as much in the governing colony.
While there were some failed colonies, such as Roanoke Colony in 1585 (in what is now North Carolina) under Sir Walter Raleigh, the earliest successful colonies were those led by William Bradford in 1620 and by John Winthrop in 1630. They are interested in that the traces of American democratic thinking can be found in some of their writings. In addition, the idea of the US being an elect and exceptional nation can be traced all the way back to them since they believed they were a select nation under God.
The so-called ‘Pilgrims’ and William Bradford’s writing of Plymouth Plantation (written in 1630 and 1651 and first published in 1856) provides the first hint of the idea of them being a select nation under God, as Bradford refers to himself and his fellow congregation onboard the ship as ‘Pilgrims’ who are sanctioned by God. Their self-proclaimed goal being “propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world” and thus becoming “stepping-stones unto others for the performing of so great a work”. The settlers of Plymouth, who are now known as the Pilgrim Fathers, became the first permanent settlers in New England. The term "Pilgrims" was introduced by William Bradford (1590-1657), governor and historian of Plymouth Colony (in present day Massachussetts), to refer to a band of Separatist Puritans who had originated from Scrooby, England, but it has been variously applied to all passengers of the Mayflower, to everyone who settled in Plymouth before 1631. The term itself was not really used until the 19th century. They were not on a colonial mission but on a spiritual mission.
They used John Fox’s Book of Martyrs (published after English reformation), a book about the persecution of protestant martyrs under Catholicism since they understood themselves as potential martyrs. They saw their personal faith as being grounded in a covenant [dt.: Abkommen] with God and they were early believers in the separation of church and state. Most of them were Separatist Puritans who didn't go along with the Church of England. In 1600, many of them first fled to the Netherlands but moved on to North America (due to fear of their children losing their religious identity and adapting too much to Dutch culture). In 1620, some of them arrived in North America on a sailing ship called the "Mayflower" under the leadership of William Bradford.
To prevent trouble and conflict, the Pilgrim leaders established a social structure and a functioning system ruled in a document, signed on the Mayflower, known as the Mayflower Compact. The Mayflower Compact was not a constitution but it can be seen as the first written framework of government in Colonial America. It was signed on 11th November, 1620 near Cape Cod on the Mayflower (hence the name) by passengers who arrived at Cape Cod and had no valid charter as they were outside Virginia (for which they had received the charter). As they did not land in Virginia, the patent issued by the Virginia Company was no longer binding; in order to prevent their group from falling apart, the male passengers agreed to sign the compact.
The majority of the pilgrims suggested establishing a civil government, which was based on the majority-model (sort of democracy). Everyone had to obey the rules of the white majority. The compact drew on the notion of the social contract and the belief in covenants, i.e. the importance of the compact lies in the belief that government is a form of covenant, and that for government to be legitimate, it had to derive from the consent of the governed. The Mayflower Compact, a covenant model of the Civil Body Politic, may be seen as a precursor of the democratic endeavor [dt.: demokratische Bestrebungen] that would define America and its self-understanding for years to come. As notions of national identity cohered in the nineteenth century, the Pilgrims were (and continue to be) widely apotheosized [dt. vergöttert] for exemplifying such core American virtues as industry, piety, fortitude, self-government, and tolerance.
Ten years after the arrival of William Bradford in 1620, John Winthrop (1588-1649) and his followers arrived on the American continent in 1630. Just like Bradford, Winthrop considered him and his people to be a on a religious mission sanctioned by God. Ever since Winthrop's famous lay sermon "A Model of Christian Charity", given to the Puritan settlers in Massachusetts aboard the ship Arabella in 1630, the concept of exceptionalism has been a central element for the development of an "American" self-understanding. The sermon [dt: Predigt] “A Model of Christian Charity” defined the Puritan’s mission to create "a city upon a hill", a biblical commonwealth covenant with God.
His sermon is a defense of inequality, and he argues that the stratified social structures are predetermined by God. Essentially, he presents a fundamentally conservative, but nevertheless charitable view of community.
In the famous paragraph in which he describes the “City upon a hill”, he claims that “the God of Israel is among [them]” so that they will serve as an example for future generations. God will make them “a praise and glory that God shall say of succeeding plantation, ‘the Lord make it like that of NEW ENGLAND’“. He reminds his congregation that they “shall be as a city upon a hill” and that “the eyes of all people are upon [them]” so that if they fail by “deal[ing] falsely with their God”, they would be a negative example, “a story and a by-word through the world.” His sermon shows how he considers them to be a chosen people. Their exceptional role is based on the fact that God has given “special commission” to his people. Winthrop is quite close to Bradford here since both use biblical typology and base their understanding of their historical mission on Exodus.
About 150 years later, citizens from Boston (USA) were angry about paying taxes to Great Britain, without being represented in the British Parliament (slogan: “No taxation without representation”). This is why British merchant ships [dt.: Handelsschiffe] were boarded and their cargo was thrown overboard. Since their cargo consisted of boxes filled with tea, the incident was named the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party, which occurred in 1773, was mainly caused by the Tea Act, which had been passed in the British Parliament several months before.
The act was supposed to financially help out the East India Company (which was an important trading body for the British economy and would soon be involved in politics). The Tea Act granted the East India Company permission to directly ship tea to the colonies without first landing in England, which reduced duties [dt.: Zoll, Gebühr] on tea for British colonies. The company became a monopoly for importing and selling tea to British colonies, which resulted in unrest and acts of resistance, such as the Boston Tea Party, mentioned above.
While the “Boston Tea Party” is often mentioned as a key incident that led to the American Revolutionary War (War of Independence), there are, in fact, several laws, incidents and groups that can be considered to be causes of the war, which ultimately resulted in the colonies winning their independence from Great Britain and founding the United States of America.
On 22nd March, 1765, the Stamp Act passed in parliament. It was the first direct tax on the colonies. The purpose of the tax was to help pay for the British military stationed in America. This act was met with greater resistance and the cry against taxation without representation increased. On 24th March, 1765, the Quartering Act went into effect in the colonies, requiring residents to provide housing for British troops stationed in America. On 29th June, 1767, The Townshend Acts passed parliament, introducing a number of external taxes—including duties on items like paper, glass, and tea. Additional infrastructure was set up to ensure enforcement in America.
Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense (January 1776) argued for independence from England and the creation of a democratic republic. His pamphlet sold over 100,000 copies in only three months to the two million residents of the 13 colonies and 500,000 copies over the course of the Revolution. Paine was one of the first to lay blame for the conflict not with Parliament, but directly at the feet of George III. The style of the text is forward-looking and universal (cf. “The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind.”) It sees the American struggle as a universal struggle that appeals directly to the emotions and to reason. Instead of being referred to as a mother country, England is called a monster. Furthermore, there is an appeal to the melodramatic language of suffering and victimization as well as an appeal to the “manhood“ of Americans. Those with divided loyalties are, by this logic, even worse than British soldiers; they are monstrous in their affections while the soldiers are merely instruments of evil.