In the beginning — before the beginning, really — Americans have thought
of themselves as exceptional, as the new chosen people of God. Either
before departing England or en route aboard the
Arabella — it
is unclear which; the ship arrived in 1630 — John Winthrop, a layman
trained as a lawyer, wrote a sermon entitled “A Model of Christian
Charity” in which he said “we must consider that we shall be as a city
upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us; so that if we shall
deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause
him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a
by-word through the world …”
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