Degree
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in History and Political Science
Major(s)
History
Document Type
Immediate Campus-Only Restricted Access
Abstract
Broadly, this paper will consider the relationship between the formulation of a nascent sense of English exceptionalism in the 16th and 17th centuries, along with the relationship of that sense of exceptionalism to ideas about the non-European world, (termed, 'the abroad'). By examining this relationship, the paper seeks to illustrate how ideas of European and English supremacy were extant in England throughout period considered, and how they impacted the discussion of colonialist enterprises and the conception that Englishmen shared with many Europeans about 'the abroad.' From the place of profound superiority that many European and English intellectuals constructed throughout the period, many of the justifications for English exceptionalism and English colonialism found their origins in this period, and they would go on to have a dramatic, global impact throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. In short, if writers such as Richard Hakluyt and others had not formulated a sense of English exceptionalism that was reinforced by a perception of the abroad that it was profoundly wealthy and profoundly strange, then the ideological edifice for British imperialism would have appeared markedly differently.
Date Defended
4-21-2026
Recommended Citation
Stricklin, Ty H., "English Exceptionalism, Divine Authority, and the Abroad: The Wider World in the Minds of Englishmen in the 16th and 17th centuries." (2026). Honors Theses. 199.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/honorstheses/199
