The United States has begun its fifth century since Africans were first forced to migrate to America as slaves. Recently, a growing narrative, promoted especially by the New York Times in its 1619 Project, suggests that the most distinguishing characteristic of America’s “exceptionalism” is not as traditionally stated.1 Most past writers have stressed the highly successful introduction of modern representative democracy centered around the rule of law and fortified by foundational documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. in the competitively capitalistic society responding to individual property rights, market incentives, and entrepreneurship that emerged over the past couple of centuries. In contrast, the Times narrative argues that the truly exceptional dimension of the American experience is the exploitation of its black population, beginning with