What did America do between 1776-1941 to make it the strong exceptional nation it was in 1945?

*It seems like US got screwed over in the treaty of Paris on nearly every front in 1783.*<br><br>*The US was on the brink of collapse multiple times in the 18th and 19th century.*<br><br>*It went into the 20th as an industrial powerhouse, but was still a second rate nation behind Britain, France, and Germany politically and militarily.*<br><br>*Then WW1 happened and the US got screwed over there.*<br><br>*The interwar years were marked by isolationism and economic depression.*<br><br>*And yet on the eve of WW2, the US was a superpower on par with the axis and allies.*<br><br>*So what did it do between 1776-1941 to make it the strong exceptional nation it was in 1945?*