Preview

Living the American Dream

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
878 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Living the American Dream
Living The American Dream

The American Dream is one of the reasons our country is so populated. In the 1800s, immigrants came from all over the world to live the American Dream. It was the inspiration behind huge bounds in technology, industry, and lifestyle. Without this concept of the American Dream, we would more than likely be a third world country struggling to survive in an economically driven world. It is what defines us as a nation, and to this day, it still powers whole generations of American citizens. The American Dream dates all the way back to the late 1700s during the revolutionary war. Our country was founded on the belief that freedom of choice was a right, not a privilege. That belief has carried through to this day. Many foreigners come to America to escape religious or governmental prosecution. America has more opportunity than any other nation on the globe, and that blossoms from the American Dream. In America, people have the opportunity to purchase a home, the opportunity to purchase a car, the opportunity for a higher-level education, and the opportunity to practice whichever religion they so choose. With all of these opportunities also comes responsibility. All of these things are what make America, and the American Dream so beautiful and majestic. In the article Keeping the Dream Alive, written by Jon Meacham, the author explains the historical beginning of the American Dream. The American Dream was created by James Truslow Adams. In the article, the author states, “We are stronger the wider we open our arms. Our dreams are more powerful when they are shared by others in our time. And we are the only ones who can create a climate for the American Dream to survive another generation, then another and another. "If the American dream is to come true and to abide with us," Adams wrote in 1931, "it will, at bottom, depend on the people themselves." True then, and true now.” That excerpt sums up the American Dream. The author of the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The American Dream is a concept that can be traced to the founding fathers of America, which entails ideals such as democracy, equality, freedom, liberty, human rights and opportunity for all to live a better and prosperous life. These ideals are achieved through hard work in an environment that has no barriers and offers equal opportunities for all. The coming of the American Dream came with the declaration of independence from England. People were filled with hope as they believed in the right to freedom, life and pursuing happiness. The idea was the creation of a nation in which people would be free from restrictions to pursue the life they want for themselves. This definition of the American Dream has changed over the course of time as people started deviating from the ideals of liberty, rights, and hard work. Hard work is now just caused by wanting to make the most money and wanting to have power and control.…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The origin of The American Dream began with the poor immigrants looking for opportunities. The Declaration of independence states “all man are created equal and that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights among which are life, liberty and persuit of happines.”(The Declaration of Independence). The American Dream is different for every individual you come across. To some people it means financial success, to other people it means freedom of expression, while other people want to practice their religion without fear. The American Dream is a complex concept providing immigrants with hope of better life.…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The idea of of American Dream is deeply embodied in American history. Its first traces are ob-served in the times of frontier life in XIX century when many settlers risked their life to find better living conditions for their families. Furthermore, the concept of better life is placed in Declaration of Independence, There can be read that “all men are created equal [...] they are endowed [...] with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    American Dream - 3

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The American Dream is “the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American.” (Dictionary). When immigrants started coming to America everyone had different ideas about the “American dream”. Everyone believed it was possible to achieve, and had no doubts about being successful, owning a home, or being happy. These days’ people question whether or not the American dream is still around, and if America even provides access to the dream. America provides access to the American dream because people can own a home, go to college, and have freedom of religion.…

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    America, is known as the country for opportunity and freedom; it’s where many people can come and have a fair chance to acquire the desired goal of the “American Dream”. The American Dream has acquired many different meanings over time. From the original definition being: the American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. In today’s society the American Dream can be defined as: a belief in freedom that allows all citizens and residents of the United States of America to achieve their goals in life through hard work. Too many, to successfully obtaining the American Dream you must meet a certain criteria being: a household…

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American Dream is something that is defined differently by those who are asked about it. If you were to ask my parents what the American Dream meant to him without hesitation they would say opportunity. Opportunity for a better life. Growing up my parents always told me how lucky me and my brother were. Lucky to have free education and health care. My parents are from India, when traveling to India you see the fine difference between an easy going life in a place like America and a chaotic place like India.…

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The "American dream" is the dream of every citizen of the United States and has always been the pursuit has a long history., in the middle of the 18th century American independence from the British, began quietly budding "American dream”. Due to open early north American land and sparsely populated, so immigrants can share to large tracts of land, they gain wealth through their own farming.…

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The idea of the American Dream was first introduced in the mid 1900's, it was the idea that everyone had the equal opportunity to achieve happiness and financial stability. People that believed that equal education and determination could lead them to content, but in reality, many struggle to make ends meet after letting their dreams collect dust. While the majority of people can achieve the American Dream, it is much more difficult to succeed unless one is wealthy to begin with.…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The American dream was integral to the dominant ideology of America, in the 1950s and 60s, built around the ideas of capitalism, materialism, Christianity, and a conservative approach. The notional concept of the American dream is rooted in the works of Horatio Alger, who wrote about the…

    • 1977 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The idea of the American Dream was first used by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America which was written in 1931. He states: "The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper…

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American dream exists because everybody has a dream of what they want, or what they want to achieve. Americans achieve success through achieving their goals. The American dream is what gives people hope; it allows them to work hard to achieve happiness, and all the things that come with it. Like gaining all the things you want and need in life (Warshauer). The American dream is a big part of America’s culture. The American dream is based on the freedom of the people to pursue their goals through hard work and free chance (Malone).…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The American dream for many people is the idea of prospering and achieving success while everyone has the same opportunity to triumphant. But there are also plenty of other people who highly disagree with the theory of American dream. Many people believe that there are other countries that are equal if not better than the United States. According to statistics throughout the years, the United States has not been the most successful country. There is just as much poverty and lack of employment in the US as there is in many other countries.…

    • 1761 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hiding from Reality

    • 952 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The American Dream for many it means the ideals of freedom, equality and opportunity traditionally held by every American. A life of personal happiness in short terms. However this “American Dream “is different for everyone, and it is now being threaten by many factors such as the economy, which is a big part of it, employment and our education as well are being demolished.…

    • 952 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The American Dream is an often mentioned and well-known term used to describe the ideology of the United States of America. Despite the common usage of the term it is not always completely understood and so requires, at least, a brief introduction and definition. P Mueller in his writing Star Trek and the American Dream claims that "…to some the American dream is just "from rags to riches", to others it includes the realisation of high flying ideals as old as mankind itself." Mueller then goes onto say that the term was coined in 1931 by James Truslow Adams and identifies three main roots: mythical aspects (leading back to the ancient dream of a perfect society and as paradise even before the continent was discovered), religious aspects (which Mueller describes as dealing with the puritan vision of a city upon a hill) and political aspects (arising from the declaration of independence and the constitution). It would seem that the most important of these three themes is arguably that of the political nature and various commentators have defined the American Dream in this way. Martin Luther King claimed "It [the American Dream] is found in those majestic words of the Declaration of Independence, words lifted to cosmic proportions: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by God, Creator, with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." This is a dream. It 's a great dream." Jim Bickford concurred with this view within his writing The American Dream: Our Heritage of Hope (in which he goes onto to identify several examples of the American Dream in practice throughout history) when he claimed "America was built on dreams" and went onto to discuss the importance of the declaration of independence in creating the dream by stating "Our ancestors chose to take the risk…

    • 2814 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    American Dream - Essay 9

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages

    James Adams wrote in his book the phrase American Dream which is now a famous logo of the U.S. The American Dream is the hope which individuals arrived the United States upon, the hope that they will be more prosperous and there will be a variety of opportunities in the United States of America, today this is not possible to everyone because becoming prosperous is really difficult and there might not be a job awaiting the individual due to the unemployment rate but it was possible in the 1700’s.…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays