Emily Rosenberg.
American dream definition, the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American. The economy experienced record highs and extreme lows, with the devastation of WWI, followed by the Great Depression hitting America’s interests hard in the late 1920s and 1930s. The majority of popular literature during this time period conveniently left out the issue of slavery and described America as a place free of oppression and full of opportunity to become independent, self-interested landowners. The U.S. continues to enjoy the benefits of cultural diversity.“To me, the American Dream is being able to follow your own personal calling. All people have an equal and inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of their happiness. "Spreading the American Dream: American Economic and Cultural Expansion 1890–1945," Page 7. With the new found freedom established by the birth of the United States of America in 1776, the nineteenth century saw an influx of immigrants from around the globe.
America was once again thrust into another war turning the once idealistic mindset of a nation into cynicism and dread. Franklin believed that the overall betterment of society in America could be achieved by educating the masses. The New American Dream is returning to the basic values of our Founding Fathers.
It promotes a free market economy where products, prices and services are decided by the market and not the government.
Many participants of the movement became well-known social reformists, particularly anti-slavery and promoters of women’s rights. In his book, Adams went on to clarify that the American Dream is not, “…a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” Continue reading to learn about the history of the American Dream as well as what the American dream is today.The Founding Fathers wrote into law the revolutionary idea that the “pursuit of Happiness” is not just self-indulgence.
Rather than a mindset of cooperation, competitiveness set in as Americans fought over their share of development and wealth in their hard-won country.
The “traditional” factors (at least as I had understood them) were seen as less important. The Puritans believed that life was a continual battle between good and evil. The BBC's Katty Kay the past, present and future of the American Dream, the concept that has brought generations of immigrants to the US in search of freedom, and opportunity. Finally, the Declaration of Independence states that a nation must be allowed free trade.“The faith that anyone could move from rags to riches – with enough guts and gumption, hard work and nose to the grindstone – was once at the core of the American Dream.”“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.” This is the first public American Dream definition from historian James Truslow Adams’ best-selling book “Epic of America,” published in 1931.Historian Emily Rosenberg came up with five components of the American Dream that began showing up in nations around the world.