American Dream

The American Dream is the idea (often associated with the Protestant work ethic) held by many in the United States of America that through hard work, courage and determination one can achieve prosperity. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations. What the American Dream has become is a question under constant discussion.

Related Topics:
Protestant work ethic - United States of America

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The origin of the American Dream stems from the departure in government and economics from the models of the Old World. This allowed unprecedented freedom, especially the possibility of dramatic upward social mobility. Additionally, from the Revolutionary War well into the later half of the nineteenth century, many of America's physical resources were unclaimed and often, but lucky investment in land or industry. The development of the Industrial Revolution defined the mineral and land wealth which was there in abundance, contrary to the environmental riches such as huge herds of bison and diversity of forests, for the original Native Americans.

Related Topics:
Government - Economics - Old World - Social mobility - Revolutionary War - Industrial Revolution - Native Americans

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Many early American prospectors headed west of the Rocky Mountains to buy acres of cheap land in hopes of finding deposits of gold. The American Dream was a driving factor not only in the Gold Rush of the mid to late 1800s, but also in the waves of immigration throughout that century and the following.

Related Topics:
Prospector - Rocky Mountains - Gold Rush - Immigration

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Impoverished western Europeans escaping the Irish potato famines in Ireland, the Highland clearances in Scotland and the aftermath of Napoleon in the rest of Europe came to America to escape a poor quality of life at home. They wanted to embrace the promise of financial security and constitutional freedom they had heard existed so widely in the United States.

Related Topics:
Irish potato famine - Highland clearances - Napoleon

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During the mid-to-late ninteenth century prolific dime novel writer Horatio Alger, Jr. became famous for his novels that idealized the American Dream. His novels about down-and-out bootblacks who were able to achieve wealth and success helped entrench the dream within popular culture.

Related Topics:
Dime novel - Horatio Alger, Jr.

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Nearing the twentieth century, major industrialist personalities became the new model of the American Dream, many beginning life in the humblest of conditions but later controlling enormous corporations and fortunes. Perhaps most notable here were the great American capitalists Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller.

Related Topics:
Industrialist - Andrew Carnegie - John D. Rockefeller

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This acquisition of great wealth appeared to demonstrate that if you had talent, intelligence, and a willingness to work extremely hard, you were likely to be a success in life as a result.

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Throughout the 19th century, immigrants fled the monarchies of Western Europe and their post-feudal economies, which actively oppressed the peasant class. These economic systems required high levels of taxation, which stymied development. The American economy, however, was built up by people who were consciously free of these constraints.

Related Topics:
Monarchies - Western Europe - Feudal

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Settlement in the new world provided hope for egalitarianism. Martin Luther King invoked the American Dream in what is perhaps his most famous speech:

Related Topics:
Martin Luther King - His most famous speech

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:"Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American Dream." etc. etc.

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