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The American dream is the belief that the United States provides the freedom for all Americans to be happy and live a better life if they work hard and try their best. Since the United States was founded in 1776, the American dream has represented different things to different people. Some people think it means making money and becoming rich. Others see it as being able to buy a house, raise a family, and live a happy life without fear of losing those things.
One common feature of the idea of the American dream is that it is open to everyone—those born in the United States and immigrants who move there. While many ideas of what the American dream means exist, it has also changed over time. Some people believe the modern American dream is in danger and is much harder to achieve than it was in the past.
THE “LAND OF OPPORTUNITY”
THE “LAND OF OPPORTUNITY”
The Founding Fathers planted the seeds of the American dream in the Declaration of Independence when they wrote in 1776 that all people have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They wanted to create a country where people could be free to live their lives as they chose without interference from an unfair government. Unfortunately, at the time the idea of liberty only applied to white men who owned land. Over the centuries, however, the laws were changed to provide the same opportunities to people of all races, religions, and genders.
People in other countries began to see the United States as a place where they could be free to create a better life for themselves and their families. Starting in the early 1800s and continuing for about a century, millions of immigrants made the journey to America. Many were fleeing homelands affected by famine, war, and oppressive governments. To them, the United States was a land of opportunity where they could build a future without fear. Most immigrants who sailed to the United States entered the country through New York City. After 1886, the first glimpse they may have seen of their new home was the Statue of Liberty located on an island in New York Harbor. For this reason, many consider the Statue of Liberty to be a symbol of the American dream.
The Statue of Liberty
Homeless take shelter during the Depression
In the 1920s, the idea of the American dream began to change. Instead of being the search for a better life, some now saw it as the pursuit of material wealth. That way of thinking did not last long. In the early 1930s, the United States was hit by a period of economic hardship called the Great Depression. Many Americans lost their jobs and were struggling just to survive. During this time, an American historian named James Truslow Adams (1878–1949) first used the phrase “American Dream.” He defined it as something more than material wealth. To Adams, it was the ability of all Americans to work to achieve a better life no matter if they had been born rich or poor.
THE CHANGING AMERICAN DREAM
THE CHANGING AMERICAN DREAM
To help struggling Americans during the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) created a series of laws and programs known as the New Deal. Roosevelt’s New Deal was meant to create jobs and help the economy recover. One of the ways he tried to do this was to help more people build or buy their own homes. Before the 1930s, people usually did not make enough money to afford to own a home until they were older. Roosevelt created programs making it easier for people to borrow money to buy or build a home. It was a way to boost the economy, particularly the construction, home appliance, and furniture industries. As a result, home ownership became a part of the American dream for the first time.
In 1944, as American troops were fighting in World War II (1939–1945), Roosevelt wanted to make sure that when they returned home, the troops would have economic security. He created the G.I. Bill of Rights, which provided money to help returning veterans pay for college and home loans. Many veterans took advantage of the bill and bought their own homes and enrolled in college. Roosevelt also proposed a similar bill for other Americans. This “Second Bill of Rights” guaranteed every American the right to home ownership, an education, economic stability, and healthcare. Roosevelt died before his idea was formally voted on in Congress, but it inspired a new idea of the American dream. Americans believed that if they worked hard they deserved to have a better life in the form of a good job, a nice home, and financial security.
A veteran points out the guarantees of the G.I. Bill
THE END OF THE AMERICAN DREAM
THE END OF THE AMERICAN DREAM
One of the modern aspects of the American dream is the idea that each generation has the ability to become more successful than its parents. For much of the twentieth century this was true. Children born in 1940 were 90 percent more likely to earn more money than their parents. By the twenty-first century, however, this goal had become more difficult. The cost of education, housing, and food increased a great deal, but people’s salaries did not rise as fast. Economic growth in the United States slowed down while the gap between the wealthy and the middle class got wider. Because of these factors, children born in 1985 had a less than 50 percent chance to earn more money than their parents. By 2014, CNN reported that 63% of children would not be more financially secure than their parents. This has led some people to believe that the American dream can no longer be reached by the average American.
Results of a 2014 CNN poll which showed less than 40% of Americans expected to have a better life than their parents.
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