As citizens of the United states, we typically have that standard “American Dream” in the back of our minds. But what exactly is the ideal American Dream? From where has the idea originated from? From what I have learned from the Puritans, Revolutionaries, and Transcendentalists, the American Dream is a perfect way of life, moral perfection, or allowing everyone to live free and independently. Although every individual has their own twist on their American Dream, they all seem to lead back to one basic principle. They all are compelled to involve freedom because sadly, most aren’t achievable with it. The roots of the American Dream were shown to us by these three historical groups that we call the Puritans, Revolutionaries, and Transcendentalists.
The Puritans were heavily influenced by the Lord himself. They came about around the 16th and 17th century and were a group of very religious English Reformed Protestants. Many may compare them to pilgrims. Every principle, dream, thought revolved around God. He was the ruler, the source of a good way of life. If one did not follow his ways, they were seen as the
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devil. Their American Dream was to create a system and way of life for everyone to live. But not just any way, it was only by believing in their specific religion, Puritanism. Starting at a very young age, children were taught the correct ways of the religion from The New England Primer which said passages such as, “TRUST in God at all times, ye people, pour out at your hearts before him“. This displays how extreme these individuals were about their faith. It was not something to be messed with and we may also see this in our present day. Some families and people are still greatly controlled by their beliefs, but for the vast majority it is not as extreme. The Revolutionaries are immensely known for freeing America from British Rule. However, they were profoundly stuck on the idea of individualism. These people existed around the 1770s and their dream was equality. They wanted everyone to have the same rights, but their was a catch. Everyone was only referred to as men who were white, rich, and owned land, just as the constitution suggests. This group of people accepted God as a sacred person and they wanted to live by what the bible entails. Although, it was said that one must make their own decisions to build their good or evil character. Individuals were made to learn from their mistakes because, “If you don’t help yourself then God won’t”. The Revolutionaries strongly valued education, literature, truth, and religion. They believed that in order to create a functioning society and achieve their dream, everyone must be educated. The dream was to reach moral perfection, which was introduced by Benjamin Franklin himself in Poor Richard’s Almanac. “It was about time I conceived the bold and arduous project at moral perfection.” Many people strive to be morally perfect, and that is where we see the Revolutionaries shine through in today's world. The Transcendentalists were thriving in the late 1820s and 1830s in the eastern United States.
They seemed to be open to the idea that all people were to live free and independently. Just as the Revolutionaries did, the Transcendentalists believed very much in individualism. Individuals were convinced that they performed best when independent and that it was necessary to succeed. These people accepted that society was not good and that all should live independently because as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” For almost ten years the transcendentalists put their trust in absolute truth and stuck in people's minds that no one is better or less. In society today, many people still try and carry the idea that no one is better than the other, but it seems to be dying out as is the transcendentalist way of
life. Slavery does not in any way fit the American Dream for any such principle. Whether it’s a perfect way of life, moral perfection, or wanting everyone to live free and independently, slavery doesn’t fit any topic. How was it fair to subject certain individuals to hard labor bases on their status or skin color. It was certainly not and never will be. With this being said, those slaves never had the opportunity to live their American Dream. Although this is no longer a problem today in America, it is all around the world. We have been taught by the United States Constitution and the wise words of Benjamin Franklin, “...that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Even with this being said over and over again, no one ever took it seriously. Because saying that the word “men” in the constitution only pertains to rich, white, land owning men is in no way proper or fair to the rest of the US population. As we can see, these historical groups have made an extensive impact on our way of life and our history. As we know it, the everyday lives of these civil groups peaks through. One family might show bits and pieces of the Puritans for their strong religious beliefs, but another might follow the ways of the Transcendentalists. We can see same resemblances of all three groups in today's society but not to the full extent as they were in our past. Without the Puritans, Revolutionaries, and Transcendentalists we would not know much of the knowledge in our history today. The present-day beliefs and dreams have established from numerous different sources, however these three groups have produced a tremendous impact on the United States of America.
8.Puritans— ‘Followers' of Puritanism, a movement for reform in the Church of England that had a profound influence on the social, political, ethical, and theological ideas in England and America. In America the early New England settlements were Puritan in origin and theocratic in nature. The spirit of Puritanism long persisted there, and the idea of congregational democratic government was carried into the political life of the state as one source of modern democracy.
The American Dream is a concept elegantly simple and yet peculiarly hard to define. At the root of it is the sense that America was created entirely separate from the Old World; the settlers had escaped from the feudal, fractious and somewhat ossified nations of Europe and been presented with a chance to start anew - "a fresh green breast of the new world." From this blank slate, those first idealistic settlers had created a society where "all men are created equal" and everyone had the chance to do the best for themselves as they could. Let us examine the passage from the Declaration of Independence from which that quote is taken:
In attempting to define the American Dream, considered more of an individual definition today, one would need to take into consideration the cultural background and location of the individual. In April of 1630, traveling across the Atlantic on board the sailing vessel Arbella, the original American Dream was a community sense of hope and prosperity among English Puritans seeking a new beginning in New England.
The Puritans were "Christians," in that they believed in Jesus Christ yet some may argue that they did not lead "Christian" lives. These fanatics seemed to obssess over a major tenet of their religion, that being "Pre Destination." That is, God Himself chose those destined for eternal salvation in the beginning of time, long before our conception and birth. This pre-ordained number is considerably miniscule, which, at times, the Puritans seemed to ignore.
The puritans had many religious beliefs. The religious beliefs they held were strong and they were extremely devoted to serving their Lord. Puritans believed that people of God had a teetotal lifestyle, worked hard and were responsible. They also believed that anything and everything that happens on earth is already predestined by God. People would not earn salvation with works of righteousness but through God’s grace. The congregation would make all of the decisions in the church and they would not acknowledge any other religions. When Puritans worshipped, it was very simple and only focused on God. There was no music, stained glass windows or art.
The Puritans were mainly artisans and middling farmers by trade and in the wake of the reformation of the Church of England, left for the colonies to better devout themselves to God because they saw the Church of England as a corrupt institution where salvation was able to be bought and sold, and with absolutely no success in further reforming the Church, set off for the colonies. English Puritans believed in an all-powerful God who, at the moment of Creation, determined which humans would be saved and which would be damned (Goldfield 45).
The puritans were very religious. They wanted to show everyone what happens if you are good and believe in god and the heavens. If you do bad things you would be punished or be killed. If you do good things you can be hand chosen to go to heaven.
What is the American Dream? Is it fame or fortune? Franklin Roosevelt explained the American Dream as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. The American Dream is the idea of becoming successful through work, although, this is not always achievable because people in America are not always treated equally, and not everybody has an equal opportunity to reach the American Dream.
The American Dream still lives today in society in which people strive to the top and accomplish their goals in life. James Truslow Adams coined the term in 1931 in his book called “American Dream”. He stated in the book "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement". The importance of this quote in Adams’ novel is that the American Dream can be achieved by anyone (Warshauer 3). There are no limits and bounds to these emotions and people from any social class can seek their dreams and desires in life. Over the years the definition of the American Dream has changed, but the underlying fundamental meaning had stayed the same. The American mentality is basically participation in the economy and society in order to gain a better social standard and be prosperous. The United States Declaration of Independence also had some influence in the definition of the American Dream. In the Declaration of Independence it states all men are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" includi...
The Puritans were Englishmen who chose to separate from the Church of England. Puritans believed that the Anglican Church or Church of England resembled the Roman Catholic Church too closely and was in dire need of reform. Furthermore, they were not free to follow their own religious beliefs without punishment. In the sixteenth century the Puritans settled in the New England area with the idea of regaining their principles of the Christi...
The Puritans were a religious group that came to North America in search of religious freedom, and, in the process, greatly impacted the North American church, government, education, social mores, and economy. Many of the things that they implemented in the first colonies are still seen today in the social and governmental structures of the United States. Their beliefs and traditions are still practiced today and many social mores are still being adhered to, even now.
Puritans also known as Pilgrims are nonconformists who refused to accept authority. The Puritans were almost entirely city people. They were not farmers and left Great Britain because they were not pleased with the way they were treated. Even those who had lived in the country had not been farmers. So when they arrived in America as the Plymouth Colony group and suddenly had to become farmers, it was extremely difficult for them. The Puritans had many contributions such as predestine to go to heaven because they lived at a small place in Massachusetts. The teachings of Calvin was followed and believed, like the Separatists, that man are born in sin and they all weary the guilt of Adam and Eve. Therefore, the concepts of life that Puritans want to accomplish set forth the character of America today.
Since the start of the twentieth century America has attracted people all over the world to relocate and start a new life. For many coming to America was a chance for a better life and new things. They all had something in common, they all had a dream, that dream was the "American Dream". In the present day the desire to achieve the dream hasn't changed. However, the idea of the American Dream, brings up a lot of questions. What is the American Dream? Who defines it? Can it be achieved? Lastly, should everyone have a chance to achieve it?
"The American Dream" is that dream of a nation in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with options for each according to capacity or accomplishments. It is a dream of social stability in which each man and each woman shall be able to achieve to the fullest distinction of which they are essentially competent, and be distinguish by others for what they are, despite of the incidental conditions of birth or stance. The American Dream is often something that humanity wonders about. What is the American dream? Many people discover success in a range of things. There are many different definitions of the American Dream. However, the American Dream embraces prosperity, personal safety, and personal liberty. The American dream is a continually fluctuating set of ideals, reflecting the ideas of an era.
When the term ‘American Dream’ was first mentioned in 1931 by James Truslow Adams, he described it as “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.” (Clark). When Adams mentioned the term, it had much more of an idealistic meaning, rather than the materialistic meaning it has in modern society. At the time of it’s mention, the dream meant that prosperity was available to everyone. In the beginning, the American Dream simply promised a country in which people had the chance to work their way up through their own labor and hard work (Kiger). Throughout history, the basis of the dream has always been the same for each individual person. It