Compare And Contrast The American Dream And Transcendentalists

958 Words2 Pages

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 …show more content…

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

Open Document