This paper examines the concept of the American Dream from multiple angles: its historical origins in the colonial era, its commonly accepted definition as a meritocratic ideal of hard work and upward mobility, and the ways in which that definition has shifted in recent decades. Drawing on sources including scholarly research on college students' beliefs, Lois Tyson's analysis of the Dream's commodified nature, and journalistic accounts of declining economic mobility, the paper argues that while Americans broadly retain faith in the Dream, changing economic realities and persistent structural inequalities have complicated and narrowed what the Dream can mean in practice.
People have discussed the concept of the American Dream for many years, yet its definition remains difficult to pin down. The reason for this is that as the circumstances of the country change, so does the view people hold of what the American Dream represents. The purpose of this paper is to define the American Dream through the lens of history, to explore its generally accepted meaning, and to examine how that definition may have changed over the past several decades.
History shows that the concept of the American Dream began with the "discovery" of the Americas. Whether the explorer was Leif Erikson or Christopher Columbus, all of the people who came to these shores dreamed of something better. As one source puts it:
"The idea of an American Dream is older than the United States, dating back to the 1600s, when people began to come up with all sorts of hopes and aspirations for the new and largely unexplored continent. Many of these dreams focused on owning land and establishing prosperous businesses which would theoretically generate happiness, and some people also incorporated ideals of religious freedom into their American Dreams" (wiseGeek).
People immigrated to the new American colonies in part because England imposed fewer religious restrictions on those who settled here. Additionally, the average person could not own land in Europe — or at least not very much — because most land was the property of the state or of the wealthy nobility. People heard of the vastness of America and wanted to have a piece of land they could call their own. From the very beginning, the American Dream was about doing everything possible to live the life one was meant to live.
In common usage, the American Dream has been described as "an idea which suggests that all people can succeed through hard work, and that all people have the potential to live happy, successful lives" (wiseGeek). Because people have historically faced fewer restrictions on achievement in the United States, it has long been believed that any person who wants to succeed can do so through determination and effort. This belief has been called the Puritan work ethic, or given other names that imply the same idea. The people who originally came to America had to work extremely hard simply to survive. Even today, those who achieve the most are generally those who are most willing to work.
In one study conducted by Deborah Abowitz, college students were surveyed to determine whether they still believed in the traditional American Dream. She found that:
"College students today generally do believe in the achievement ideology and the openness of the American class system. Their views are derived from an idea of success as a meritocratic 'contest' for social mobility in which an individual's effort and abilities count for more than family and personal connections in the race for the American Dream" (Abowitz).
"Tyson's critique: Dream reduced to material gain"
"Race, class, and slavery as barriers to the Dream"
"Declining wages erode modern economic optimism"
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