The Pursuit of the American Dream: History and Evolution

Introduction

The American Dream began as a journey away from oppressive Great Britain to a new land. Those seeking religious freedom came to North America and formed the thirteen colonies so they could pursue a life filled with happiness and upward mobility. However, not everyone got what they wanted, and soon the American Dream became an American Nightmare for some. That did not stop new immigrants from coming and trying to chase their own version of this timeless wish.

Although the versions of the American Dream have changed throughout the centuries, people still maintain a strong desire to make it and come to the United States to see what life there can offer. The past and the present remind Americans what the American Dream consisted of and continues to consist of — and that is where this essay will go to understand why such a notion has persisted since the first settlers came to shore.

The History Behind the American Dream

The roots of the American Dream first took hold when the first British settlers came to North America to form what would be known as the thirteen colonies. They sought freedom from religious persecution in Great Britain (Caldwell, 2011). Some decided to head toward the east coast of North America to practice their beliefs and make money for themselves and their families. It was hard for many who came. They endured hardships and conflicts with the Native peoples already living there. Still, a few colonists managed to make life in the colonies profitable and built their homes and businesses accordingly.

Some say the American Dream has a strong foundation of individualism. "The American Dream was built on the rough foundation of American individualism, a revolutionary substance unlike anything the world had seen before" (Caldwell, 2011, p. 11). Those who came did so because they wanted the liberty of being their own person. For the British colonists, they wanted not only a new start but a new identity, away from the one they had left on British shores. While the symbolism of the American Dream came from these settlers, the actual phrase did not appear until centuries later.

The true origin of the phrase was first mentioned in 1931, by a middlebrow historian James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America. In this book, the phrase appears for the first time in the Preface, when Adams refers to the "American dream of a better, richer, and happier life," adding that "that dream or hope has been present from the start" (Kochan, 2007, p. 210).

To someone like James Truslow Adams, the American Dream meant a strong sense of hope and desire that fueled the long journey to a better life. Many people who have come to the United States had hope in their eyes when they arrived through Ellis Island. That hope persisted even when things did not lead to a better, richer, or happier life. Many who crossed the border into America — whether legally or illegally — have experienced hardships that made them question whether the move to this seemingly prosperous nation was a good idea. Even those born in the United States to immigrant parents sometimes feel as though the country is not truly a home but rather a temporary base. Such a sentiment can stem from many reasons: a stagnant economy, multiple recessions, or the lack of quality and affordable education and healthcare. People coming to this country sometimes experience regret because their picture of the American Dream has been shattered. This leads to the question of what the American Dream consists of today.

The Modern Day American Dream

People who have grown up looking toward America and dreaming about achieving the American Dream have witnessed an evolution of that notion throughout the years. In earlier times, the American Dream signified hope and a life of happiness — a fresh start. In the modern world, and especially over the last few decades, the American Dream has taken the form of materialism and financial security. "The American Dream is usually defined in terms of financial security, homeownership, and higher education" (Currier, 2015). When people think of the American Dream, they think of owning a home.

This is because home buying was a central part of American reality for many people in the 1950s. People could purchase homes with relatively little money and pay off their mortgages over 30 to 40 years. They could buy a car, own it outright, and pass it down to their children. It was comforting for people living in 1950s America to know they could afford independence and upward mobility.

While that comfort existed in the earlier part of the 20th century, the Great Depression and the World Wars brought tough times and a harsh economic reality. People did not have a chance to enjoy life, much less try to better themselves for the future. When the shift toward economic prosperity occurred in the 1950s, Americans finally had the time and resources to improve themselves and reach toward the goal of upward mobility. It was then that many began attending college to improve their career prospects.

The higher education component of the modern American Dream originated with the children of the 1950s attending and graduating from college. Graduates acquired gainful employment right after graduation, continuing the cycle of stability and upward mobility for their own children. This generational "ladder" shifted the mentality of Americans, transforming the Dream into a desire to own property and to pursue learning. People from all over the world saw the United States as part of a golden age where hard work could make something of anyone. Looking at countries like England, where classism was intrinsically connected to culture and society, America seemed like the opposite. In many people's eyes, one did not have to come from wealth to become wealthy. Famous businessmen like John D. Rockefeller came from humble beginnings and quickly became one of the richest men in America through hard work and business acumen (Chernow, 2010). Out of this context, another dimension of the modern American Dream emerged: the rags-to-riches story.

The rags-to-riches story is what many lower-income people in the United States hope to achieve. Writers like J.K. Rowling and singers like Adele grew up in poverty and lived portions of their adult lives with little chance of upward mobility. Because they were talented and had good timing and some luck, they managed to overcome their circumstances and reach a level of success and economic freedom they had only imagined. This is what many working-class Americans would like to achieve. However, most people from lower-income brackets barely achieve upward mobility within a single generation. With an increasingly unstable economic climate nationally and worldwide, the perceived prospects look grim. "Recent polling shows that Americans feel increasingly financially insecure, perhaps in part because of this lack of mobility out of the bottom rung of the economic ladder. It's no surprise, then, that for many the American Dream may feel out of reach" (Currier, 2015).

What does this all mean? It means people have lost hope. Some no longer believe in a fresh start or a chance at a better life because the new version of the American Dream seems unattainable. Much of that lost hope has to do with continued economic instability. The United States' "Golden Era" of the 1950s catapulted the American Dream back onto center stage. However, now that the dust of that era has settled, there is little left for this generation or the next to build from.

This leads to the idea of the American Dream disappearing altogether. When things become difficult to manage and people have no hope left for improvement in their situations, what can belief in the American Dream hope to accomplish? For some, belief simply leads to disappointment and bitter feelings. Yet true prosperity has eluded all but a few million people in the United States. The rest remain in debt, working dead-end jobs — demonstrating the cumulative effects of back-to-back recessions. But there may still be hope for the American Dream, perhaps in a new and evolved form.

Conclusion

Many say the American Dream is gone. That is not the case, at least for the new immigrants who come to the United States. What was once the dream of British colonists transformed into the dream of anyone, anywhere, who wanted a second chance. So many people across the globe suffer and endure tremendous hardships. They come to the United States in hopes of starting anew and escaping the burden of their lives elsewhere. While many still struggle after relocating, others have achieved a new start and a better life for themselves and their children.

The latest wave of immigrants — Hispanics and Latinos from South, North, and Central America — come to the United States to escape persecution, unstable governments, and lack of employment. The ones who succeed in America do so through hard work, some luck, and a great deal of persistence. Such effort is reminiscent of the British colonists of the 17th and 18th centuries, who came from nothing and arrived in a new world, creating what would become the foundation of both the American Dream and the country itself.

Yes, the American Dream has changed in many ways because people and times have changed. However, that does not mean it has died or been forgotten. If anything, it endures and will continue to endure as long as the United States continues to exist. People will always want a chance at upward mobility, and the United States remains a place that can change someone's life for the better.

Works Cited

Caldwell, W. W. (2011). Cynicism and the evolution of the American dream. Washington, DC: Potomac Books, Inc.

Carson, B. (2016, March 15). What happened to the American dream? The Hill. Retrieved from http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/272950-what-happened-to-the-american-dream

Currier, E. (2015, January 1). The numbers show rags-to-riches happens only in movies. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/01/01/is-the-modern-american-dream-attainable/the-numbers-show-rags-to-riches-happens-only-in-movies

Kochan, S. (2007). The Great Gatsby and the American Dream. München: GRIN Verlag.

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Smith, H. (2012). Who stole the American dream? New York: Random House.