SociologyMs. Rogers

Yorktown High School

The “AMERICAN DREAM”(take notes, please)

SociologyMs. Rogers

Definition

• Dynamic definition• Depends on who is defining it• Evolved over the decades• Generally speaking:

– A national ethos of freedom, success, and prosperity– Focus on financial success, college education, family,

home-ownership

SociologyMs. Rogers

History

• Settlers came to the New World (America) from Europe seeking land of their own and ways to get rich off the land

• Thomas Jefferson set out American ideals in the Declaration of Independence– Life– Liberty– “Pursuit of Happiness”

SociologyMs. Rogers

History

• Immigrants streamed into the U.S. in the 19th Century in search of a “better life”– “Streets paved in gold”

• Historian James Truslow Adams popularized the phrase "American Dream" in his 1931 book Epic of America– "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…”

SociologyMs. Rogers

The New ColossusBy Emma Lazarus, 1883

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs astride from land to land;Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flameIs the imprisoned lightning, and her nameMother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes commandThe air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries sheWith silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

SociologyMs. Rogers

How do you view the “Dream”?America is entirely different from the America that James Truslow Adams knew. It was different for him than it was for the immigrants that came here in the 19th Century. And it was different for the immigrants than it was for Thomas Jefferson or early colonial settlers.

SociologyMs. Rogers

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkkhxukHtWs

• Watch 1st: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq_9wu-KjTk&feature=related

SociologyMs. Rogers

How is it different today? How do you view it? How do we view it?