The American Dream - the Epic of America Written by Truslow Adams

The American Dream

The term “The American Dream” originated from a book called The Epic of America written by Truslow Adams in 1931 (Truslow, 54). In the book, the author talks about the dream in that life in America should look better and richer for its entire people as well as access to equal opportunities. Adam’s point was that every American had equal opportunities to succeed in life despite their race, religion or ethnic background. Essentially, the American dream proposes that every American can succeed through hard work and live a successful life. Other sources claim that the American dream has its roots in the declaration of independence where every man and woman shall be treated fairly and receive equal recognition despite their background. The dream mostly focused on owning land and creating lucrative businesses which would later translate into happy and successful lives. To some extent, the American dream has been associated with materialism where an individual is able to achieve anything if they only work hard. However,there has been some fair share of criticism regarding the possibility of the American dream given the existence of inequalities and social injustices in America. To most people, the American dream is a reality where every American citizen has the chance to succeed depending on their hard work and perseverance.

The concept of the American dream is well laid out in the Declaration of Independence of the United States. It states that Americans hold the truth that every man or woman is created equal and bestowed with certain unalienable rights (Hancock). They include liberty, life, and thepursuit of happiness. Therefore, every American citizen is endowed with the opportunity to pursue their own freedom, opportunity, and contentment of their needs and wants. The American people need to function as good members of the society in order to accomplish the American dream by following their dreams and aspirations. The American dream is supported by the lack of judgment or prejudice on the basis of race, place of birth, religious affiliations, among other factors (Freese, 9). Depending on hard work and effort, every American citizen has the opportunity to fulfill and achieve the American dream. This means that some individuals will be successful while others will fail to achieve the dream.

Despite advocating for equality among Americans, the American dream has a lot to do with achieving success in life. It involves the successful performance of daily tasks in order to achieve a particular end goal. Therefore, hard work, perseverance, passion, and dedication are crucial factors that contribute to the achievement of the American dream. Research studies haveshown that there are a lot of successful people in America came from a very low economic status (Freese, 17). To aggravate matters, a lot of immigrants in America have become more successful compared to native citizens. This shows that the American dream is deeply embedded in a personal effort towards fulfilling your dreams and hopes. Every American who views the American dream as a reality is required to take huge leaps and risks to accomplish their personalgoals despite all odds. Without serious input and effort, the American dream will continue to

appear as a fantasy to many American citizens.

In the contemporary American society, the concept of the American dream has been revised to contrast the original idea of the dream. Modern day American society has shown that people can be successful and rich by using very little input ad effort. A lot of American citizens have linked the American dream with materialism and amassing of wealth. Most people think that they can achieve the American dream by hitting a jackpot and becoming very successful. The components of hard work, perseverance and dedication have been given a wide berth by many. This has been influenced by the media which has a strong grip on the contemporary American society. Television shows such as Wheel of Fortune have influenced the American citizens that they can achieve overnight success without much effort (Sandel, 12). Therefore, the American people try to fit in by participating in such shows