The American Dream By James Truslow Adams - 1611 Words

What is the purpose of our government? Is the meaning of Lady Justice true? Does every citizen have equal rights and opportunities as stated in the United States Constitution? If so, why are there so many cases of people fighting for equality? How can we approach this effectively? The United States of America has this idea that everyone can live the American Dream, and that we are a perfect nation. It is taught from a young age that the American Dream is promising for anyone to have. Parents and teachers tell us to shoot for the stars and that we can achieve anything we put our minds to. But as I progressed throughout life, I question the American Dream is a made up thing to get the economy back up and running again. According to†¦show more content†¦Since it is 2017 many people are blindfolded to the inequality people face every single day. There are still cases of injustice against minority groups and there are still cases of discrimination against people in the â€Å"so free, so equal† country called the United States of America. If today’s world was so equal for everyone, then why are there current groups of activists who protest and fight for equality? I am here to tell you why. There are three groups discussed in this paper. They are most certainly not the only groups, they are just the most popular and the frequently reported. These groups of activists are; Black Lives Matter (BLM), Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgender, and Queer, (LBGTQ) and Women’s Rights. The three of these groups were recreated not even a decade ago. â€Å"Racial minorities, particularly Black Americans, have had a long and troubling history of disparate treatment by U.S criminal justice authorities.† (Birzer, 23) I am not here to give you another lesson on slavery, Jim Crow laws, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s or any other struggle we faced in our history, but I do want you to keep it in mind as you read about the current struggle we still face in 2017. You would think that America would give us a break since we’ve been fighting for equality for centuries, but they are not simply because of the color of our skin. When I say â€Å"they† I mean White America. Now, don’t get meShow MoreRelatedThe American Dream By James Truslow Adams1243 Words   |  5 Pagesspike in questionable practices further withheld the American Dream from those wishing to achieve it the way it was intended, through hard work and perseverance. In 1931, James Truslow Adams defined the American Dream, â€Å"life sh ould be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement†, regardless of one s class or circumstances of birth. More and more people were being denied the American Dream every, yet they still strived to make something ofRead MoreThe American Dream By James Truslow Adams1130 Words   |  5 Pagesof the American Dream. The American Dream has changed dramatically over the few centuries. During the Founding Fathers’ time, many believed the American Dream meant freedom, equality, and mutual respect. Time has changed this ideology of the American Dream, which is now seen as owning a million dollar mansion with multiple luxury cars. This isn’t the case for many immigrants who come to the Americas to have a better life for themselves and their family. To many of them, the American Dream is as simpleRead MoreJames Truslow Adams : The American Dream1800 Words   |  8 PagesThe American Dream The American Dream was something everyone wanted to achieve in the 1930’s; however, many people did not get there because they either gave up, or did not find what they were looking for. Many people were just looking to get away and find their own happiness so they made their own American Dream. As historian James Adams said ... a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest statureRead MoreThe American Dream By James Truslow Adams Essay1886 Words   |  8 PagesJames Truslow Adams in 1931 coined the term â€Å"The American Dream† in his book The Epic of America (Michels, n.d., para. 1). He wrote of an America that offered freedom of religion, and speech, as well as political and social opportunities that few other countries offered. However, according to Eva Michels, â€Å"The American Dream† means something different for each individual, it refers to the way of li fe that Americans strive for and have equal rights to achieve regardless of social class or nationalityRead MoreThe American Dream By James Truslow Adams1707 Words   |  7 PagesThe American Dream, coined by James Truslow Adams in 1931, had been a popular term that had; given motivation to the dissatisfied, reduced the influence of race and one’s social position on achieving their goals, advertised America as a land that offered an abundant amount of possibilities that no other country could match, and unified the country under the same desire of wealth and prosperity, even in times of great despair. Adams had constructed the idea, â€Å"...that American dream of a better, richerRead MoreThe American Dream By James Truslow Adams803 Words   |  4 PagesThe term â€Å" The American Dream† can be coined to historian James Truslow Adams in the early 1930’s. Adams believed that the true commitment for the American society was based of material success that was o btained by individual competition of the citizens. Furthermore, stating that the American citizens had been conditioned to desire success, with an honest belief that it was possible for one to achieve it. This was possible because the very principles that American society represented, helped eachRead MoreThe American Dream By James Truslow Adams1500 Words   |  6 PagesThe American Dream is the sole reason that millions of people decided to come to this country, whether it be generations ago, or last week. But even so, this shared dream faces problems. To solve the problem, the American Dream has to be defined. James Truslow Adams, author of the 1931 book The Epic of America, was the first person to mention and therefore define the American Dream. He established it as: â€Å"[T]hat dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, withRead MoreJames Truslow Adams And The American Dream1392 Words   |  6 Pages While the idea of the American Dream became more popular during the 17th to 20th centuries, the achievability remained elusive due to a static and hierarchical social order that prevailed throughout this time. Thus, the tireless claims of the New Left for a reformed society are supported by the unchanging accessibility of the American Dream. In his book The Epic of America (1931), James Truslow Adams defined the American Dream as â€Å"that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer andRead MoreJames Truslow Adams And The American Dream1371 Words   |  6 Pagesand dreams. Although this is a simple concept, how one must work to achieve these goals is much more complicated. Everyone is born into a different situation and the opportunities they are exposed to differ depending on the person. The original idea of the â€Å"American Dream† supported the idea that all American citizens are able to obtain a better life than they are currently living; however, that idea is continuously changing and many interpret their own dream in different ways. James Truslow AdamsRead MoreThe American Dream By James Truslow Adams1406 Words   |  6 PagesThis so called, â€Å"American dream.† Is it still around, waiting to be achieved by those who work hard enough? Is it effectively dead, killed off by the Great Recession and the economic struggling that many Americans have come to face in this day and age? There are alarming instances and facts, including trillions of dollars lost in the stock market (Paradise, 2009). These losses combined with the unquestionably high unemployment in the past few years, have contributed to seemingly dismal prospects