James Truslow Adams 'The American Dream'

The American Dream Many people see the United States as the land of opportunity, but why? Foreigners view it this way because it demonstrates a life with options that they may not be able to obtain in their own countries, and that leads to the window for The American Dream. What exactly is The American Dream? Google has specifically defined The American Dream as, “the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.” But can that simple sentence in fact live up to such a controversial topic? The definition for this term vary in perspectives and The American Dream varies from being rich to just having an education. In 1931, James Truslow Adams first publicly defined the American Dream in the book Epic of America. Throughout the whole book, he often repeated the quote, “The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be richer and fuller for everyone, with the opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” Adams continued to say that the American Dream is NOT “...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 stature of which they are …show more content…
Foreigners coming from other countries to the US in search of opportunities to make their Dream come true are in a much more fragile environment. With limited food, resources, and money available, immigrants proceed through everyday sacrifices just to be able to make the right choice to manage the correct track to the American Dream. To these minorities, an education with a well established career, a family with a home, and enough money to put a roof over their heads and food on the table might just be enough of the Dream they sought for, without the need for luxurious commodities and expensive designer