2020 american dream week 1
- 1. The American Dream Week 1 Keiser University eCampus Adapted from: The American Dream: Overview. (2007). In A. M. Hacht (Ed.), Literary Themes for Students: The American Dream (Vol. 1, pp. 3-23). Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com
- 2. Week 1 Origins of the American Dream and the American Identity
- 3. The Plymouth Colony August, 1620: The Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, England, with 102 passengers aboard. 40 of them were Protestant Separatists, who called themselves “Saints.” October, 1620: The Mayflower arrived in the New World, and the Plymouth Colony was formed. William Bradford was one of the Saints, and he eventually became the governor of the Plymouth Colony.
- 4. Text of the Mayflower Compact - 1620 … solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civill body politick, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just and equall laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete and convenient for the generall good of the Colonie unto which we promise all due submission and obedience … Facts to note: 1. The Mayflower Compact established a system of government and pledged allegiance to the King of England. 2. The Compact expressed the idea that people needed to work together for the common good. 3. It also expressed their commitment to America and its promise. 4. There is also an emphasis on God.
- 5. Events Leading to American Independence Boston Tea Party (1773): Rebellion by the Sons of Liberty, a group that included Samuel Adams and about 100 other Bostonians. More than 300 chests of tea were dumped into Boston Harbor to protest tea taxes. Patriots: colonists committed to gaining independence from Great Britain Loyalists (or Tories): colonists devoted to English rule The British retaliated by closing Boston Harbor to all shipments except food and firewood. Town Hall meetings were also banned.
- 6. Events Leading to American Independence September 5, 1774: The first Continental Congress was convened at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia. Delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies met to discuss and document their grievances with Great Britain. Georgia was the only colony not to send representation. Tensions continued to build between the colonies and the British. Following the Boston Tea Party, the British instituted military rule in Massachusetts and forced its residents to house British soldiers. Massachusetts began forming its own militia.
- 7. Events Leading to American Independence April 18, 1775: British soldiers marched from Boston to Concord, where the Patriots had a cache of weapons. Revere and William Dawes rode on horseback ahead of the British, warning the colonists of the impending British action. Paul Revere devised a signal for fellow Patriots to use to let the colonists know which route the British soldiers were taking. They were to light lanterns in the Old North Church: one if by land, and two if by sea.
- 8. The Shot Heard ‘Round the World April 19, 1775: The British arrived at Lexington. About 50 Patriots had gathered. It’s not clear who fired the first shot, but when it was over, eight Patriots were killed. The British continued to Concord, where more casualties occurred (on both sides). The war had begun.
- 9. America’s Path to Independence January, 1776: Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense Early summer, 1776: eight colonies support independence June, 1776: The committee of five appointed to work on the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776: The Declaration of Independence was debated by Congress and approved The committee of five: John Adams, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson. Franklin wrote the primary draft of the Declaration of Independence. Common Sense: Paine’s pamphlet laying out reasons for American independence
- 10. Declaration of Independence- 1776 We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed… The Declaration of Independence emphasizes equality and the belief that everyone can achieve liberty and happiness. This is the heart of the American Dream. As in the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence establishes a government to secure those rights and contains a clear focus on God.
- 11. The American Dream via Expansion and Land Ownership By the 1800s, the American Dream had become associated with land ownership. Manifest Destiny: America was “destined” to expand from the East coast to the West coast. The American Pioneer Laura Ingalls WilderDaniel Boone People such as Daniel Boone made their way across unexplored territory. Laura Ingalls Wilder and her contemporaries exemplify the free- spirited, hard-working pioneer. Community and individual dreams came together for the common goals of settlement and survival.
- 12. The American Dream via Expansion and Land Ownership The idea that American ingenuity and hard work results in success became the foundation of the American Dream. In his 1931 work, The Epic of America, James Truslow Adams published the definition below, which we will use as our starting point. “The American Dream is 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 . . . It 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 innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”
- 13. The American Dream Definition Let’s paraphrase that into a definition that we can easily use for the remainder of the course: The American Dream is the notion that anyone can achieve success through hard work, despite his or her background.