Introduction

The revolutionary documents, essays, and speeches that make up the literature of the American political dream have, over the centuries, defined not only American laws, but the nation's very identity. Americans are united by a dream of freedom and self-sufficiency, which is, in essence, a political dream; because Americans come from every religion, ethnicity, and race, it is political ideals that bind them. The American political dream is a constant work in progress, a fact made evident after reviewing the literature that spans the centuries beginning with the country's birth. From Patrick Henry's "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" speech to the 1775 Virginia Convention to Barbara Jordan's 1976 Democratic Convention Keynote Address, the ever-changing American political dream is consistently written by persuasive leaders intent on building, inspiring, and growing a nation of like-minded yet very independent individuals.

The Dream of a New Government