Individual Prosperity and the American Dream Timeline 1890–1919 ∼ Striking it Rich Indians massacred at Wounded Knee (1890) / Alaskan gold rush begins in 1897 a year after the discovery of gold in the Klondike; peaks the following year / Sixty...

The Southern American Dream Introduction The southern United States are differentiated from the northern United States by far more than geographic location. Unlike other regions of the country, the South is defined by a distinct historic and cultural...

The American Dream Abroad Introduction Since the Pilgrims emigrated from England in 1620, America has represented a place of freedom and financial gain. While the Separatists fled to the New World for religious acceptance, cultural identity, and civil...

The Immigrant American Dream Introduction For centuries, citizens of the world have arrived on American shores with little more than a suitcase and a dream of a better life. The promise of freedom and opportunity continues to lure foreigners to the...

The American Political Dream 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....

The American Dream in the Nineteenth Century Introduction The American dream of the nineteenth century was marked by a heightened sense of individualism and self-interest—a natural response to America's relatively new freedom from British...

The American Dream Today Introduction The American dream has always been a significant theme in literature throughout the nation's history, so it is no surprise that writers at the dawn of the twenty-first century are exploring issues and...

The Colonial American Dream Introduction The roots of the American dream can be traced all the way back to the first colonists to settle the New World. The Puritans who fled religious persecution in England became self-made successes throughout New...

The African American Dream Introduction As any broad survey of American literature can attest, the notion of the American dream has often meant something different to African Americans than it has to any other segment of the population. This is due to...

The American Dream in the Twentieth Century Introduction The American dream has long been an ideal of prosperity not just for Americans, but for people across the globe. The promise of freedom and a better life drew hopeful immigrants before there was...

The Frontier American Dream Introduction: the Frontier Opens In The Epic of America, published in 1931, James Truslow Adams notes the early days of the American dream, as created by the wild frontier: Two of the strongest influences in our life,...

The Native American Dream Introduction What is often depicted in mainstream society as American Indian culture is, in fact, a multitude of unique native cultures that once spanned the thousands of miles that make up the continental United States. For...

The Asian American Dream Introduction Although the first Asian immigrants to the United States were eighteenth-century Filipino sailors making port in undeveloped territory now belonging to Louisiana, the steady migration of Asians from their home...

The Hispanic American Dream Introduction The term "Hispanic American" is a deceptively simplistic one. Hispanic Americans—Americans from a Spanish-speaking background—may be from many different ethnic and cultural groups that...

The American Feminist Dream Introduction In the early years of the country, the traditional American dream of forging a new frontier, achieving instant success, and assuming a new and prosperous identity was not readily available to women. Men would...

The term American Dream has had many shades of meaning throughout American history. Today, it generally refers to the idea that one's prosperity depends upon one's own abilities and hard work, not on a rigid class structure. For some, it is the...