An examination of the origins of the American Dream The Links to two songs, "Beverly Hills" by Weezer and "American Dream" by Switchfoot do not appear correctly unless you download the file.

1. I tried to stay ahead
I tried to stay on top
I tried to play the part
But somehow I forgot
Just what I did it for
And why I wanted more
This type of modern life
Is it for me?
—Madonna “ American Life”

2. The American Dream
The ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity held to
be available to every American.
A life of personal success and material comfort as sought
by individuals in the U.S.

3. What is the American
Dream?

4. Origins of the
American Dream
Puritan notion of “city on a hill”—a
theocracy organized around the word
of God (where material success was an
indicator of God’s favor)

5. The Historical Origins of the
American Dream
From the Revolutionary War later half of the
nineteenth century
Much of America was
undeveloped and
represented to many
people a promise of
land ownership
(Far and Away)

6. The Industrial Revolution
Wealth as Possible: Many early American prospectors
headed west of the Rocky Mountains to buy acres of
cheap land, hoping to find deposits of gold.

7. Western Europeans escaping the Irish
potato famines, the Highland clearances and
the aftermath of Napoleon in the rest of
Europe came to America to escape a poor
quality of life at home.
Irish family evicted during Land War, c.1879.

8. They wanted to embrace the promise of
financial security and constitutional
freedom they had heard existed so widely in
the United States.

9. By the turn of the century, however, our capitalist
economy was producing economic surpluses; now,
success is indicated by displays of excessive wealth
”The pace was faster, the buildings were higher, the
morals were looser and liquor was cheaper…”
F Scott Fitzgerald

10. Late nineteenth
century writer
Wrote over 103
stories aimed at
juvenile boys

11. His novels about down-
and-out young boys
who were able to
achieve wealth and
success through
honesty, hard work,
frugality, and luck
helped entrench the
dream within popular
culture.

12. Though not considered talented, his
influence is considered second only to
Mark Twain.

13. Andrew Carnegie and John D.
Rockefeller
Close to the 20th Century, major
industrialist personalities
became the new model of the
American Dream.

14. Many of these begin life in the
humblest of conditions but later
control enormous corporations and
fortunes.

15. This acquisition of great wealth appeared to
demonstrate that if you had talent, intelligence,
and a willingness to work extremely hard, you
were likely to be a success in life as a result.

16. “Beverly Hills” by Weezer
What reasons does the speaker give for wanting to live in Beverly Hills? What
does he find wrong with where he is currently living? How does the goal of
living in Beverly Hills relate to the American Dream?

17. Where I come from isn't all that great
My automobile is a piece of crap
My fashion sense is a little whack
And my friends are just as screwy as me
I didn't go to boarding schools
Preppy girls never looked at me
Why should they I ain't nobody
Got nothing in my pocket
VS
Look at all those movie stars
They're all so beautiful and clean
When the housemaids scrub the floors
They get the spaces in between
I wanna live a life like that
I wanna be just like a king
Take my picture by the pool
Cause I'm the next big thing!

18. Now compare that to
Switchfoot’s song,
“American Dream”
As you listen to this song, ask yourself
what the speaker of the song is
criticizing about the American Dream

19. When success is equated with
excess
The ambition for excess wrecks us
As top of the mind becomes the bottom line
When success is equated with excess
If your time ain't been nothing for When we're fighting for the Beamer, the Lexus
money As the heart and soul breath in the company
goals
I start to feel really bad for you,
Where success is equated with excess
honey
Maybe honey, put your money where your
'Cause baby's always talkin' 'bout a
mouth's been running
If your time ain't been nothing but money ring
And talk has always been the cheapest
thing
Is it true would you do what I want you
to
If I show up with the right amount of
bling?
Like a puppet on a monetary string
Maybe we've been caught singing
Red, white, blue, and green
But that ain't my America,

20. Fitzgerald believed that the true
American Dream, the quest for
happiness and fulfillment by re-
inventing yourself with imagination,
tenacity and hard work had been
corrupted.
In the Roaring 20’s, people
associated happiness with wealth,
and the quest for happiness and self
improvement became replaced with
the quest to simply acquire
monetary wealth.