Ben Franklin sought happiness in the virtues morality, industry, and frugality, but others for others it was the pursuit of capitalism, climbing the social ladder, or filling your life with possessions. The complexity of the American Dream is that it has mean something different for each culture. Literature has been the vehicle for capturing the appraised dream for those in search of its security. The notion that there is opportunity for life to be richer and fuller for everyone has been replaced by the bitter reality of the American Dream, it is only a fantasy.
Is not easy to answer those questions, but it is a fact that will be discussed in this essay. Historically United States has been a land of immigrants. From the Vikings, that crossed the Atlantic one thousand years ago looking for a place to conquer, until the recent immigrations of Latin American people who are looking for a new economic and social chance, America has been converted in the land of opportunities. In 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers (expelled by the Anglican Church) went abroad the "Mayflower" arriving in Plymouth, Massachusetts; that was the beginning of the first great immigration of modern time. People from different parts of Europe settled in the territory constructing a new society's idea of freedom, ownership and community.
Many times throughout history, a specific individual or a group comes along and shapes a society. Religious groups often arrive and settle on a new piece of land, and happen to shape that society, around their beliefs and religion. The New England Puritans and the Chesapeake Catholics are prime examples to show how religion shaped the development of a colonial society. In 1624, the early 17th century, the religious group called the Puritans, settled for the first time in the New England territory. Once there, they chose to inhabit the Massachusetts area.
This time period of conquest over the New World was known as the Age of Exploration, and by the 1700s, they kept their pickings. A New World meant more land to build homes and plant crops, and more money to be earned by buying out new houses and selling new crops grown in foreign soil. Spain claimed Mexico, and the Southwest portions of what would be known as America. France got their hands on most of present-day Canada, as well as Louisiana. The Dutch set foot on land they called New Amsterdam, however, The English, who had settled their first colony in Jamestown, Virginia, drove the Dutch out and claimed New Amsterdam for themselves, later renaming it New York.
Forgiveness could be thought of as the potion that unites America and brings equality to the redeemed world. Although the American Dream is considered to be the link that binds society, there are some individuals that do not posses link to unit. The African Americans have been struggling for many years to obtain the piece of the American Dream, their place in America. Joseph Kennedy has frustration and anger built up while trying to find his place in America, “Goddamn it! I was born in this country!
Document Based Question on the Colonies The 1600's were a time of global expansion, and the search for a new world where people could start their lives anew and have a say in the way their society was run. After Christopher Columbus's discovery of the Americas, countries began to send colonies to settle and establish a presence in the vast and unconquered land. The English sent some of the largest amounts of immigrants to the new world. One English group that came over to the new world was that of the Separatist Puritans. The puritans were in search of a new land were they would not be influenced by the outside world and could create a community centered entirely around their religion.
At first, immigrants came to America to find freedom: freedom of religion, freedom to live by one’s own culture while being under the protection of the government, etc. Later, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, citizens tried to push immigrants to become “Americanized”. In this case, the American mainstream comprised of people who were forced to disregard their ethnic origin and adapt to American culture. Now, the meaning of the American mainstream has once again changed. It is now comprised of people who strive to keep their ethnic origin, while forming bonding and bridging relationships with others to increase the social capital of their home, the United States of America.
Religion in the New World exploded into the land with the colonization of thousands of immigrants. It played an important role in the development of thought in the West. Religion was one of the first concepts to spark the desires of people from other countries to emigrate to the new lands. While many religions blossomed on the American shores of the Atlantic, a basic structure held for most of them, being predominantly derived from Puritanism. Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement, showed the link the new settlers had to God when Sir Thomas Dale said the following in 1610: Be not dismayed at all For scandall cannot doe us wrong, God will not let us fall.
Its purpose was to manage the colonies and plantations around America and other locations (Reich, 2011, p. 104). Furthermore once this was established colonies became more decentralized and began to govern themselves, slowly becoming Americanized, setting the stage for revolution. Many of the factors that set the stage for revolution took years of developing, the time it took and generations of work that eventually manifested in the American Revolution (Reich, 2011, p. 264), (Brinkley, 2010, p. 100). The factors that lead down the road to revolution and a national identity are religion, separate unregulated freedom to worship (Reich, 2011, p. 265). Also, the proclamation of 1763, that regulated where colonist could not migrate and expand past the Appalachian mountains within the land where they could etch out a living (Reich, 2011, p. 265).
Immigration and Its Impact on America America would not be America without immigrants. In addition to America having been founded by immigrants, the nation was literally ‘built’ by immigrants. In 1565, Spanish explorers established Augustine, Florida which is America’s oldest known colony. However, the largest early colony of immigrants were the English colonists who settled in Jamestown,Virgina and Plymouth, Massachusetts. These English colonists, known as the Puritans, came to America in the early 1600’s.