The American Dream?
Few terms are defined in so many different ways or bandied about more loosely
than “the American Dream.” To some people, the term is a joke, an object of satire.
To others, it merely signifies self-determined success, wealth, the “good life” of
modish clothes, sports cars, and hot tubs—in a word, the latest thing touted by
Madison Avenue. And to still others, less scornful or frivolous, it denotes a unique
set of social and moral ideals. The United States may not be in many respects quite
so exceptional as it believes itself to be. Nevertheless, the fact remains, as Lionel
Trilling once remarked, that it is the “only nation that prides itself upon a dream
and gives its name to one.” Thus it is no accident that one recent bestseller
challenged Americans to restore the Dream, while another asked them to reconsider
whether its best aspirations have been fulfilled. Best aspirations? What are they? In
short, what is the American Dream?
from The American Dream: One and Many- by Robert H. Fossum & John K. Roth
This class, American Studies 336, will use the American Dream as it’s central focus.
We will look at this “dream” both in our history as well as our literature. What does this
dream mean in our culture? How does it define us as a people? We will also look at the
question of attainment of that dream. Have we all achieved it? Have we all had equal access
to it? We are we today in this process?
The Settlement of America
Early American and Colonial Period
The story of the founding of the United States is one of exploration, settlement and
immigration. There were many factors involved in the settling of the American colonies.
They include:
a) the search for material riches, usually gold (Spanish)
b) the search for foreign markets, resources and trade routes (French and Dutch)
c) the development of colonies for economic benefit (English)
d) religious freedom (English)
e) availability of land, so scarce in Europe.
However, we would be remiss if we didn’t first account for
the original Americans, those peoples native to the land.
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I. Native Americans
The Native American peoples were the first to inhabit the Americas. These PaleoIndians crossed the land bridge from Asia across the Bering Strait and migrated into North
America some 11,000 years ago. From there they spread throughout the Americas in the first
1,000 years. They did not develop one distinct culture as many
popular myths would tell us.
The Northeast
The Native Americans who populated the Northeast were
divided into three distinct groups based on language – the
Eastern Woodland (Eastern Seaboard to North Carolina), the
Iroquois (Upstate New York) and the Central Algonquian (Great
Lakes region.)
 The Eastern Woodland were the first to encounter the Europeans. Without any time to
adapt or prepare, they were the most decimated and dispersed of the North American
tribes. Major tribes include the Delaware and the Powhatan of Pocahontas fame. The
treatment the Eastern Woodland faced from the English colonial settlers ranged from
an outright racist attempt by the Puritans to remove them from the land (by removal or
death) to the Virginians who felt they were an inferior, backwards race needing to be
educated and civilized.
 The Iroquois are the most famous of the Northeast tribes, the main tribes being the
Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca, Onondaga, Cayuga. The writings of James Fenimore
Cooper, such as The Last of the Mohicans, reflect this society.
 The Central Algonquian lived in the Lake Michigan and Superior regions and
included the Chippewa of Wisconsin and Minnesota, the Illinois and the Sauk and Fox
of Michigan to name just a few. They were most known for their ability to use the
natural resource of birch bark to build necessities from the very best canoes, to water
containers and wigwams for homes.
A. The Southeast – Five Civilized Tribes
Around 1600, the advent of European colonization led to massive depopulation due to
diseases such as smallpox, which in some cases killed more than half a tribe’s population
within weeks, warfare and removal. With the settlement of Charleston in 1670, many natives
were taken as slaves. The broken chiefdoms were reorganized as the Five Civilized Tribes –
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the Cherokee (Ga.,NC), Choctaw(MS), Chickasaw, Creek(AL) and Seminole (FL). The
Cherokee in particular were known for their written language and a constitution.
C. The Plains
The natives of the Plains can be generally divided into two groups: the Sioux and Crow
of the Central Plains (Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana) and the Comanche and Pawnee of
the Southern Plains (Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Texas)
The dominant cultural features of the Plains Indians included the use of the ample
buffalo for food and clothing as well as the tipi for shelter in a nomadic lifestyle. The
introduction of the horse from the south (Spanish) and the gun from the east (French and
English) drove more sedentary tribes as the Shoshone off the Plains and established the
nomadic lifestyle the Plains Indians were known for.
D. Plateau and Basin
Constituting the present states of
Washington and Idaho, the Plateau was an area of
rich resources, mountains and rivers. The tribes in
the area included the Nez Perce, the Walla Walla,
the Yakima and the Spokane. They subsisted by
fishing (salmon). Louis and Clark opened the way
for settlers and were warmly welcomed by the
Nez Perce in 1805)
E. Southwest
What makes the Southwest so unique is that there are two nations (U.S. and Mexico)
but just one culture, dominated by Native Americans. The Spanish attempted to conquer the
land, but were resisted by the Apache and the Pueblos. They did introduce Christianity and
the their language and many smaller nomadic groups were assimilated and are today
indistinguishable from the Spanish or Mexican populations. However, even though they
conquered land, they were not able to establish a large enough presence to conquer the
culture. Some isolated groups actually remained untouched.
In class journal: Label the different views of Native Americans given by various artists.
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Homework Assignment #1
1. Discuss the reason for the settling of what would become the United
States?
2. Discuss the Native Americans of the Northeast.
a.
b.
c.
3. Discuss the 5 Civilized Tribes.
4. Discuss the Native Americans of the Plains.
5. Discuss the Native Americans of the Plateau and Basin.
6. Discuss the Native Americans of the Southwest.
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Development of 4 Distinct Cultures
Early European settlement in the colonies was quite diverse, even from within England.
Thus, 4 distinct cultures developed along the Eastern seaboard and into the Appalachian
Mountains.
Southern Colonies
Virginia and John Smith
In 1607, the settlement of Jamestown was founded in what would become Virginia.
Jamestown was in a very poor location and the majority of settlers had come looking for easy
riches (gold) refusing to work in the fields. By the winter of 1607 there were only 38
colonists left alive. If not for the strict leadership of John
Smith and the constant aid and advice from the local natives
(Powhatan), the colony would have been doomed.
The Jamestown colony's main record was the writings
of Smith. He was an incurable romantic, and he seems to have
embroidered his adventures. To him we owe the famous story
of the Indian maiden, Pocahontas. Whether fact or fiction, the
tale is ingrained in the American historical imagination. The
story recounts how Pocahontas, favorite daughter of Chief
Powhatan, saved Captain Smith's life when he was a prisoner
of the chief.
“brown gold”
The story of this colony almost ends here, except for the coming of John Rolfe in 1612
and his experiments with growing tobacco. (In 1614, Rolfe married Powhatan's daughter,
Pocahontas) Demand in England for tobacco ("brown gold") gave the colony the commodity
it needed to build its success around. The need for laborers to grow the tobacco led to
indentured servitude (contracts to work for 4-7 years in exchange for the passage to America)
and the earliest African indentured servants (eventual slavery). Relations with the Native
Americans was never more than a tense peace, as tobacco is very tough on the soil and
growers were constantly looking for new land to farm, thus placing great pressures on the
natives that occupied the colony with them. In the next twenty years over 10,000 English
settlers and soldiers were sent and the population of the Powhatan continued to drop.
“Distressed Cavaliers”
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By the 1640’s, the Puritans were in control of England. The governor of Virginia, Sir
William Berkeley used this to recruit “distressed cavaliers” to come to the colony to get away
from the Puritans. Known as the Cavalier migration (1642-1676), this brought the wealthy
families (and their numerous indentured servants) that would successfully populate Virginia
and eventually colonies around it.
Maryland, North and South Carolina, Georgia
In 1634, George Calvert (Lord Baltimore) was granted a charter to settle Maryland as
a haven for Catholics. Americas first religious toleration act was passed as a protection for
these Catholics that would soon become a minority due to Protestant migration. In 1663, the
king granted a charter for the Carolinas to a group of wealthy planters. The planters had
difficulty recruiting settlers to the region until a large group
migrated from the island of Barbados, bringing with them the
concepts of plantations and slavery. In 1733, Georgia was
settled as a buffer between the wealthy plantations in the
Carolinas and Spanish Florida. To settle the region debtors
from British jails were used.
Literature
Pre-revolutionary southern literature was aristocratic and
secular, reflecting the dominant social and economic systems of
the southern plantations. Early English immigrants were drawn
to the southern colonies because of economic opportunity rather
than religious freedom. Although many southerners were poor farmers or trades people
living not much better than slaves, the southern literate upper class was shaped by the
classical, Old World ideal of a noble landed gentry made possible by slavery. The institution
released wealthy southern whites from manual labor, afforded them leisure, and made the
dream of an aristocratic life in the American wilderness possible. The Puritan emphasis on
hard work, education and earnestness was rare -- instead we hear of such pleasures as
horseback riding and hunting.
William Byrd (1674-1744)
Southern culture naturally revolved around the ideal of the gentleman. A Renaissance
man equally good at managing a farm and reading classical Greek, he had the power of a
feudal lord. William Byrd describes the gracious way of life at his plantation, Westover, in
his famous letter of 1726 to his English friend Charles Boyle, Earl of Orrery:
Besides the advantages of pure air, we abound in all kinds of provisions without
expense (I mean we who have plantations). I have a large family of my own, and my
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doors are open to everybody, yet I have no bills to pay, and half- a-crown will rest
undisturbed in my pockets for many moons altogether.
Like one of the patriarchs, I have my flock and herds, my bondmen and bondwomen,
and every sort of trade amongst my own servants, so that I live in a kind of
independence on everyone but Providence...
Cavalier Culture
These “Distressed Cavaliers” included many of the
Virginia elite families such as Randolph, Madison, Byrd and
Washington. They came from the south of England and
brought a highly stratified society (rich and poor), dominated
by males. They were less skilled and less literate than their
Puritan counterparts and 75% of them were indentured
servants. They
were Anglican and were indeed quite religious, persecuting and driving out others.
“fried chicken”
From southern England they
brought southern speech patterns (I be,
Y’all, etc), houses built of brick
(wealthy) or wood (poorer – very
simple, built out of anything), and
“southern cooking” – the poor ate mush
(harmony or corn porridge), or mess (one dish meal of greens and salt meat); the wealthy ate
red meat (roast beef)and game . Eating was a sensual experience, enjoyed in courses.
Heavily spiced, the specialty was meat fricassees, fried chicken, and roasting (sign of wealth
was a grill or roasting pit).
Just say no?
Sexually, males were often seen as sexual predators, with punishment for
adultery/fornication heavier on women. (Seen as a threat to male family bloodlines.)
Children were named after warriors, kings and queens (William,
Robert, Richard, Edward, George, Charles) and child rearing was
seemingly indulgent, preparing the son especially to take their place
in the family hierarchy (Social grace). Education was only for the
elite men.
Cavalier ethic
Dress more opulent than Massachusetts (slashed sleeves, cuffs).
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Sport involved horse racing and hunting and they settled in large estates scattered around
countryside. The ambivalence of cavalier ethic was that they had to work hard, but strove to
be a “gentleman” by not working.
Liberty was important, but involved the power to rule of others while not being ruled
by others. It never occurred to them that liberty belonged to everyone. Accordingly, they
believed in limited government
Homework Assignment #2
1. Discuss the difficulties faced by the settlers at Jamestown.
2. Discuss the early literature of Jamestown.
3. Discuss the role of “brown gold.”
4. Discuss the “distressed cavaliers.”
5. Discuss the settling of:
a. Maryland
b. the Carolinas
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c. Georgia
6. Discuss Southern literature.
7. Discuss William Byrd.
8. Discuss 8 aspects of the cavalier culture.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
In class journal: How does the Governor’s Mansion in Williamsburg show the concept of
royalty?
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Middle Colonies
New York and New Jersey
In 1625, the Dutch founded the city of New
Amsterdam (NYC) and thecolony of New Netherlands.
The colony was founded solely for economic reasons to
establish trading posts with the Iroquois along the Hudson
River. In 1664 King Charles 11 granted his brother, the
Duke of York, permission to drive out the Dutch and the
colony was renamed New York. The Duke later gave a piece
of his land to two friends, New Jersey. (New Jersey had
originally been founded in 1638 as New Sweden.)
Pennsylvania and Delaware
The leader of the Quakers in England, William Penn, wanted to establish a colony that
was good and fair and consistent with the Quaker values of tolerance, acceptance and
inclusion. He recruited around Europe for his "Holy Experiment." Pennsylvania was founded
in 1681. Along with Quakers from England, he attracted French, German, Scottish, Irish and
Dutch settlers. In 1682, Penn acquired the three "lower counties" from the Duke of York.
Delaware gave Penn access to the ocean for trade. (Penn. is the only one of the 13 colonies
without oceanfront)
Quaker Culture
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Centered around a benevolent “God of Love and Light”, the Quakers believed Christ
died for all, not just a chosen few. They came from moderate to humble means and their
families were less hierarchal – a union of equal individuals in sight of God (including
children.) Sex was for propagation only, almost a sin in itself and many couples were
celibate. They often would not touch food tainted by social evil (sugar – slavery; salt – taxes
for-war), simple and austere. Brought process of dehydration to preserve meat (Quaker dried
beef), cream (cream cheese) and fruit (apple butter.) Dress – “going plain” – was only what
was needed to cover their shame and fence out cold. Work
was seen as a form of worship, encouraged industry,
discipline and condemned idleness. They were among the
earliest to commit to philanthropy and charity and believed
in reciprocal liberty (all deserved.)
Penn’s Treaty with the Delaware Indians – Benjamin West
Backcountry/Borderlands Culture
The people of the backcountry came from the northernmost parts of
England, Scotland and Ireland and passed right through Philadelphia and
settled in Appalachians, Ozarks, Lower Miss. Valley and Texas. They were
middle to lower class, a culture dominated by violence and insecurity.
Famous families included Jackson, Polk, Jackson, Houston, and Henry.
hillbillies
Their speech included words such as whar, thar, young-uns, he come in, he done it,
and they growed up. There was no equality – men were in control. Family – clan and kin –
included related families that lived near each other and shared an identity, common ancestors.
They were extremely loyal to clan. They had wild parties to
celebrate weddings, a lot of whiskey and shooting! Sex was
much more in the open; a celebration of sensuality. They
dressed sexy and revealing and had a high rate of premarital
pregnancy.
Children were raised to gain the skills to exist in a harsh
life, fierce pride and stubborn independence. Antipathy existed
towards organized religion and churches, but not to preachers
and preaching. Therefore, camp meetings and itinerant preachers became the norm.
book larning...
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Little literacy existed, even with the elite. Andrew Jackson was said to have read two
books in his life and mistrusted anyone who only had one way to spell words!
Theirs was an oral culture. Potatoes and scones (unleavened cakes or
biscuits) were standard. They drank whiskey (even children) with meals.
Simmering pot (boiling of food) feasts were common,
with black iron cooking pots hung over back country
hearths. Their dress accentuated both masculinity and
femininity. They believed in self sovereignty for order
(personal government) and natural liberty (nobody can take any rights
away from you! – Patrick Henry!)
Homework Assignment #3
1. Discuss the settling of New York and New Jersey.
2. Discuss William Penn and the Holy Experiment.
3. Discuss 6 aspects of Quaker culture.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
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f.
4. Discuss 6 aspects of the backcountry culture.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
New England
Plymouth Colony
In England, the Puritans felt that the Protestant Church of England (Anglican) was still
too close to the corrupt Catholic Church. One group, known as the Separatists, felt that it
was impossible to reform the church in England. Led by William Bradford, the Pilgrims
sailed to America, landing at Plymouth in 1620. The leaders signed the Mayflower
Compact, an important landmark in the development of the
American system of democracy.
Massachusetts Bay
Those Puritans who attempted to stay in England and reform
the Anglican Church (Dissenters) became discouraged by the slow
pace of reform and sailed in 1630. Led by John Winthrop, the
Puritans founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony by present day
Boston. The colony fared much better than Jamestown had in the
early years (better planning, larger numbers and much more healthy
environment) and by 1640 had grown to over 20,000 people,
enveloping the smaller Plymouth Colony.
City Upon a Hill
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The Puritans felt they had a special covenant with God and were to create a moral
society to serve as
a beacon for others to follow. ("City Upon a Hill") Winthrop envisioned this community
working together toward common goals according
to Christian principles, with a close relationship
between the state and the church. (congregational
system) They believed they had to carry out god's
will and called on the people to work long and hard
in the name of God (Puritan work ethic). Church
attendance was mandatory and all members of the
community were watched for signs of
disobedience.
Witches and Commies – they’re all the same!
This overemphasis on the on the actions of the community did have a large negative
component, the inability of the Puritans to tolerate those who were different or who disagreed
with them. This Puritan trait of intolerance led to three significant historical occurrences.
a) In 1692, young girls playing games accused an African
slave of practicing witchcraft. This eventually led to wholesale
accusations, many motivated by class differences within the
community, and the hanging of 19 innocent citizens. (Salem Witch
Trials) The inflexibility of the community led to the growth of the
hysteria surrounding these occurrences, as they would in modern
day parallels such as Communist scares, racism and gay-bashing.
b) Native Americans were treated as "heathen" and brutally suppressed by the
Puritans. This separates the Puritans from the Cavaliers in Virginia, who thought the natives
were backward savages and could be lived with. The Puritans systematically drove the
natives off their land (many times to take cultivated land they themselves had not been
successful at creating.) The first major conflict (Pequot War of 1637) led to the near
destruction of the Pequot nation, as nearly 400 women and children were murdered as ran
from the Puritan attacks.
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c) Dissent from within the Puritan colony was not accepted, leading to the banishment
of notable leaders such as Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson. Williams felt that the
Puritans had no right to illegally take land from the natives and banish settlers for their
religious beliefs. He was banished in 1636 and settled a new colony called Providence
(Rhode Island). Hutchinson practiced an extreme religion and was banished in 1638, also
moving to Rhode Island.
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
Edwards was molded by his extreme sense of duty and by the
rigid Puritan environment, which conspired to make him defend
strict and gloomy Calvinism from the forces of liberalism springing
up around him. He is best known for his frightening, powerful
sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (1741):
Sinners!
[I]f God should let you go, you would immediately sink, and sinfully
descend, and plunge into the bottomless gulf....The God that holds you over the pit of hell,
much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is
dreadfully provoked....he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the
bottomless gulf.
Edwards's sermons had enormous impact, sending whole congregations into hysterical fits of
weeping. In the long run, though, their grotesque harshness alienated people from the
Calvinism that Edwards valiantly defended.
Puritan culture
Calvinists, they were much stricter in Massachusetts than in
England. They came from middle class origins, few being wealthy
or poor. They followed the 5 Doctrines of Calvinism:
a. depravity – The total corruption of man due to
Adam’s original sin, that evil is ever-present
in the world and we are all capable of doing all kinds of evil.
b. covenant – A contract with God, no conditions but responsibilities.
c. election – only a chosen few are admitted to covenant, Christ died for the elect
d. grace – God’s gift to the elect, intimacy with the divine.
e. love – (most ignored of the Puritan legacy) God’s love and love to each other
Oh that whine!
They had a high rate of literacy and origins in East
Anglia (east of London.) Their speech included the
Yankee twang and Norfolk whine and they lived Salt box
houses with wood clapboard siding. Family was not an
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end to itself, but an instrument of the highest religious purpose, a covenanted family. The
nuclear family is most important. Males were more important than females and sex was as an
expected occurrence and could indeed be enjoyed. Adultery and fornication were serious
crimes and both partners would be punished equally. Children were to be totally obedient
(due to their ability to be evil) and under strict and constant supervision.
Church, church, church!
Religious meeting houses were on a hilltop, bare and simple. The pulpit was up high,
lectures lasted all day on Sunday. They were obsessed with and feared witchcraft. All were
educated and town schools were set up (precursor to required public education.) They
greatly supported higher learning (colleges- Harvard.) Eating was not to be enjoyed, but
necessary. All food came at once, piled high. Food was boiled
(meat and vegetables
Old Ship Meeting House, Hingham, Massachusetts
together) relentlessly, without any seasoning. Cold baked beans was the staple. Baking
(breads and pies) in ovens was common. Dress was simple, with “sadd” colors – brown,
russet, tawny, dead leaf. No black! Colleges still use (Harvard–crimson; Brown-brown,
Dartmouth – forest green) these colors.
Alarm clocks?
They did not like to waste any time and invented alarm clocks. They sought to
eliminate the extremes of rank (rich and poor). The New England town was a small cluster
of houses (neighborhoods) around meeting halls, schools, common areas and markets.
Societal order was kept by force and freedom was a collective liberty (for community, not the
individual)
Homework Assignment # 4
1. Discuss the Separatists.
2. Discuss the Dissenters.
3. Discuss the success of Massachusetts Bay.
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4. Discuss the City Upon the Hill.
5. Discuss 3 results of intolerance.
a.
b.
c.
6. Discuss the literature of:
a. William Bradford
b. Anne Bradstreet
c. Jonathan Edwards
7. Discuss 8 aspects of Puritan culture.
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a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h..
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