The American Dream in the 1960's Essay
The American Dream remains a national philosophy of the United States of America in which freedom comprises the opportunity for success and prosperity, and an upward social motion achieved by hard working. In defining the American Dream, James Truslow Adams in 1931, he argued that life should be richer and better, and fuller for everybody, with an opportunity for each one according to capability or achievement irrespective of circumstances of birth or social class. The impression of the American Dream stays rooted in the U.S. Pronouncement of Independence that declares all men got created equal and endowed by their maker with certain, absolute rights including Liberty, Life and the pursuit of Joy (Ward 13).
To bury the entire American Dream with the 60âs would be a lot, but a substantial share of it certainly appears to have gotten lost with the bright new leaders assassinations, the violent suffocation of political scandals, protest movements, and the long strained out Vietnam war. As it became apparent that the movement had eventually failed in its efforts to make a change, the American Dream absconded a little further from the people who fought to implement it (Cullen 6). This paper aims at producing an understanding of the relocation of the American Dream and played a significant in establishing a new way of life to avoid the fear of the previous generationâs traditions.
Since its establishment in 1776, the US has regarded and endorsed itself as an empire of prosperity and liberty. The implication of “American Dream” has transformed over the progress of history. Historically, this Dream originated from the New World mystique especially concerning the accessibility for farm ownership low – cost land. As the Virginia Royal governor noted in 1774 that the Americans for ever envisage the Lands further off remain still better than those which stay already settled. He further added that if they achieved Paradise, they would go on if they perceived of an improved place farther west (Hochschild 34).
Today, the ethos simply indicates the aptitude through participation in the economy and society, for everyone to achieve success. According to this dream, all included the opportunity for the individualâs children to grow up receiving a suitable education and career deprived of artificial barriers. It is the occasion to make individual choices with the void of the prior restrictions that restricted people according to their caste, religion, race, or ethnicity and class. Immigrants to the US sponsored ethnic papers in their language; the editors normally promoted the American Dream (Olson 34).
The politics in 1960s reflects revolution in the Martin Luther King Jr. life. He changed lives of blacks for countless years to come. Martin Luther Jr. did this once he began to advocate for blacks from 1955 to 1968. His efforts ended in 1968 since he got assassinated while he led a demonstration in Tennessee. Even though, he got assassinated, his dream lives on nowadays. Martin Luther Jr. influenced the 1960s in many perspectives. He fought sturdily against racism and protested several times against it. He remains one of the leading reasons why the US remains the way it stands today (Olson 112).
Another changing politics element in the 1960s stood the John F. Kennedy presidential term. He remained one of the four American presidents who got successfully assassinated. The John F. Kennedy assassination eventually led to the establishment of a police force which protected the president. However, before his death, he got involved in three key events in US history; the construction of the Berlin Wall, American Civil Rights Movement, the Cuban Missile Crisis. The presidential term of John F. Kennedy has changed America and prepared it the way it stands today (Olson 113).
A third constituent of change in 1960s politics remained in the war at Vietnam. It stood a time for change because of several motives. One of the many motives stood because of the draft; draft is when individuals get chosen to serve the military. This caused demonstrations since many mothers and wives had to give their husbands and sons to fight, and more likely to perish in the war. Those stands just a few reasons as to why the 1960s Vietnam War simplified a time for change and as anew way to live to avoid the fear of the previous generation traditions (Lieu 12).
Norman Mailer (1923 – 2007) remained a protuberant figure in the artistic section of America: he wrote novels, screenplays, newspaper articles and plays, and directed films. His first book, âThe Naked and the Deadâ, got published in 1948, after when he wrote numerous fictional and nonfictional literal works. Mailer stood a chief countercultural figure, often hardly critiquing the American society on his public and speeches writing. In 1955 Mailer founded the âVillage Voiceâ magazine, another weekly newspaper highlighting arts and politics (Mc Donald 145). From 1952 to 1963 the author also edited the âDissentâ, a magazine on culture, politics, and society. He stood a Democratic aspirant for Mayor of New York (1969) but failed in the election. Mailer twice won the Pulitzer Prize: The Armies of the Night in 1968 and The Executioner’s Song in 1979.
The Armies of the Nights: The Novel as History, History as a Novel (1968) depicts the events at March on the Pentagon, who was an anti – Vietnam protest held in Washington in October 1967. Mailer contributed in the demonstration as a public personality: he gave numerous speeches and deliberately got himself arrested. He adopts an omniscient narrator position, discussing to himself frequently as “Mailer,” and seeing himself from the outside. The novel stands divided into two sections subtitled The Novel as History and History as a Novel. The first section, which stands more than three quarters of the book, remains an individual view on what occurred on the demonstration weekend. It begins with Mailer presenting a speech at Ambassador Theater, changes on to describe the draft cards burning at the Justice Department, and lastly the march to Pentagon and Mailers jail stay. The second section remains a more objective explanation of the event, containing numerous excerpts from eye witness reports and newspapers. It functions as a synopsis of illustration and an assessment of how it got treated in the conventional media (Mc Donald 227).
The Hippies in 1960s have transformed the social status of the US. The reason they sought peace remained for the reason that the Vietnam War was on its preliminary, and many people died. Another reason the hippies required love was because blacks got just set free, and racialism was just popping in. They have altered the social status in the US because of the system they lived (Steinheimer 11).
Another development in the 1960s stood the racism against black people. Two famous people fighting against racism within 1960s were Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X, said that all men stays equal, and racism always exists, we just have to stay going on the decent path to fight against it. Even though, many people fought strongly against racism, the vice still exists these days. Lastly, a third social alteration in the 1960s remained the new freedoms that everybody had. For instance, the people recognized their right to speech and freedom to protest. In addition, the diverse citizens complained and spoke out of what they believed in altered much of the governmentâs resolutions about several different subjects. The different rights that the people exploited have changed and molded the US today (Steinheimer 19).
