The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers. This set of ideals defines what it means to be an American. It includes the opportunity for economic prosperity and success, social mobility, and the freedom to pursue one’s own goals and dreams. It is sometimes criticized as being unattainable or unrealistic.
The concept of an “American Dream” has been around since at least 1831 when Alexis de Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America: “In each of my voyages I have seen Americans engaged in all kinds of business; I have seen them conduct themselves in a thousand ways; but until I went to America I never saw any place where all those who are born there become so completely equal that they all have similar hopes, tastes, and pleasures.”
The term was popularized by James Truslow Adams in his 1931 book The Epic of America: A History of the United States. He defined it as: “That dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.”
