Sophs #3 journal: The American Dream [due Friday 12-6]
You've studied the early colonists and then the early Americans. Both groups of people had visions of the greatness of America. The Puritans envisioned a religious "city upon a hill" nurtured and protected by their God. America's founding fathers constituted a democratic republic that would encourage other governments throughout the world to also engage in a social contract with its citizens, ensuring a protection of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in a democratic republic. America was created to be a model government for the rest of the world.
A Frenchman, Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur, emigrated to the colonies in 1755. He married a American-born women, raised a family, and farmed in Orange County, NY. Life was going well until the Revolutionary War broke out. Unwilling to choose between the revolutionary and the Tory cause, de Crevecoeur fled to England, leaving his wife and children. When the war ended, he published a book in 1782, Letters From an American Farmer, adapting the pseudonym of an American farmer, James, and writing back in epistles (letters) to his brethren in England. The book told of the promise of the good life in America; it is one of the first written statements of the American Dream.
The notion of the American Dream (even today) represents a romanticized ideal of the hope and promise of America. For de Crevecoeur, the American Dream promised these new and exciting gifts to all who dared to call themselves, Americans:
1. America is an asylum, a refuge for Europe's poor and downtrodden
2. The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe
3. The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.
4. The American is free to worship any God as he pleases, and religion demands little of him.
5. Americans are the "western pilgrims," bringing the best of Europe to this new land, and even making it better. Americans are looked upon as leaders of the world.
Throughout America's history, there is no doubt that the American Dream has been realized by millions of successful people. There is also little doubt that reality of America did not always live up to the Dream. Undoubtedly, millions of people experienced failures, too--nightmares, not dreams.
Look over the five aspects of deCrevecouer's Dream listed above.
Write about how any ONE of those ideas either rewarded OR failed any ONE individual. Ideally, I'd like you to relate a personal story about a relative or someone you closely know. However, if you absolutely cannot relate a personal story, you are free to write about someone else, but NOT someone whose story has been told many times. If you have to write about someone whom you researched, provide your information source at the end of your writing.
REMEMBER, WRITE A MINIMUM OF 25 BLOG LINES OR 200 WORDS.
posted by JTF @ 11:12 AM
73 comments
73 Comments:
Guillaume de Crevecoeur wrote about the gifts granted to those who believed they were Americans. One of the gifts that was on de Crevecoeur’s list was “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” I find this statement to be very true because I believe if you work hard, you will be rewarded. This statement relates especially to my dad because he has worked very hard throughout his life and it has shown with his success. After graduating from Glasgow High School, my dad went on to graduate from the University of Delaware. My dad worked at MBNA for 15 years before he wanted to become a teacher. My dad had to work very hard to receive his degree in teaching and soon after he became a teacher at St. Elizabeth’s. After teaching, my dad sought another job at Corporation Service Company (CSC). He has climbed his way up the ladder in the company and now is a boss. He has been successful mainly due to his hard work and dedication. Some days my dad leaves from home at 6 AM and doesn’t come home until after 9 PM. My dad always tells me that success is not given to you and that you have work hard in order to achieve success. I admire my father’s hard work and dedication and I hope to be as successful as he has been.
During the tumultuous time occurring before the start of World War I, Europe was an absolute mess. The draft was about to be instated because soldiers were needed to fight in what is often called the “Kaiser’s War.” My great-great grandfather (on my mother’s side), and his wife emigrated to the U.S. from the Ukraine area in the late 1880’s in order to avoid the fighting. He didn’t believe in the cause he was going to be forced to fight for. The goal of his emperor, Wilhelm II, was to conquer much of Europe, and being known for his greediness, the world. America acted as an asylum or refuge for my distant relatives. Although they weren’t necessarily “oppressed” or running from their poverty in Europe, the United States was a safe place for them. They had a chance to start over in a free country without living in fear of a draft or a gluttonous emperor. This “asylum” provided many opportunities to my ancestors and many others while also yielding adequate protection. They acquired jobs almost immediately upon their arrival. The United States wasn’t just a place for the downtrodden or poor immigrants, such as my great-great grandparents, to run to, even though it did make life easier for them than it was in Europe; it was a place to restart so they could stop living in fear and poverty. America was extremely successful in its endeavor to be a sanctuary.
“The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.”
This part of the American dream applies greatly to my grandfather. Raised during the Great Depression, my grandfather did not come from money. Around the age of twelve, he had to get a job working for a railroad company in Philadelphia, a dangerous job in itself, and especially dangerous for a twelve year old. My grandfather served during World War II and was brought up in the “Greatest Generation,” so he learned that hard work truly does pay off in the end. After the war, my grandfather got a job working as an accountant for DuPont here in Delaware. He worked for about thirty-five years before retiring and enjoying a twenty-five year retirement. My grandfather also liked to invest in the stock market and, when all was said and done, garnered about $1 million in savings. For a man who came from a very poor family during the Great Depression and a man who had to get his first job at the age of twelve, this is a remarkable feat. My grandfather is just a prime example of hard work that really does get rewarded in the end.
The American dream has been a beacon of hope and a symbol for the hard working lower classes. The dream is to move up in society through hard work and determination to achieve your goals and aspirations. One aspect of deCrevecouer’s Dream was that the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. My great-grandfather lived this notion in his everyday life to become higher up in society. At a very young age, my great-grandfather aspired to be a doctor in a small town in Maine. He put himself through many rigorous courses and difficult training to become the best doctor that he could become. The only problem was that he came from a less fortunate family whom could not afford the expensive education to become a doctor. My great-grandfather worked two jobs and attended school in order to follow his dream. Once he completed school, he became the town’s only doctor and was a hero to the many lives that he had saved. My father is now a doctor and he works hard to support a family of seven. My great-grandfather’s hard worked allowed him to move up in American society both financially and in admiration for his generous work. My great-grandfather embodied the American dream by working hard to be rewarded by advancing in society.
The book, Letters From an American Farmer, outlined the promises America had to offer to people. One aspect of deCrevecouer's Dream, “America is an asylum, a refuge for Europe's poor and downtrodden,” failed Nao Takasugi and his family. His family came over to America and they were proud to be American citizens. They owned a seafood shop and lived a simple life, until the Japanese invaded the Pearl Harbor. They were forced to leave their home and settle in “reservation” type living quarters under the Executive Order 9066. America was definitely not acting like a “refuge” to its fellow citizens. The statement deCrevecouer's Dream, “America is an asylum, a refuge for Europe's poor and downtrodden,” is sort of related to my own life. In China, they used to only allow one child per family. If someone had more then one they would have to put the child up for adoption. My mother adopted me and brought me to America. If America wasn’t the country that it is, I would never have been able to be a citizen here. America, technically, was my “refuge” from China. I have equal rights and got to have a life.
The book, Letters From an American Farmer, outlined the promises America had to offer to people. One aspect of deCrevecouer's Dream, “America is an asylum, a refuge for Europe's poor and downtrodden,” failed Nao Takasugi and his family. His family came over to America and they were proud to be American citizens. They owned a seafood shop and lived a simple life, until the Japanese invaded the Pearl Harbor. They were forced to leave their home and settle in “reservation” type living quarters under the Executive Order 9066. America was definitely not acting like a “refuge” to its fellow citizens. The statement deCrevecouer's Dream, “America is an asylum, a refuge for Europe's poor and downtrodden,” is sort of related to my own life. In China, they used to only allow one child per family. If someone had more then one they would have to put the child up for adoption. My mother adopted me and brought me to America. If America wasn’t the country that it is, I would never have been able to be a citizen here. America, technically, was my “refuge” from China. I have equal rights and got to have a life.
Tom Brokaw, The Greatest Generation (New York: Random House, 1998), 224.
America is a melting pot. In America there is a wide variety of people with different religions, cultures, and ethnic backgrounds. When I went to public school for the first time in sixth grade I was amazed at all the different races that went to the school. Prior to sixth grade I had always gone to private school where the majority of students were white. It was a shock once I went to public school to see so many kids of different races. America truly is a mix of cultures and backgrounds, in different places as well as in families. My grandfather was half black and half Irish. My two aunts, (his daughters, my moms sisters) look like such a mixture that often people can’t tell what ethnicity they are. Just this past Thanksgiving my aunt who is a chemist was telling me that her co-workers at her new job think that she is Cambodian. Most people think that my other aunt is white. Myself as well as my little sister are both 15% Irish, possibly more. We know this because my mom got her DNA tested a couple years ago. Wherever you look in America there is a mixture and a blend of different people from all over the world, but we have all come to call America home.
Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur believed that the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. This holds very true to my life and I’m sure it does for many others. My story of hard work has a lot to do with being an athlete. When I was in fourth grade I started playing football. I was the most un-athletic kid you would probably ever see. I was 3rd string saw no playtime and was completely out of shape. After that season finished I talked to my dad about training for next year, we got into an argument and he said to me “you want to be good, but you don’t want to put in the work.” That was a red flag telling me that I need to work harder. By fifth grade I still wasn’t staring but I was seeing more play time and doing better. Sixth grade was my first staring year, then back to third string in seventh grade. I worked my tail off the summer going into 8th grade and won a starting job, then when I showed up in June 2012 to work out with St. Mark’s football team I was back to square one as a freshmen. I missed zero workouts that summer and did not miss any practices. I started both ways on the freshman football team. Then going into sophomore year I only missed one summer workout. I didn’t start the first three games but I kept working harder and I was a starter for the fourth game of the season and started the rest of the year. I went from a 3rd string nobody to a sophomore playing varsity football for a playoff team in Delaware. And I was rewarded for my hard work.
Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur believed that the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. This holds very true to my life and I’m sure it does for many others. My story of hard work has a lot to do with being an athlete. When I was in fourth grade I started playing football. I was the most un-athletic kid you would probably ever see. I was 3rd string saw no playtime and was completely out of shape. After that season finished I talked to my dad about training for next year, we got into an argument and he said to me “you want to be good, but you don’t want to put in the work.” That was a red flag telling me that I need to work harder. By fifth grade I still wasn’t staring but I was seeing more play time and doing better. Sixth grade was my first staring year, then back to third string in seventh grade. I worked my tail off the summer going into 8th grade and won a starting job, then when I showed up in June 2012 to work out with St. Mark’s football team I was back to square one as a freshmen. I missed zero workouts that summer and did not miss any practices. I started both ways on the freshman football team. Then going into sophomore year I only missed one summer workout. I didn’t start the first three games but I kept working harder and I was a starter for the fourth game of the season and started the rest of the year. I went from a 3rd string nobody to a sophomore playing varsity football for a playoff team in Delaware. And I was rewarded for my hard work.
In the book, Letters From an American Farmer, Guillaume de Crèvecoeur told of the promise of the good life in America. Guillaume wrote a list of five gifts to be granted to Americans. One of the gifts he wrote about was “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” This promise was by far the most relevant in my life, and I believe it is an outstanding inspiration to a great life. My great-grandfather had a lot of success in his life, and gave me great motivation to look up to. Daniel Harnett graduated from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. He worked in Real Estate for many years ,and during a time of great recession he developed the idea of condominiums. Once Daniel came up with the idea, it was approved by the court and then established with rules following it. His first buildings were named Marycrest in New Jersey and New York. My great-grandfather was very successful with his dedication with school and then making triple the amount of each building he bought. Daniel taught me that nothing in life is given to you, and that I will have to work for everything I achieve. I hope to one day be the inspiration to others as my great-grandfather was to me with the attitude of “hard workers are rewarded with a chance to get ahead.”
The American Dream is something that has been around for hundreds of years and is still around today. Many people think of it as moving to America where they will make a great deal of money and prosper with multiple different things. They think America is this great land filled with different opportunities, and my great grandfather was one of them. I do not know much about his story, but my great grandfather once believed in the American Dream. He was from Italy and could not provide for my great grandmother, my grandmother, or her siblings. He decided to come to work in North and South America to earn some money for his family back at home. He worked as a bricklayer, carrying and stacking bricks to make things such as outside ovens and fire pits. He was gone for about three years before returning home to his family in Italy. A few years later when my grandmother was twelve, they finally moved to America, hoping they would receive even more income than when my great grandfather traveled here by himself. With my grandmother’s family immigrating to America, this contributed to the country growing as a melting pot. So it is safe to say that my great grandfather experienced two aspects of deCrevecouer’s Dream.
"The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe." This is still true today. America is a huge ground for people of all nations to come here and make a living here. My great grandparents came to the United States from Italy over a hundred years ago. They faced the hardships of passing the citizenship tests, learning English, and finding a place to live and work. Even through the hardships they persisted to create a family that still lives on today. I am not the only person with such a story. I wouldn't be surprised if over half the population had such a story, because America is a big "pot" jumbled full of people of all nationalities trying to make a living. America truly is the best country in the world, with everyone coming from different places but coming together to form a powerful nation. However, there has been some racism and violence between the groups. Although racism was was prominent in the 1930s-1970s small hints of it remain today. However, we overcame these problems and created a nation where everyone respects each other. This creates a safe environment for the people living here. Even with violence, we are able to supress those people and set a good role model for other countries. We are blessed to have freedom of speech, religion, and press; and the other rights we acquire at birth. In same western countries you can be arrested and even executed for believing in something against others. With a great country come a lot of work to keep it stable. We are also blessed to have a government (which at times annoys us), to defend us from terrorists and other violent groups of people.
I have decided to talk about the 3rd thing that makes up the American Dream “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead”. I have watched my whole life as my parents have made sacrifice after sacrifice for my sister and I. I sit and I don’t know if you can understand it when you hear your mother talk about how upset and sorry she is that she can’t afford to take us on vacations anymore, or how she is so sorry she can’t see us because she has to work till 3am some mornings. I can only sit there and tell her that it’s okay. My grandfather gave everything and it was primarily his job and the stresses that came with it that caused his early death at 57. I look at my mom and I see the same stress etched in her face. I am happy to have half of what we have. I am however, angered by the fact that my mother and father who have worked hard all their lives can’t make ends meet. They would give up everything for my sister and I. I have difficulty with saying that the American Dream is alive when most people I know who have worked hard all their lives are suffering like they are. I can’t say that the American Dreams is still alive. The rich get richer, and the poor seem to be getting poorer. It is hard for me to say this, but it seems we have forgotten the very things we were founded on. The American person is no longer known for his hard work, and for his word being his honor, but for now it is his military might and his insatiable greed and desire to get rich without the hard work that has come to define us as a country. Gone are the days of honor and respect that would have seen hard workers like my parents rewarded for all they do. Gone are the days I long for the most, but it is not too late. Change is always possible and I believe that though we have strayed from the path that we can find it again. We can achieve the dream of JFK, and work harder to benefit our country, not to force our country to work harder to benefit us.
Though it was hard, a personal story finally came to me. In relation to “the American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe.” My great great grandmother came from Poland, which is located in the middle of Europe, to America. With her, she brought her husband, my great great grandfather, and her daughter (also possibly sisters?), which would be my great grandmother. This is not, mind you, a story of failure, more one of success. The American dream was a huge idea in the minds of immigrants of her time, and I’m sure it was a glimmer of greatness in her eyes. After my great great grandmother died, and my great grandmother grew up, she had daughters of her own, my grandmother and two great aunts. They lived fulfilling childhoods under the watchful eyes of my great grandmother, and grew up to have kids of their own. My grandmother having my mother, aunt, and uncle. They grew up, and suddenly, now I’m here. DeCrevecouer really knew what he was talking about when he said that the American society is like a melting pot of people from all over Europe. To all of them, the “American Dream” was more than just a dream.
“The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.”
This idea applies to both of my parents. My dad moved to the United States from Iran when he was only 19 years old. He did not know a lot of English or much about our culture, but he worked very hard to try and adapt to our ways. He also had very little family or friends here. My dad went to college, got a degree, and started in the car business. He began working as a sales man, and then he worked his way up to the general manager at Martin Dealerships. He is very good at his job and works very long hours and is a busy man. All his hard work paid off, and he is a very successful man. My mom was a stay at home mom until I was in sixth grade. Then she started working part-time for an eye surgeon. She started out as a marketing director, but she was then promoted to the office manager. This was due to her hard work and determination. Both of my parents have inspired me to work very hard in school and what ever I do in my life because it does eventually pay off in the end.
“The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” These are words written by Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur in his work Letters From an American Farmer. This is used to describe one of the aspects that the “American Dream” gives to the emigrants from various countries. Today, a true model of this is my mother. She has been working as an X-Ray Tech for over twenty-five years. She has worked multiple jobs at once to help provide for my family along with my father. She now works a full-time job. She has to be at work as early as 7:30 in the morning. All of this hard work has not only made her successful in terms of money, but it has helped her to become a stronger person. She also works hard as a mother taking care of and raising my older brother and me over the years. She is constantly running from place to place, whether its practice, school, or a friend’s house. She always put us before herself or anyone else. Nothing gives her more joy than watching us excelling our lives. Through us she can measure her success as a mother. She can see what an amazing job she has done raising us.
Many people came to America to pursue the american dream and start a new prosperous life in the states. They survived hunger, sickness, and poverty to pursue their dream to become hard working and successful people. My great grandfather, Giovanni Panico at eighteen years old, came off the boat in 1909 from Napoli, Italy. His wife, Maria Ivone seven years old, came over in 1906 from Naples, Italy. They both grew up in Chieti, Italy and then met and married in Norristown, Pennsylvania, where they had six kids. Giovanni was a foreman for the paper factory in the 1930’s and early 1940’s. When the factory closed the family moved to Wilmington, Delaware and he became the manager of a bakery store called Three Little Bakers in Fairfax, Delaware where he retired. My great grandfather achieved the american dream and raised a wonderful family which produced my grandfather, John Panico. He also lives out his american dream. At seventeen he graduated from Wilmington High School and enlisted in the United States Navy where he fought for his country and his freedom. He married Geraldine Stigliano and lived in Wilmington. After being released from the Navy he found a job at the General Motors plant where he worked for 42 years until retirement. Both my great grandfather and grandfather showed great courage and hard work throughout their lives and accomplished the american dream. My grandfather tells me all the time to work hard for things that I want.
Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur believed the American dream promised five key aspects to Americans. The aspect, “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” relates to my mom’s entire life. Ever since she was a young child, she has always worked hard to achieve great things. During high school, she was a fantastic basketball player. Her hard work and dedication in her basketball career earned my mom a scholarship to college. In college, she earned one bachelor degree and two master degrees. The key word is that she earned these things. My mom dedicated herself to basketball and worked hard to improve her skills. She worked nonstop to receive those three degrees and all of her hard work has paid off because they helped her in her career. She started off a zoo worker as a part time job while she was in college, then; she worked as a gym teacher. She then worked her way up to a counseling job and is still a counselor today. She is a fantastic counselor according to the feedback she receives from students and parents; they all seem to love her. Although there have been numerous setbacks in her life, she has always worked hard to earn what she has and I admire that about her so much. I think the aspect of working hard and getting ahead relates to my mom’s life because she has work extremely hard and has had so much success throughout her life and she deserves every bit of it.
Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur spoke of the American economy which rewards those who work hard with a chance to get ahead. This applies to my grandfather who grew up in a rather poor lifestyle in New York City in the late 30s and early 40s. I will always be able to recall the story he has told me and will continue to tell me time and time again about his father who made a tough living working as a quarryman who came straight off of the boat from Italy. My grandfather always admired his father, rightfully so, and admired his father's hard work. He then, in turn, was motivated to work hard and did just that to make his living. He spent his life not really knowing what to do with no specific plan even to the extent where he, "...decided not to go to college just because the line was too long." However, like Bubba and Forest Gump fairytale, he met one of hos soon to be lifelong friends while serving in the military. Like Bubba in Tom Hanks' Forrest Gump, my grandfather's friend had a plan to support his family for when he left the service. He wanted to invest in the stock market and my grandfather, Gerard, was just the man to help thanks to his acute mind for math. In the end my grandfather was able to invest in the stock market and through persistent hard work of purchasing and selling stocks, he was able to raise three children and retire to his dream home two blocks from the ocean at Rehoboth Beach. It is by the hard work that de Crèvecoeur talked about that my grandfather was able to live the American dream. He still works through the stock market today but more as a game, a subtle reminder almost to where he started, where he was, and where he is now.
The American Dream was formulated in the country’s early years, and it has since then evolved in complexity as the nation and its people have advanced. The beauty of the Dream, however, is that the core message remains the same through the years: to be given the opportunity to achieve one’s goals and to perform to his or her full potential. Of course, one cannot expect to reach their aspirations by sitting back and not working for their goals. Frenchman Guillaume Jean de Crévecoeur wrote the inspiring words saying, “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” This is true in many cases of people I am closely associated with, but one sticks above the rest. Hailing from a family of eleven brothers and sisters from Massachusetts, my mother is the epitome of working hard to achieve goals. As she was growing up, my mom helped out in her father’s repair shop alongside her brothers. Although she was the eleventh child of her parents, my mom was the first of her siblings to attend college; she studied at Western New England University. Initially majoring in computer science, she soon switched to accounting to earn her bachelor’s degree. After working hard in an accounting firm, where she met my father, my mom started her own business for personal and small business accounting, a company that she still proudly owns today. Owning your own business is hard work, especially in a field such as accounting as things pick up when that April 15th deadline creeps closer. My mom works as hard as she can and repeatedly receives praise for doing so, and she always tells me that she does it for her family, so they can live good lives. My mother is as selfless and industrious as you can get, and I hope I may learn well from her and pave my own path for success, to live the American Dream.
“The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” One of the five main ideas of the American dream is certainly true when it comes to my great grandfather. His name was Walter J. Liszewski, and he emigrated from Poland around the start of the 20th century to seek a life of prosperity, freedom, and enjoyment. He was young and not very well educated, and most importantly had no job. He was still eager to learn and work however. He began to look for work. At first he had trouble finding employment but eventually with persistence, he found a job working on a railroad. He loved his job and he worked very hard at it. The railroad job intrigued him so he set out to seek if he could learn to become an engineer. He pursued an education in the field before he finally achieved the job of his dream. I think my grandfather’s story truly speaks the meaning of the American dream, because through his trust in the American economics and the hard work and persistence he put into his work he was able to obtain the life of prosperity, freedom, and enjoyment that he came to American to get.
3. The American dream and the ideal that working hard would lead to success is seen in millions of families, such as billionaires like Bill Gates or Donald Trump. My own family had emigrated from China several years ago during the Cultural Revolution, which was a time of great reform in China. They came to America as struggling college students, and from there worked hard to improve their life. They moved from place to place, making enough money to live by. When I was born, they had saved just enough money to move to a good house in the suburbs. Whenever my mom and I pass by our old house, I ask her how we ever lived in that place, and how we got out. It was a dingy, small house that was surrounded by similar houses. My mom answered my question with one word: Diligence. Looking back, they had to face many hardships and give up luxuries to support a family of four, and save up enough money to buy a new house. Today, my family and I live in relative security, knowing that my future and their retirement have been secured because of the hard work and diligence of my parents.
“America is an asylum; a refuge for Europe’s poor and downtrodden.”
This statement has special meaning to both sides of my family, but particularly my mother’s. My mother’s ancestors, generations ago, fled from the great potato famine in Ireland to come to America. This was not an easy task, and it was very dangerous. We do not know how they got to America, but we know it was probably not legal. They fled from a life of extreme poverty to the blossoming nation of America, where life was still hard. Eventually, they were able to work and gain enough money to survive, and my mother’s family rose up the social ladder from poor peasants into America’s middle class. This also goes along with the line “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” Poor farmer peasants from Ireland fled to America, and took full advantage of their economy to improve their lives. My father’s side of the family also stems from poor farmers in Europe at about the same period of time. They were from Germany. They became poor and were not able to keep up their business, so they too made the perilous journey to America, where they settled in central Pennsylvania, and continued to farm. They too became moderately successful, and remained in central Pennsylvania until my father attended the University of Delaware, and moved into Newark with my mother. This goes to show how America accepted people from all of Europe and gave them a chance to become successful.
In the early 1900s, my great-grandfather came across the Atlantic on a boat from Ireland with the instructions to make money that could be sent back to support the rest of his family in Ireland. He was barely a teenager at 14 years old, and the only thing he brought with him was a slip of paper with a name and address of the relative of a person his family knew back in Ireland. He had nothing, and was sent to America to fulfill the sole purpose of fulfilling the American dream that anyone can be successful with hard work. Today, the thought of a 14 year old traveling by himself to a far off country to start a new life from literally nothing is almost incomprehensible. Crevecoeur's first three ideas can fit my great-grandfather's situation perfectly. Especially fitting was the idea that the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. After arriving on Ellis Island in the New York harbor, he lived in a group dormitory type of housing with other immigrants and less wealthy individuals. He would often show my mother the scars on his hands from being stabbed with forks as he and the other young men fought for the limited amount of food that he was given. However, he worked hard and married my great-grandmother and together they had 7 children. He was able to open up his own successful butcher shop and survived the Great Depression. By the time he reached retirement age, he had sold his butcher shop and lived out his final years as a millionaire. By passing down his traits of hard work, importance of education, and a strong faith, his own children grew up to be lawyers and officers in the military. His legacy has lived on in my family and his story has been told countless times.
Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur wrote about the American dream and how great it is to be an American. One of the aspects he talked about was that the American economy rewarded hard work and gives you the chance to get ahead. I can relate this to my Uncle Bill Groves; His family was made up of coal miners and construction workers. He had seen family members die from black lung disease and asbestosis. He had also seen how a lack of steady employment had impacted the finances of his family. Thanks to generous financial aid he was able to attend St. Marks High School. His guidance counselors and teachers noticed his hard work and intelligence and recommended that he go to college. He had to work over 30 hours a week to help pay for his tuition which meant he could only attend school part time. However he stayed with it and graduated with honors. He became only the second person in the family to ever graduate college. He even went further to get his masters degree in one year while working full time. Today he is an executive vice president at a Fortune 500 company. This a great example of achieving the American dream and that by hard work you can live your dreams.
Michael St. John de Crevecoevr writes in “Letters From an American” his ideas of the American dreams. One of those dreams was that the American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe. This applies to me because my Great Grandmother came over from Europe and witnessed the different cultures blending together with her own eyes. A lot of different people from different backgrounds fled to America back then. People came from Europe and all over. My Great Grandmother came from Ireland in 1907. She like many others was attracted to the idea of freedom. When she got to America she was both excited and nervous. Everywhere she turned she met a new person, from a new place, with a new story. America really was the melting pot of the world. Everyone was different and unique. My Great Grandmother loved America and all it had to offer. With all of the new people she had met and the new job she had she was very busy. When she was out with her friends one night she met James Cotter, my Great Grandfather. They fell in love and eventually got married. By telling my Great grandmother’s story I showed that America was and still is a place to start over, meet new unique, culturally different people, and find love.
Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur published a book in 1782, Letters From an American Farmer, which tells of his ideas of the American Dream. One of his ideas was “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” This idea best applies to my pop-pop. He moved to Delaware at age 19 all the way from Montana to make a better life for himself. Montana did not have many jobs to offer, and he wanted to be successful. After doing years of hard work, he started up his own business doing what he loves- cars. His car dealership was named NuCar and was very successful. He then opened another dealership named Hummer, and a car accessory shop. All of these businesses prospered and made my pop-pop very successful. He worked very hard for many years to earn what he did, and he is so thankful for those opportunities he has had. My pop-pop has sold NuCar and Hummer, but he is still building cars in his free time. He is truly my role model, and I aspire to be as hard-working and successful as he is.
Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur said “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” I couldn’t write about just one of my parents because they’re both amazing. My parents are great examples of hard workers. They do so much. Hard work doesn’t always mean a job, it can also apply to how they work around the house, service projects, and other tasks. My parents both work so hard at their jobs and it definitely pays off. They also do constant service jobs. My mom donates to a whole lot of charities and well as well as donating clothes, food, or backpacks to homeless people living on the streets. That, to me, is an example of hard work. After she does all her work at her job, she’s thankful and likes to give back. I know my dad really works hard at his job.He usually has to leave for work pretty early. My dad also helps with an organization. What they do is collect or donate money and then help build a house, or build on to a house, for people who can’t afford it. When he does this it’s July, so it’s pretty hot. This hard work truly pays off when you see a smile on the people’s faces. My brother and I are so proud to call these two people our parents. They really are true role models to us.
Getting a job and making money is one thing you need to do in any country. America seemed to have a greater chance of getting a job. My great great grandfather, on my father’s side, started working when he was just twelve years old. His father owned a farmed but had not been able to support the family due to lost crops. Although his job earned a minimal of one dollar, it was able to help his family in times of need. He worked at Marion Steam Shovel Company all throughout high school. He eventually got married and had three children. While still caring and maintaining a middle-class household, he attended college at Rutgers University. He earned a degree for mechanical engineering and all throughout college stayed working for Marion Steam Shovel Company. He worked his way up the company and got promoted to work in the New York offices. At one point he even started his own company but failed to sustain it due to bad economy during the Depression and returned to his old job. The Marion Steam Shovel company was a huge company that worked on many major foundations including the Panama Canal. Wherever their company moved, the workers would join the local church to help build relationship and connect with the community. My great great grandfather started with nothing; barely able to afford his family home. He made the best with his opportunities and the convenience of job availabilities to sustain an acceptable income to support his family.
The story of my great-grandfather's arrival from Italy relates well to the concept that America is an asylum. My great-grandfather, Ferdinand, came to America from Italy in the 1920s with his father and his brothers to escape being drafted into the Italian army. They actually biked down to the pier an got on the boat with their father and left their bikes there on the pier because they knew America was their only chance to escape it. They stayed in America for two years as a way to stay safe from what was happening in Italy, and then my great-grandfather went back to Italy to marry my great-grandmother, Italina, who he had left behind. They then came back over to America together in 1931 and stayed. His return to America relates well to the idea that America is a melting pot where people from all places come together. A lot of people came from Italy during the same time that my great-grandfather did, and they would all spend time together talking about Italy and sharing stories and customs, but my great-grandfather was always greatful for what this country gave him. He came to this country and threw himself right into to the pot, he got a job and he started a whole new life here. America really is both an asylum and a melting pot.
“The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” I believe that this statement is true because anyone who works hard will not be disappointed in the outcome. Before my grandfather was born, his father died and his mother was left to raise three children on her own during the Great Depression. At age 11, his mother died and he was sent to live on a farm with another family. During World War II, he enlisted in the Army, and he earned a Purple Heart at the Battle of Normandy. When he returned to the United States, he was offered a job at the Veteran’s hospital, and he was able to provide security and a home that he had never known. Through his hard work, he supported a family of six, raising animals on a seven-acre farm and growing everything his family ate. Because of my grandfather’s hard work in the military, he earned a pension from the government, and he was able to retire early. After an early retirement, he was able to enjoy the rest of his life gardening and doing carpentry, his two favorite hobbies. The American government rewarded my grandfather’s hard work in the military, and they gave him a chance to get ahead when they gave him a pension, which he used to retire early. Even after my grandfather passed away, America still rewarded his family by continuing to pay his pension to my grand mom until she passed away. Because of their hard work, my grandparents were rewarded with a chance to get ahead from the American economy, which was one of the gifts that Guillaume de Crevecoeu wrote about that were granted to those who believed they were Americans.
"The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe." When my great grandparents came to America they were 16 and 18 years old and already married. They came from Italy. Shortly after they came here my Poppop was born. he was the first generation in America for my family. My great grandparents sent him to school to learn English because they did not know it. And when my Poppop came home he taught them how to read, write and speak English. My great grandfather worked in a rock quarry with other immigrants, and my great grandmother worked for the Dupot's as a cleaning lady at night. My great grandparents are perfect examples of being in a "melting pot." They came here not knowing the language and not having their family here, but they learned to conform by learning the language and working to make a better life for themselves and my Poppop. I admire my great grandparents very much because they took a chance by coming to America to make a better life for themselves and their future family, me, and overcoming many obstacles along the way.
At the time of the Immigration Boom in the early 1800s, America quickly became a safe haven for thousands of foreign people. While some came over to our country simply for the chance of a new life, others came to escape the despair and hardship of their old lives. For my great-great-grandfather, it was the latter that sent him here from Donegal, Ireland. During the 18302 and 1840s, a widespread blight of the potato crop swept through Ireland, destroying the prized harvest entirely. Dubbed the “Potato Famine”, it left thousands of Irish farmers starving and penniless. My great-great-grandfather, Charles O’Dever, left Ireland as a young man, arriving in the Port of Baltimore. He later settled in Philadelphia and found work for a railroad company. He met his wife and raised a family, including my great grandmother Winifred O’Dever, his daughter. She, in turn, married a Scotsman named William, Campbell, and thus created a mixed bloodline. She then had my grandmother, who had my mother. My mother joined her Scots-Irish, Hungarian, and Polish ancestry with my father’s Prussian and French-Canadian ancestry to have my sister and me. As de Crevecoeur stated, America is both and asylum and melting pot, giving people a new home, and allowing the intermingling of races and ethnicity to form a union between citizens. My family, and almost every other family, is a fine example of de Crevecoeur’s writings, shining stars in the universal flag that is our country.
When Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur wrote in his book Letters from an American Farmer that America is a melting pot, he was certainly correct. The American society is most definitely a melting point. We allow foreigners to enter our country and make a name and make a life for themselves where as they may not have been able to do so in their home country. My father’s mother’s family is directly from Ireland. On my mother’s side, both her father’s and mother’s family have been in America since the pilgrimage. My mom’s family can be traced all the way back to the Revolutionary war. On my dad’s side, my great great grandparents came all the way from Ireland. My great grandparents are first generation Americans. Even though my family is not really a big “melting pot” family I do personally think the melting pot concept rewarded my family rather than failing them. If America had not been a melting pot my dad’s family never would have come here from Ireland and my mom’s family never would have come here from England. I think the melting pot concept of America has both failed and rewarded America. It has failed us in some cases that are obvious but it has also rewarded us tremendously in other areas as well.
The American Dream teaches that the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. An example of that statement is my grandfather. At age twenty six he came over to America from Italy. He came over not being able to write, read, or even speak English. He came here with only the clothes on his back and an amazing work ethic. He settled in Philadelphia and started many odd jobs. Some of them include being a butcher, a textile factory worker, and he would also cut grass on the weekends. He finally found work that he really loved in construction. After working for several companies, he started his own company in April of 1971 in Delaware. The company is still running strong forty two years later. At the age of seventy three, he actively works on the job sites. Whenever he has time off he spends it tending to his gardens. With the money that he has made from his company, he’s bought many rental properties that he also runs. Even though my grandfather puts so much time and effort in to his company, he still always makes time for his family. In fact, the company is just as family oriented as he is. My dad and all of his sisters work at the company, or have worked for the company at one time or another. If I ever want to look and see a perfect example of the American Dream I can look at my grandfather. He embodies all of the characteristics of how the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.
Part of the American Dream is an economy that rewards hard workers. My Dad is an example of that aspect of the dream because he did not start off with much except for his dreams and his brains. He wanted to become the best plastic surgeon in the Philippines, but because of the internal conflict in the country, his family did not want him to go home after completing his training in the United States and Canada. When my Dad came here from the Philippines, he wanted the best training, which took several years. He had to train with several hospitals to become a plastic and reconstructive surgeon. When he started his practice, he had a small office and only a table and chair. He was the first plastic surgeon in southern Delaware. Even though people from southern Delaware were not receptive of a plastic surgeon, he was very dedicated, and determined to become successful, so he worked very hard. He soon started to gain many patients, and he was starting to become well known. He is now a well known, loved, and respected plastic surgeon who has had thousands of patients which even included movie stars and celebrities. He is very successful. He tells me that the plan to success is by having a dream, to be determined, and be a disciplined hard worker. My Dad is an example of the American Dream because he worked hard to achieve his dream, and it rewarded him with success.
"The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe." This statement from Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur American Dream list is still accurate today. Whenever people talk about the different nationalities that run through their blood you get a sense of how much of a melting pot America is. I remember in Elementary school there was a man who came in to talk about immigration and how is family came to the U.S. As he finished his presentation he started listing off different countries and had people raise their hands if they had any of this in their blood. I think this is the first time I realized how no one is just American. He must have said at least twenty different countries and each time at least one person’s hand shot up. Not everyone looked the nationalities they raised their hands for but that’s what a melting pot is. Everything blended together. I have about four nationalities mixed in me. I am Italian, Irish, Yugoslavian, and Czechoslovakian. This is what make’s America so interesting, you’d never be able to guess I’m Irish just from looking at me I resemble more of the Italian side of my family, but a percentage of my family is Irish. The melting pot that we call America has so much diversity within it that next time you’re in a classroom and the topic of nationalities comes up you’d be surprised at the variety.
I think that being a true American comes with certain instilled elements such as hard work, motivation, and a family man attitude. I feel that if you put your maximum effort into something, no matter what happens, great things will result. I know a very hard worker, and he is always laboring for his family and for his personal career, but family always comes first. I know my father especially pertains to this idea of Americanism about being a hard worker. My dad came from the dirt poor of Wilmington in a household of seven people. His older brothers and sisters were not the best role models. Even though he loved them dearly, they lived lives of bad decisions and regrets as my dad put it. He worked very hard in high school to become one of the top people in his class. Only he could not afford to become college educated. So then he started to work very hard to save up for college. He worked numerous physical laboring jobs such as tiling, painting, pluming and etc. Finally he saved up enough for a two year degree at Del Tech. When he graduated from Del Tech he moved onto higher education and met my mother. Later they became married and had children. First he worked several jobs still doing tiling, but worked in the human resources department of Cingular. Then he became unemployed when I was born after his first two children and was basically a stay home dad for a year when I first entered pre-school. Then he landed an auto repair management job at AAA mid-atlantic. In the past seven years he worked extremely hard for a total of six promotions, one occurring recently that named him one of the executives in the mid-atlantic region. He also works hard at home for his children to live in a better house that he is constantly improving and working hard to raise and improve the life styles of his four kids. My dad has taught me many things, but the most influential is that hard work and perseverance will always pay off.
“The American economy rewards the hard work with a chance to get ahead.”
This American dream applies to both of may parents. My mom and dad grew up with not as many things I’m lucky to have today. They had to work extremely hard to get to where they are today. My mom grew up in a house hold of five children, so obviously things were pretty tight. She worked hard through out school and managed to get very good grades. She got accepted into West Chester University and studied to become the registered nurse she is today. My mom worked hard her entire life in order to get us where we are today. On the other hand, my dad also started out the same way, the difference is he never went to college. Instead of college, my dad entered into the Navy. There, he worked with electronic and engineering, which he does still today. My dad has sacrificed a lot to join the Navy and worked hard to make it to this point in his life today. I’m extremely proud of my parents and everything they do for us to have the life we have. I truly think hard work does pay off.
When De Crevecoeur was writing about the American Dream, he said,” The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” I believe that if you work hard you can go far in life. My dad is a good example of a hard worker. My dad is in the United States Coast Guard. We have moved five times because of my father’s job. My father also leaves home a lot due to his job. He leaves for 2 months, comes home, and then does it again. My dad hates leaving home, but he does it to pay the bills and support his family. My father went into the Coast Guard when he was 20 years old. He has now been in the Coast Guard for 18 years. As he is working in the Coast Guard he is also doing college courses because he did not go into college after high school since he joined the Coast Guard at a young. I believe that this shows that my father works hard and sacrifices a lot to support his family. When my dad first got in the Coast Guard he was at the lowest rank, now he is a first class petty officer. The Coast Guard has given my dad many awards. He won Sailor of the Quarter in every rank he has been in. He has gotten two commendation medals and other awards. This proves that my dad’s hard work has paid off and it takes a lot of dedication to be successful.
Guillaume de Crevecoeur, a Frenchman that emigrated to America, describes the American dream as including five key points, one of them being that the American economy rewards the hard worker. My great-grandfather, whom I never met, but am named after, fulfilled this belief to the fullest. Thomas Whittaker was born in 1899 in England and came from a poor family. He moved to America with his family and set up a new life. He joined the American military and served in WWI. During the war he became deaf, bringing many hardships through his life. After the war, he attended Columbia and put himself through college, while coping with the loss of hearing. He graduated successfully and now had to find a way to provide for his family while dealing with his deafness. When searching for a career, he had to prove to various companies that he would be just as effective a worker as someone who could hear. He finally landed a job at IT&T (currently ITT Corporation) and swiftly ascended through the company and eventually proved himself and became a Vice President. Being my mother’s granddad, she tells me stories of how well he coped with his deafness. When she was little she actually claimed he was lying because of the way he could drop in and out of conversations at the dinner table. His life portrays the American dream by showing that someone from a poorer background can prosper in America while overcoming such harsh realities.
Alex Scott
Sophs#3 Journal: The American Dream
The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead
Capitalism gives whoever works the hardest a shot at being more successful than less ambitious people. My mother is an example of someone who worked hard and succeeded. My mother spent three years in law school to earn a degree in law. Because she spent those extra years and worked that much more, she became a lawyer and is probably more successful than those who just go through a couple years of college. And at the moment she is still working hard; she hopes to become a judge one day, but that position usually requires years of experience and a good reputation. So, because of my mother’s tenacity, she made herself successful. And in this way, she was rewarded by the American economy for working hard.
In the book Letters From an American Farmer, Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur describes the American dream. One of the five parts of the American dream was “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” I believe that this is a very realistic statement because most people are able to better their lives through hard work perseverance. My mom is the best example I know of the American dream. My mom grew up in a poor family in Brooklyn, New York. After graduating from a local Catholic high school, my mom started working. She was not fortunate enough to go to college because it cost too much money. After high school she started working as a cashier at Macy’s. After earning enough money, my mom was able to attend typing and shorthand classes. Soon after, she got a job at Citi Bank as an assistant secretary. My mom was able to rise through the ranks and become a very successful worker. My mom has been working at Citi Bank for 27 years, and she has had her fair share of 80 hour work weeks. My mom is the hardest worker I know and an excellent example of achieving the American dream.
The line that sticks out most to me is, “The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe.” This is very true. When foreigners move here and become citizens they are no longer Italian or Mexican. They become Italian-Americans or Mexican- Americans or whatever nationality they might be. They become part of the American people along with everyone else here. This line can best be portrayed in my great-great-grandmother. When she was a little girl she came over here from Denmark with her family. She still spoke Danish and even brought her wooden shoes with her. She was going to start over in a completely new country that was so different from her own. Yet she stayed brave. Soon enough, she became a part of American culture and her family began to get a foothold in America. Soon it started to grow and flourish as relatives married and had kids. Relatives started to move away and take up jobs and lives of their own. My grandmother even made it all the way to Kentucky. Though they didn’t forget where they came from they soon found a new identity as Americans. Along with most people in this country, my ancestors came over here as foreigners yet died here as Americans.
My great grandfather Jose' Nicolas Jene' was the youngest of seven. His story is a true story of the American dream as a success. He was born into a wealthy family in Cuba. His father died young, and the family fortune had been spent to support the Cuban Independence War 1895-98. My great grandfather moved to America and went to law school in Boston at night, while working all day to support himself. He graduated top in his class, waking up at three o'clock to study for his degree. He used his law degree to support his family back home in Cuba. He went to Mexico on a job and met his wife there, bringing her to Cuba and later to America to raise their family, during the Great Depression. He later helped two of his sisters escape from Cuba during the rule of Fidel Castro. His life is an example of the American Dream, and how in our country, anyone can overcome great odds to be successful if they are willing to work hard enough. Jose' Nicolas Jene' died twenty two years ago, in 1991. My family is here today because of his hard work and willingness to create a better life for himself and the people he loved.
“The American society is a melting pot of people all over Europe.” Even today if someone thinks of America, fast food and capitalism, they think of this phrase in some way shape or form. All around the world America is the place where anyone and everyone can live and not be limited or judged by the place you come from. Everybody can be from a different part of the world and coexist peacefully. This phrase also means that cultures mix together seamlessly to create a new and unique place. Most people in America are a blend of different nationalities, sometimes to the extent where someone may simply say, “I am an American.” Instead of listing every culture they have a peace of. I am no exception to this, I am a product of the melting pot of America. I am Polish, Italian, and Irish. These are three countries all from different corners in Europe, and the mix simply could not happen over there. This is where America comes in. My grandparents’ grandparents, living completely separate lives, all made the choice to come to the great “tomorrowland” of America for their respective reasons of which I am not entirely sure. Perhaps they were seeking a place to intermingle with so many other types of people. Anyway, they course of events fell into place and my ancestors eventually met each other in the great land of America, not showing concern of who was from where and eventually I came to be; a mix of many heritages from all over Europe. Social barriers of nationality melt in America and we all become one people pursuing the great American dream. And I believe that, including myself, almost each and every person in America is evidence of the “melting pot” portion of that dream coming true.
The idea that the American Dream rewards those who work hard and allows them to get ahead was not always the case. In the late 1940s and the early 1950s my grandparents were in college. As African Americans this was a rare opportunity. When they graduated my grandmother went on to find a job and her opportunities were very limited because not only was she an African American, she was an African American female. The jobs that she applied for were often the same jobs that many white educated people applied for so, she was often denied because of her race. Meanwhile, my grandfather was experiencing the the same problems in the army. He was fighting for our country just like all the other men fighting for the same cause, but he was treated as if he was the enemy himself. The American Dream seemed to not apply to African Americans so they felt as though they were not truly Americans. Even though they were no longer an enslaved race at that time, they felt as though they were trapped within the same barrier. Their hard work did allow them to eventually get ahead ,but not with the vision of the American Dream in mind. They created their own views on what was truly the American Dream, which included the ideas of true equality and true rewards for those who work hard, no matter race or gender. My grandparents had to step up and be the bigger people even when they knew their white counterparts had so much hatred towards them. So I guess you could say the American Dream is what you truly believe it should be.
Guillaume Crèvecoeur said, “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” This is as true as the American dream gets. People were told in the 20th century that the United States of America was where you could get a job, work hard, start a family, and get rich. People from all walks of life came to the U.S. promised that this country had incredible cities, streets paved with gold, and most importantly freedom. For the most part this was true. The prospect that ‘hard work pays off’ was exemplified most in the beginning of the 20th century, but is still true today. If you work hard in America you have the chance to be at the top of your field, unlike in other countries where everyone is at the same job level. We all have grandparents or great-grandparents who came over from across the pond and were able to start small, but eventually become successful and guarantee the lives we have today. They built this country, from head to toe. The cornerstone of America was created by the people who came from Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, anywhere, and made this country evolve and prosper. All of this was done with one promise, one goal, one dream, that was freedom. It’s what fuels this nation to this day and always has since the beginning. We’ve won wars, risen above economic struggles, defeated our enemies, and supported our allies. There’s no country in the world like ours. We are the United States, and we aren’t going away anytime soon. In fact, were just getting started.
“The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe.”
This phrase, I feel relates to almost all of us. Having ancestors from foreign European nations, we as American’s still represent a melting pot of cultures more now than ever before. With time, we blended more and more ethnic backgrounds into each person. We as a nation have become more and more cultured, even though it may not appear that way. We have deepened each other’s cultural knowledge with our own personal traditions and experiences. Growing up with many different cultures influencing my life experiences, I developed a coursing desire to dive deeper into my ethnic background. With my mother’s half of the family being very Irish and Italian I received a wide range of European knowledge including the concepts of art and arguing. From my Father’s side I received German and Polish traits. With my Grandmother cooking very traditional polish dishes for my grandfather, and taking visits to Cannstatter Volksfest Verein when ever a large party or shower was held. This is what my family calls the German Club a very old and somewhat frightening country club that my family has been visiting with my Grandmother for many years. It has become a part of who we are in our connection with our German routs. As well as my family’s cultural influence, i also am privileged to have many friends from different nations in Europe. Ranging from Belgium to Greece, with our nation progressing as it has I believe that we will always remain a “melting pot of cultures.”
The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. This is an American dream that almost every European Immigrant had never experienced before. The new American peoples were now given the chance to climb the economic rungs of the American social employment ladder. Immigrants, no matter how poor, were able to work hard and earn money and build up their quality of life and move upwards through the classes. I know of a family in Delaware that is a perfect example. The great grandfather moved to the United States in the early 1900s, and brought with him a small amount of money for investments and purchases. He bought properties and invested some of his money into the stock market, only to bring in more wealth. He started a cement and home building business that is now worth millions. The land that the great grandfather bought is all around Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The family homebuilding business either sells the land or builds houses on it. The family is also able to get money from the state when the state needs to put sewer lines into their untouched land. This family is now very wealthy. This shows how the great grandfather came to America with almost nothing, and now his great grandchildren are living a very lavish life. My great grandparents also did a smaller scale version of this endeavor. My great grandparents came to America with nothing, my dad’s side from Ireland and my mom’s side from Poland and Slovakia, but worked hard their whole lives and built big stable middle class families.
deCrevecouer's idea of hard workers being rewarded is one ideal that I can relate too. My own father is a man who had to work very hard for what he has today. My dad had wanted to become a teacher and coach ever since he started working with kids. Although many people told him he couldn’t do it, he persevered and gave a thousand percent in anything he did. He woke up at 5:30 every morning to take a two hour train to class. He worked extra jobs, like unloading trucks or working at soccer camps, to help him pay for his education. On an average night, he would stay up until 12 o’clock doing homework and studying, and then repeat this strenuous process again the next day. My dad wasn’t the smartest, but he out worked the other people in class, always taking the extra steps necessary to come out on top. The way my dad was able to work through hard times makes me believe that with hard work and dedication any dream can be made a possibility. Even when it looks impossible and people tell you it can’t be done, working hard can prove them wrong and make the impossible, a reality.
Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur believed the American dream assured five main aspects. In his epistles, Letters from an American Farmer, he said, “America is an asylum, a refuge for Europe’s poor and downtrodden.” Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur indicated that America was a safe haven for the lower class of Europeans who were underprivileged and defeated. This aspect of the American dream applies to me through my great-great-grandparents. Both my great-great-grandmother and my great-great-grandfather travelled to America from Ireland to escape poverty. There were no jobs in Ireland at the time and they needed to work to support themselves. Before coming to America, they were a part of Europe’s poor and downtrodden, and America was a place to change that. Once they arrived in America, my great-great-grandparents worked for the railroad company. This opportunity for work was the main reason they moved away from Ireland. In the end, their immigration to America became a reward. My great-great-grandparents thrived, dropping the title of “poor and downtrodden.” They established the remainder of their family in America, promising them five aspects of the American dream as well.
My dad is an example of someone who tried to pursue the aspect that the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. He used to work for a corrosion testing lab but was not happy with the salary and the amount of work he could be doing. After quitting his job to better his income, he quickly found out how harsh the business world was. He started two different companies in the field of chemistry. However, a year or so into the creation of the companies, the economy crashed. Times became tough and money was tight. We had very little faith that we would make it through the first few years. We were not living the American dream. My father had not been rewarded for working harder. Eventually, a few years later, his companies thrived more and money was no longer as much of a worry. A huge relief was taken off of us because we could finally relax about the amount of income. Since then, he continues to make more money by the year and only primarily uses one company. We aren’t rich but are better off than we were just a few years ago. Although he failed many times throughout the process, he proves to us every day that he made the right decision in starting his own career path.
Andrew Carnegie is without a doubt a perfect example of the American Dream. He emigrated from Scotland to the United States, and both in America and Scotland he grew up in extreme poverty. He started working at an extremely young age, by today’s standards, and he worked several jobs for very low wages. He wisely invested the money that he had earned working. He invested in railroads and other businesses, and he quickly gained capital and made even more money off of that. He amassed a sizable fortune and continued to multiply it with frugal investments. He eventually became heavily invested in the production of steel. With the invention of the Bessemer process of steel production and Carnegie’s own business practices that involved integration of suppliers and producers Carnegie made considerable profits, and he then formed the Carnegie Steel Company. Eventually as he grew older Carnegie was bought out by J. P. Morgan and retired. He was able to go from extreme poverty in Scotland to being a self-made man and one of the richest men in America. Not only was he successful in business but he donated large sums to charity and he also founded many different trusts and charity organizations.
“The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” This was a belief of Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur in the book, Letters From an American Farmer. My personal story of hard work and the American dream is about my life as a dancer. Ever since I was two years old, I’ve danced at Delaware Dance Company. I’ve started out in doing simple ballet classes where we played more games than actual dance. When I became eligible to perform in The Nutcracker when I was eight, I just had a small role as a girl in the party scene of the first act. I remember marveling at the older dancers who were en pointe and danced in the beautiful dances of Snow Forest and Waltz of the Flowers. Every year, I would move up a role from party child to toy, from toy to mouse, from mouse to soldier, and so on. I worked hard every year and had a larger role with each year. I eventually started performing en pointe and was invited to the Performing Company at DDC. I still cannot believe that this year I am in my second year of Company and dancing in Snow, Reed Flute, and Waltz of the Flowers. It feels like yesterday I was still a little girl with soft ballet shoes always in awe of the older girls.
Guillaume de Crevecoeur's idea on hard work being rewarded is still quite apparent in America today. People who work hard in getting degrees in college, finding a good job, and making money is a prime example of this in America. For example, my cousin Devon is smarter than many other people in our family. He got there through hard work and dedication in school. This paid off in him being able to go to Columbia college in New York to study law. As he continued to work hard, Devon pushed through the hard classes and made a name for himself, as of last year already landing himself a job for good money in Florida when he graduates. Though the classes were tough, Devon was a hard worker. He pushed through his struggles and was eventually rewarded with a well paying job, which is hard to come by in this economy nowadays. He is a great example of Crevecoeur's idea that America was a prime spot to be in to prove that one's hard work could actually pay off.
Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur wrote, in his novel Letters From an American Farmer, that “the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead”. This is one great part of the American Dream. An American can make of himself whatever he so chooses. My dad represents this message very well. Growing up in a family that didn’t have much extra money, and even just scraping by at points, he now does what he wants. He owns and runs his own physical therapy practice and has five kids. When he was younger he would always push himself to do incredible well in school. His stellar high school grades got him accepted in UD. There he received his degree for physical therapy, ranking near top of his class. His career was his passion. To this day, my dad still tells me that he loves getting u every morning to go to work. The people he helps and the work he does is what keeps him going day after day. He also is an amazing dad to five children. He is always there to help and give advice when he’s called. My dad has truly taken advantage of the opportunity of the American Dream. This dream is go out there and, if you work hard enough, achieve what you desire. The success is out there. All you have to do is work hard enough for it. My dad has done just that. He worked extra hard, got ahead, and loved every minute of it.
“The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” I can relate this gift written by Guillaume de Crevecoeur to my brother, Jeff. All throughout his life, he was a great athlete and also a very smart person. Unfortunately, he was forced to overcome a number of significant setbacks as an athlete. His junior year of high school, Jeff has constant pain in his left knee and could never figure out what it was. Eventually, he went to a doctor to get an X-ray on his knee. He discovered he had part of a bone moving freely after being broken off many years before. He got surgery on the knee and I remember how hard he worked to get back to the sports he loved. He was able to run and play months before the doctors ever said he would be able to. I have always admired his determination and fight to get back at it. He became an All-State football player and also set the all-time record at St. Mark’s for batting average in baseball. Jeff went on to play both football and baseball at Gettysburg College and studied health sciences. The worst part was in his sophomore season for baseball; he was throwing a ball in from outfield and tore a ligament in his shoulder. His athletic career was over for the rest of his life. Jeff is a role model to me and is a great example of Guillaume de Crevecoeur’s gift of hard work.
“America is a melting pot.” I have gone to a private school for basically my whole life. So for a while I did not get the opportunity to see all the different races mixed together. There were a few different races here and there but most of the students were white. That was until eighth grade. I went to Corpus Christi School, which ended up merging with two other schools and becoming All Saints Catholic School. On the first day of school you could just see how all the students from all the different schools were all thrown into the same room. There were so many different races and nationalities all together, just like a melting pot. I am many different nationalities; I don’t even know all of them! It was so great to have my eyes opened to seeing all the different races being in the same place all at once. It took some getting used to, but eventually everyone from the three different schools mixed together as one big school. Corpus Christi turning into All Saints really reminds me of the American dream of having America as one big melting pot. All the students became so close that school was a home away from home. Just like all the different races and nationalities mix together to call America their home. It doesn’t matter where you come from across the globe, we all come together to call America our home.
The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe and the American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur tried to convey these ideas of the American Dream. America was seen as a land of hope and a place of promise for a better life. My ancestors came to Delaware long ago from Ireland. They became farmers down state and acquired a large amount of land through their hard work. The Stayton family was doing very well in this land of opportunity. The family continued to excel until the time of the Great Depression. The Stayton family struggled and lost most of their land. They lost most of what they had but Staytonville, Delaware actually still exists in lower Delaware. Even though they struggled their hard work has continued to be a strong value in our family since then. My Dad tells me stories that his father told him of how little they had when he was young. My grandfather was an iron worker and worked hard to provide for my father and his siblings. He died a month before I was born from cancer but I feel as if I know him through my Father who embodies the same values I envision my grandfather having. My Dad has been working construction since he was a young teen. He works hard and has made his way to a good position in his work because of his dedication and perseverance. My family inspires me to work hard and I hope I will be able to as I plan to go to work with my Dad doing construction this summer. While the American Dream does not come true for everyone, in America some people get a taste of what it’s like at some point in their lives.
“The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” This best describes my parents. Both of their families did not have a lot of money and always made the best from what they had. They have taught me the same thing, even though I have more than they did. Both of my parents work full time to support my family. My dad commutes to Maryland every morning to his job, and he makes it home in time for dinner every night. My mom works from 7:30 in the morning and, when she does not have to pick me up from activities, stays until seven at night. My parents work very hard and they have definitely been rewarded with the chance to get a head. They have taught me to work hard, even though I usually do not like to. They both care for my brother and me very much, and have shown us that through their hard work and success.
Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur wrote about the American economy rewarding the hard worker with a chance to get ahead. When my grandfather came to America in the 1940s from Italy, he did not have a lot of money and only knew very little English. He eventually got a job working on the railroads, fixing broken tracks and other odds and ends. He worked his way up the ladder and eventually became the head conductor of the railroad. He would work from sun up to sun down 7 days a week. He built a great work ethic while also building his ability to speak English. He always made sure to tell me and my brothers how important it was to help yourself. He made sure that we knew to do whatever we can to help us succeed. I believe that the economy does reward the hard worker. If you work hard and do your best, you will get opportunities to succeed. My grandfather is a great example of that because he came to America and took every step he could to make a living for himself and ended up very successful with a house, a wife and two sons. He shows that hard work truly does pay off.
My family has an instance in which American being a melting pot from all over Europe was beneficial. One of my great, great, grandfathers, Giovanni Sciallo, came with some of the rest of his family (and my ancestors) from Italy to Philadelphia back in the day. His family came and spread out. He worked in the steel mills, became successful, and started a family. Without those that came from the other countries, he may have never met my great, great, grandmother. He met my great, great, grandmother, and they had children, one of which without my great grandmother. At that point it’s a question: would I ever be here if it wasn’t for the fact that my great, great, grandfather Giovanni came from Italy and met my great, great, grandmother, who was from another country? The answer is probably no. Not only did my great, great, grandparents benefit from finding each other, but they benefited all of the generations to come. Without that, I, myself, probably wouldn’t even be here. America being a melting pot was beneficial to many people, including, to an extent, myself. Who knows what would’ve happened if he had met someone different? I guess that’s a question I never will (and never want to) know.
Throughout its short history, America has been used many of times as a beacon of hope for many people, as they strive to achieve their idea of the American dream. One aspect of the American dream is, “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” This part of the American dream applies indefinitely to my grandfather, who is now almost seventy years old. My grandfather was born on a small Ohio farm in the mid-forties to a very poor family. Being born at the very end of World War II, the economy was booming, but that did not matter for my grandfather and his family. At the age of three, his mother died suddenly of cancer, and his father struggled to thrive and maintain a six-person family on his own. Being the youngest of five boys, my grandfather often did not get as much as his older brothers, even from the very little they had as a family. He had very little education, very little opportunity, and very little hope. When my grandfather was a teenager, it became apparent that he wanted to go to college, but there was one problem: he had no money. During his four years in high school, he did odd and random jobs for low pay, such as delivering newspapers and watering plants at the local flower shop, and he eventually earned enough to get him through a cheap state college. He got his business degree and quickly invested in stocks, apparently making very wise decisions, because he was unquestionably the wealthiest of his four brothers by the age of forty. My grandfather is now retired in Rehoboth, Delaware, with his wife, living a happy, care-free, and very luxurious retirement; this, of course, is credit to, not only the hard work he did as a teenager to get him through college, but the hard work he did after college to make money to support his four-person family, and to make all the spare money from the stocks he invested in that went straight into his retirement fund.
Many Europeans immigrated to America with hopes of finding roads paved with gold as many who had gone before them had promised. They hoped for a more prosperous life where they would be greatly rewarded for their work and have better opportunities for themselves and those generations to come after them. One of deCrevecouer's ideals was that “America is an asylum, a refuge for Europe’s downtrodden. “ This was also an ideal of my great-grandfather, William’s, family. The emigrated from Cardiff, Wales to America because as my grandfather says they were “poor as dirt.” William’s father died very shortly after they arrived in America through Ellis Island and he moved with his mother, aunt, sister named Doris, and brother named Charlie to Wisconsin. Charlie died soon after they got to Wisconsin. William’s mother became very ill and was on the verge of death so she told her sister, William’s aunt that she wanted her to take care of the children. Because her wish was in no written form, the state tried to split the children up into two different foster families. Their aunt took the children and fled to New York. This was considered a kidnapping and she was wanted by the FBI. Because they were in “hiding” of sorts the children had been told their last name was Healy it wasn’t until he was much older and went to get his marriage license that William found out his last name was Northey. As it turns out, America wasn’t as rewarding as it was made out to be. Eventually, however, it proved to be a good decision to immigrate to the land of the free.
Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur writes in “Letters From an American” his ideas of the American dreams. One of those dreams was that “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” I believe this is the most important part of being a American. This relates to me because my whole life my dad told me to work hard in life now and it will all pay off in the future, that exactly what he did. When my dad was sixteen he emigrated from China to America and dropped everything to make a living in the U.S. He got a job working at a small restaurant and a few years after that he decided to take the bug leap and open up a restaurant of his own. His first restaurant was somewhat successful, but unfortunately some kid where playing with fire behind the shopping center and burned my dad restaurant down. The second restaurant my dad open was a buffet, this was his worst restaurant he opened so far. It ended draining more money out of him than making money for him, so he decided to shut it down. The next restaurant he opened was China King, this was his most successful restaurant, even to this day after fifteen years of running it’s still a very successful place. So my dad taught me that if you ever want to be successful in life you have to work hard and keep on trying.
In Letters From an American Farmer, Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur believed in five advantages of America. The one that best exemplifies my dad is “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” My dad has always believed in working hard and setting goals to achieve them. He always said that there were no problems in life, rather, there were multiple challenges that you must overcome. With hard work and dedication, you can become successful. However, having correct moral motives are a key part to success in life. My dad, Brian ONeal, has worked very hard to get where he is today, and every decision he made in the past influenced his future. In high school, good grades did not come easily to him, but he worked hard to get in to University of Delaware. At age twenty, he was faced with a new opportunity to get a head start in life and help build a business. And so he stopped going to college and began to work for Primerica because he felt that school was not doing anything of him at the time, and he wanted to become successful as soon as he could. It was a chance to help people, which was something he admired to do. In order to do so, my dad was motivated and encouraged by his good friend Bill Bowen, a former pastor who retired to build up Primerica. There was an incentive in the business, a ring, to earn $100,000 in a year. My dad worked very hard at a young age to grasp it, and at twenty-five his dream became a reality. Before then however, he climbed his way up the business and got his own office at twenty-three and became a regional vice president. Everything he had worked for paid off by then, but his job as a financial planner was to train his associates and motivate them to work hard. He wanted to set an example to finish what you have started and never quit, so at forty-two years old my dad went back to college. At Wilmington University he worked hard again to get his bachelors degree, and once he did he perspired to acquire his MBA (Masters in Business Association) in order to live up to his own expectations and help his business. My dad is a true candidate for a hard worker and he was thankful for the rewards that came along with it.
Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur outlined and explained five key parts of the “American Dream” in his epistles entitled Letters from an American Farmer written under the pen name J. Hector Saint John. According to these epistles, one of the five gifts America provides is a melting pot of people from all over Europe. Examples of this can be found everywhere we look, but the closest one to me is right in my very own household. I myself am a representation of the melting pot culture that can be found in America. My family is a mix of two nationalities: American and Belgian. My father was born and raised in America, with ancestors originating in Canada and England. My mother, however, was born in Belgium and lived there up until I was born. I, like my mother, was born in Belgium, but unlike her I only lived there for three months. For most of my life, I was raised in America. Because my father is American, I have dual citizenship. My mother taught me the language from the time I could speak to allow me to communicate with my family overseas, but also to keep some of the Belgian culture she grew up with alive in our household. Evidence of the melting pot culture is found everywhere in our lives but for me, I don’t need to look any further than my own home.
De Crevecoeur stated that hard work pays off here in America. He stated this by saying, “The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.” I’ve always believed very strongly in this concept. I’ve always been very motivated to succeed and I’ve always known the success takes very hard work. I learned these principles from my mother. My mom’s parents came from Cuba; they didn’t have much money coming here. My mom grew up not having as much opportunities as I’ve had. They weren’t necessarily poor but they were not anywhere near wealthy. When my mom got older she went to community college for two years and university for two years, there she studied medical technology. Now I’ve never taken any classes on med tech but I’ve heard they aren’t so easy. My mother knew what she had to do. She wasn’t a great test taker and she admits that but for her that meant she would just study harder. After she graduated she had several jobs at different hospitals and then got a job at a company named Baxter as a marketing executive for medical technology. The company later changed to Dade and later changed to Dade Behring and then changed to its current name, Siemens when it was bought by the German company. My mother has now devoted 28 years of service to the same job. She’s worked very hard. Her hard work brought a new position as a marketing director and giving her children everything they could ever ask for.
My parents passed down to me Scottish, French, Polish, English, and Irish heritage. I got my Scottish, Polish, and English heritage from my mother and French and Irish from my father. My mother’s father originally came from Poland and my father’s mother originally came from France. My mother and father met in Maryland where they went to college and got married soon after and moved to Delaware for my father’s work. Their nationalities were passed down on to me proving that America truly is a melting pot. Once North America was discovered, people flocked in from all over the world in search of new opportunities and a new way of life. From their descendants and their legacy you can see the mix of other cultures and races, in the people we interact with, the different restaurants we eat at, and even the customs, like Christmas, that we indulge in. America is home to many people, each of different nationalities, that makes it unique and a haven, proving point 1, that America is an asylum. America encompasses many people which makes America a melting pot and an asylum for those who chose to live here.
In “Letters From an American Farmer” by Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur 5 aspects of the “American Dream” are mentioned and explained. These are that America is an asylum, America is a “melting pot”, the economy rewards hard workers, American’s are free to worship any God, and American’s are the “western pilgrims”. The aspect that has personally affected my family is that the American economy rewards hard workers. This aspect relates to my Dad. When my Dad was a kid my grandfather worked is a GMC car factory. He didn’t make a lot of money but they were all right. My grandparents were able to send my Dad and his brothers too collage and too, the ones that wanted to, medical school. So my Dad worked really hard through collage and optometry school and eventually became an optometrist and he later opened a practice with a friend of his. The practice is now well known in Delaware and is successful. This partially proves the statement de Crevecoeur made in his book that is you work hard you’ll be successful. My uncles also worked hard and became successful and that shows that if you work hard you do not need to come from a wealthy family to be successful.
MarissaK yellow said...
“America is an asylum; a refuge for Europe's poor and downtrodden”
My great Grandfather Hugh McGinnis was born in a small town called Glencrow, in County Donegal, Ireland. He was the 7th of 8 children and according to the laws established by the English, the Irish could not subdivide their farms, so the farms were handed down to the oldest male child. He yearned to finally find a job, which were not all too common in Ireland. On March 23, 1907, when he was 21 years old, he boarded the Steamship SS Columbia to immigrate to the United States. He arrived at Ellis Island on April 2, 1907. The manifest stated that he would be traveling to Philadelphia to see his sister Catherine, who had been living there for several years. He stayed with her in Philadelphia before finding a menial job. He found work as a machinist and worked for many years at the old Atlantic Refinery on Passyunk Avenue before he retired. He married Mary Dunbar on April 26, 1911 and they went on to have 15 children. Even though he had a low paying job, he was grateful because America gave him the opportunity he needed to be successful and raise a family. He became a citizen of the United States on April 10, 1919. My grandmother grew up with stories of her grandfather, telling of his excitement and ambition in coming to the “New World.” America was truly an asylum for my great Grandfather because he found refuge when in Europe he could not.
When we talk about the American Dream we think of a healthy family a roof over our head, food in our bellies, clothes on our back, a respectable job, and some money in our pockets. At least that’s how I would like to be living when I grow older and have these responsibilities. So much makes up America, our economy, our way of life, the diverse cultures and much more. We have all heard the saying America is one big melting pot. But have you ever really stopped and thought about it? Way back when this amazing country was first beginning to establish itself yes there were many diverse cultures and ethnicities but were they really respected and treated as equals? If we were really a melting pot then slavery would most likely not have happened. The Chinese who built the railroad with very little pay would have not been treated the way they were and there most likely would not have been so hard for the Irish when they began coming to this country. But it didn’t exactly happen that way there was huge amounts of racism and racial inequality because they Europeans went against what they had preached to fight for their independence and felt that they were a superior race. Although in some areas it is much better now that is the only thing that I would disagree with de Crevecoeur when describing the American Dream.
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