America is regarded as the land of opportunity[1]. Throughout the world, this country has gained the reputation of a nation where any dream is possible, and any feat can be achieved. This is not because United States is a place where a community is there to sustain you but rather it is a place where self-accountability and individuality are the cornerstone values. Since its birth, this place has fostered competition and innovation — all coming from self-determination.
America is very different from European nations, as it has never appealed to a sense of uniting a community such as Germany with Marxism[2], or Fascism in Italy[3]; Americans regard themselves as citizens of a place where the individual triumphs and, due to this, the community flourishes. This is completely opposite of having the community as the reason why the individual can grow. For that reason, it is not a coincidence that the notion of the American Dream emerged, as it encompasses all the values Americans harvest — Pragmatism, Self-Responsibility, and Individualism[4].
This essay will analyze the impact these three values have had on the American Dream, and why is it that this idea appeals to a heterogeneous society. More specifically, we will focus on why people who migrated from European nations — where the values fostered are complete antonyms of the concept of the American Dream — adopted the American Dream.
Although at first it may seem this essay will evaluate the past in terms of the history of European immigration to America, the research will focus on finding out how come these individuals adopted the American Dream. Furthermore, the past will be taken into account as a given variable, rather than one we need to explain. Put another way, the research will focus on the current sociological impact American Core Values have had on European-descent populations, and how have they adopted the notion of the American Dream, even though they come from a continent where these values seemed non-existent. Notwithstanding, we have to cover some context first.
During the 19th and 20th centuries, America saw an implosion of factories opening for business. Many have asked themselves why this happened, and most historians consider that three factors had the most influence on the industrial boom: New technologies — such as steam engines, railroads and telegraphs; innovations inside factories (I.E. Assembly Lines); and immigration[5]. The surge of people migrating to the United States was perhaps the most important aspect, as more people meant more workforce, and more workforce meant more productivity — and more productivity meant more wealth.
During the 19th century, most people who migrated to the United States were from Germany, Ireland and England[6]. These nations are built upon moral foundations that fostered community values such as comradery, cooperation and tradition. When migrants started to arrive to America, they found themselves in a concrete jungle where individualism triumphed; they were foreign on a place where self-responsibility was king, and communism was foe[7].
Perhaps what happened in Cincinnati between 1820 and 1880 can shed a light on this phenomenon: More than 200,000 people of Jewish descent migrated from Europe to the United States in hopes of becoming merchants. They were known for relying in their family and community and hoped to maintain their traditions even after leaving their home[8]. However, most had trouble keeping their forms because of how heterogeneous the American society was. Moreover, Americans believed that pragmatism was key to succeed, and being “uptight” was an obstacle of progress. Nevertheless, they were able to adapt and keep on pursuing the American Dream.
The American Dream derives directly from The American Core Values. Yet, people who traveled across the globe and carried with themselves foreign notions aforementioned were able to add to their repertoire of moral foundations American beliefs. What’s more, immigrants are a key factor for keeping the American Dream healthy.
A clear indicator of this is the fact that, when you take two urban areas that are similar in terms of urban and college populations, the one that is more likely to produce more prominent Americans is the one that has more immigrant-descent people in it[9]. Likewise, counties that accepted more immigrants between 1860 and 1920 now benefit from higher wages[10]. Similarly, immigrants make up more than a third of the workforce in some industries[11], such as fishery, construction and food processing[12].
Not only have they been able to keep up with the American Dream, immigrants now sustain this idea. This is quite profound; the notion of the American Dream is now dependent on people who are not from America at the first place. This sheds a light in the power of ideas, and how can they unite a heterogeneous society to form a more inclusive nation. The American Core Values reflect the history of our nation, yet these transcend territory and invite everyone to chip in. And now, paradoxically, these values wouldn’t exist without those who were courageous enough to come to America to pursue a life of freedom and opportunity.
This explains why Europeans were able to adopt The American Core Values. The American Dream was never — and will never — be exclusively for Americans. It is for all sorts of people[13]. The American Dream invites everyone to be more practical, more accountable of their actions, and prouder of their individuality. This is why diversity is essential, as it leads to a clash of ideas and a constant flow of innovation. All of these traits existed back when immigration surged during the 19th century, and all of them still exist today. For all one knows, without the Land of The Free, there would be no Home for the Dream.
[1] In a NY Times Article, Helen and Jesse from Cleveland were interviewed, and Helen said: “My family immigrated to the U.S. from China over 25 years ago. They left everything and everyone they knew so that they could give me a better life. That was their American dream,” Helen said. “My American dream is the same as my parents’. I want my future children, everyone’s children, to grow up in a country where they have opportunities to create a better life.” See more at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/05/opinion/american-dream.html
[2] See Marx, Karl, 1818–1883. Das Kapital, a Critique of Political Economy.
[3] See Szymanski, Albert. “Fascism, Industrialism and Socialism: The Case of Italy.”
[4] Throughout the essay, we will refer to these three values as “American Core Values”.
[5] Up to 40% of Americans are descendants of the 17 million immigrants who came to the United States between 1892 and 1954. See https://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/april-17-family-history-day
[6] See Library of Congress at http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/riseind/immgnts/
[7] Evidence of this is McCarthyism. Refer to Griffith, Robert. “The Political Context of McCarthyism.” For more on relevant information.
[8] Per National Museum of American History at https://americanhistory.si.edu/press/releases/national-museum-american-history-explores-promise-america-through-three-19th-century
[9] Stephens-Davidowitz, Seth, Andres Pabon. They studied this in their book “Everybody Lies: Big data, new data, and what the internet can tell us about who we really are.” (Pages 273 thru 275).
[10] According to research, a 5% increase in immigrants leads to a 20% increase in wages.
[11] See Sherman, Arloc, et al. at https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/8-15-19pov.pdf
[12] See Merelli, Annalisa. “Immigrants who rely on public benefits are actually essential to the US economy”.
[13] See Abrams, Samuel J. “The American Dream Is Alive and Well”. NY Times.
Works Cited
Abrams, Samuel J. “The American Dream Is Alive and Well”. NY Times, February 5th, 2020.
Griffith, Robert. “The Political Context of McCarthyism.” The Review of Politics, vol. 33, no. 1, 1971, pp. 24–35. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1406357. Accessed 26 Feb. 2020.
Marx, Karl, 1818–1883. Das Kapital, a Critique of Political Economy. Chicago :H. Regnery, 1959.
Merelli, Annalisa. “Immigrants who rely on public benefits are actually essential to the US economy”. Quartz, January 30th, 2020 https://qz.com/1790918/immigrants-who-use-public-benefits-are-essential-to-us-economy/
Nunn, N, Qian, N and Sequeira, S. ‘Migrants and the Making of America: The Short and Long Run Effects of Immigration during the Age of Mass Migration’. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. 2017 https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=11899
Rockoff, Hugh. “On the Controversies Behind the Origins of the Federal Economic Statistics.” The Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 33, no. 1, 2019, pp. 147–164. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26566981. Accessed 24 Feb. 2020
Sherman, Arloc, et al. “Immigrants Contribute Greatly to U.S. Economy, Despite Administration’s “Public Charge” Rule Rationale” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. 2019. https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/immigrants-contribute-greatly-to-us-economy-despite-administrations
Stephens-Davidowitz, Seth, and Andrés Pabon. Everybody lies: Big data, new data, and what the internet can tell us about who we really are. New York: HarperCollins, 2017.
Szymanski, Albert. “Fascism, Industrialism and Socialism: The Case of Italy.” Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 15, no. 4, 1973, pp. 395–404. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/178137. Accessed 24 Feb. 2020.
