The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation

To what extent is the American Dream accessible only to Americans? In what ways would the concept of the American Dream make sense (or not make sense) for people raised outside the US? In which countries (if any) would the Dream make more sense to people today—or be easier to achieve?

Cullen discusses three groups that were largely excluded from pursing the American Dream for much of history: First Nations people, slaves, and women. What obstacles to pursuing and achieving any aspect of the American Dream still exist today for historically oppressed groups in the US? If structural patterns of injustice hinder certain groups from achieving the American Dream, does this discredit the Dream? Why or why not?

Whose fault is it when US citizens fail to achieve their version of the Dream of Upward Mobility? Who or what is responsible when a US citizen successfully achieves the American Dream?

Consider whether one can achieve the American Dream in a way that many people would consider morally repugnant. For example, to what extent did infamous crime boss Al Capone achieve the American Dream? From the standpoint of US history and the American Dream, describe the moral or practical difference between achieving upward mobility through playing by the book and achieving it through lawbreaking or cheating the system.

To what extent does the author satisfactorily engage with the history of European Settler/First Nations relations? Do you think he’s required to engage with this subject thoroughly in a book about the American Dream? Although Cullen discusses the violence inflicted on First Nations peoples throughout early US history, he also writes that the Puritans’ “much-lamented relations with Indians weren’t all that bad” (29) and that in conflicts with Europeans, the First Nations peoples “gave as good as they got” (13). Given that they were the continent’s original inhabitants, what would the “American Dream” mean for the diverse First Nations peoples?

This book portrays several kinds of US citizens pursuing different versions of the American Dream: Puritan settlers fleeing religious persecution in England to get things right in a new land; African American civil rights activists putting their lives on the line to fight for equality; and Hollywood hopefuls setting off in search of fame and fortune. Do you see some versions of the Dream as more respectable or “valid” than others? The author writes with less reverence for the Dream of the Coast than he does when discussing the Dream of Upward Mobility, but are all such aspirations and pursuits in some sense equally deserving?

Compare and contrast Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln as two embodiments of the Dream of Upward Mobility. What does it mean that two presidents as different as Jackson and Lincoln can both represent the American Dream in the same way? Consider the achievements and legacies of both presidents.

In his discussion of the Dream of Home Ownership, the author explains the frontier’s importance in the American consciousness, including the need to find new frontiers when old ones are exhausted. The space frontier can be seen as replacing the land frontier after settlers reached the Pacific Ocean, for example. Do you think traditional notions of the American Dream are outdated and that the Dream needs a new frontier? If so, why? For example, is it because aspirations like the Dream of Home Ownership are currently too difficult for most people to achieve or because such dreams are no longer desirable in the same way?