Four Dreams: Labor, Identity, Freedom, Democracy
Labor: Since the beginning of the United States, its citizens have always been expected to have strong work ethics and a desire to eat from the fruits of their own hands. Largely based on the original Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, this compulsion has not faltered for the last 400 years. However, a new fear, Communism, began to sprout amongst the people. The idea that some could be just as well off as others without working was entirely foreign and against the Dream. |
Identity: Towards the end of the millennium, a new Dream began to come into being: all individuals, not just the rich and famous, wanted to be recognized as individuals, rather than one of many. This brought forth a wave of new customs and societal traditions. Parents began to trust their children over their teachers, workers wanted to be paid more without having to actually earn it, and people began to expect things. The Dream turned a hardworking society of industrialists into a nation of privilege. Democracy: McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare saw a societal witch hunt for anyone that showed signs of being loyal to anything other than Democracy. The Cold War continued on this Dream of forcefully introducing the morally correct principles upon any nation that was made available to the United States. This Dream proved to be a second Manifest Destiny. |
Freedom: One of the most outstanding Dreams of the 1900s was freedom, and not just "separate but equal" freedom, but the freedom that only true equality brings. People of color began to take matters into their own hands as the Civil Rights came into full swing. Segregated schools, whites only jobs, Jim Crow laws, and unfair wages were all nightmares for those living lives based on very un-American values. The Dream of freedom was enough to quell them. |
Source 1: "A New Attitude to Labor is Planned." Designer Daily, www.designer-daily.com/examples-of-american-cold-war-propaganda-2918.
Accessed 8 Jan. 2017. Cartoon.
Source 2: Block, Herb. "Be Sure to Give Mine Special Attention." Washington Post, 23 Nov. 1955. Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/exhibits/herblocks-
history/fruits.html. Accessed 3 Jan. 2017. Cartoon.
Source 3: March on Washington. Wikiwand, www.wikiwand.com/en/African-American_Civil_Rights_Movement_(1954%E2%80%931968). Accessed
11 Dec. 2017.
Source 4: Block, Herb. "It's Ok We're Hunting Communists." Washington Post, JPEG ed., 31 Oct. 1957. Cartoon.
Accessed 8 Jan. 2017. Cartoon.
Source 2: Block, Herb. "Be Sure to Give Mine Special Attention." Washington Post, 23 Nov. 1955. Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/exhibits/herblocks-
history/fruits.html. Accessed 3 Jan. 2017. Cartoon.
Source 3: March on Washington. Wikiwand, www.wikiwand.com/en/African-American_Civil_Rights_Movement_(1954%E2%80%931968). Accessed
11 Dec. 2017.
Source 4: Block, Herb. "It's Ok We're Hunting Communists." Washington Post, JPEG ed., 31 Oct. 1957. Cartoon.