..."I wished to found a European system, a European Code of Laws, a European judiciary: there would be but one people in Europe," declared Napoleon nearly 200 years before Europe finally unifies under the new currency of the European Union. The dream of a strong Europe in which the French, Spanish, Italians, and Germans coexist peacefully as a single united body is being realized today, but it is a dream that was held by Napoleon, based on his vast knowledge of history, and hoped for by many great men after him. Finally at the end of this century this dream is beginning to become a reality. The Grand Empire of Napoleon replaced the ailing Holy Roman Empire which was basically a continuation of the ancient Roman Empire. Napoleon had crowned...
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...The American Dream is the idea that each and every single individual has an equal opportunity to achieve success through determination and hard work. America has long been seen as a place where anyone, despite his or her circumstances, can thrive in society as long as he or she puts in enough hard work. However, some now argue that equality is diminishing and being replaced by inequality. In “American Dream? Or Mirage?”, by Michael Kraus, Shai Davidai, and A. David Nussbaum, and “It’s Now the Canadian Dream”, by Nicholas Kristof, the authors discuss the concept of the American dream in very different ways. The authors of “American Dream? Or mirage?” explain and analyze why most Americans are unconcerned with the economic inequality in the...
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...The notion of the American Dream is widely used describing the American Society in general. Sometimes we hear: “He is the real embodiment of the American Dream”. But what does it mean? Is he famous? Is he successful? Has he much money? The answer is YES. He is prosperous and wealthy. But how has he reached that? The answer is he believed in the American Dream. What is the American Dream, then? The American dream is the idea held by many in the United States of America that through hard work, courage and determination one can achieve prosperity. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations. The origin of the American dream stems from the departure in government and economics from the models of the Old World. This allowed unprecedented freedom, especially the possibility of dramatic upward social mobility. Europeans came to America to escape a poor quality of life at home. They wanted to embrace the promise of financial security and constitutional freedom they had heard existed so widely in the United States. That was the time when some poor people coming to a new Land could achieve wealth. Nearing the twentieth century, major industrialist personalities became the new model of the American dream, many beginning life in the humblest of conditions but later controlling enormous corporations and fortunes. Perhaps most notable here were the great American capitalists Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. This acquisition...
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...important values in people for him. “The American Dream” as a symbol of personal liberty, society with equal opportunities and freedom speech is an integral part of Whitman’s creativity. In the entire history of the U.S, Americans struggled for freedom. Whitman exalted it and made it the American’s heritage. Walt Whitman never failed in his time to have a message for his fellow American brothers in his poems; for instance Leaves of Grass, where he addresses the citizens of the United States, urging them to be large and generous in spirit, a new race nurtured in political liberty, and possessed by united souls and bodies (Loving 20). Democracy for Whitman meant the statement of individual rights and the rights of everyone at the same time. He was full of optimism and believed in democracy. “The American dream” was a hope for the future, and the poet hinted at it. According to Whitman, America was a mix of different cultures of the civilized world, but he considered the country was better than others because there were no limitations of manifestation of freedom. That is why the poet loved his...
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...idea. Such is why America has the greatest influx of illegal immigrants crossing its boarders, especially along the Mexi-Cali and Texas boarders in search of the “American Dream.” This is what makes illegal immigrants risk their lives, leave their families, and their own homeland in which they love so much, only to find that that dream can abruptly come to a halt once confronted by a swat-team of border patrol officers. Suddenly that dream seem to have sank deep in the harsh waters that they had struggled so hard to get across. “America must be kept American”, sighted by President Coolidge at the singing of the immigration quota law in 1924. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the control over who was admitted into the United States was controlled by individual colonies. This was done in order to build the country or by the need to keep out undesirables. The laws were clear that the immigrant must be self-supporting and desired. These laws became less restricted after America gained its independence from England, but with much of its propaganda, the immigration laws remained the same as a means of protecting the American workers. In 1892 congress passed an act that restricted convicts, prostitutes, the insane, and even gave a literacy test. In 1924, the law was revised to allow northern and western Europeans and...
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...The children in Eldorado have the same attitude as pretentious European princes in that they look down upon riches as if they do not need money and those who do are beneath them, (The Meaning of Eldorado: Utopia and Satire in Candide). “The children of the Kings of this country must be well brought up, if they are taught to despise gold and precious stones”,(Butt 75). The children as well as many of the Eldoradans are unhappy with what they have. Eldorado satirizes Europeans in that they are only satisfied when they have more than others, this makes happiness or utopia impossible because there is constant competition and someone will always have more wealth. This helps to show that Eldorado or any utopian society is not truly perfect. The children in Eldorado are taught when they’re young that those who desire wealth are sinners because they have lust for wealth,(The Meaning of Eldorado: Utopia and Satire in Candide). This ideology shows that wealth is the only item of importance. Eldorado satirizes the ideals...
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...Between the time periods of 1700 to 1900, reasons for migrations differentiated from region to region, but also some changed within their own region throughout that time period. Such as the migration of the European people to the Americas, due to imperialism, starvation, and industrialization. Also, the migration of the African people to the Americas, due to the beginning and end of slave trade. However, when the Europeans migrated over to Africa and Asia, they colonized and conquered territories. During the 18th century, migration of the European people into the Americas was mostly based around imperialism. European countries felt the need to expand and colonize, such as Great Britain, which had many colonies along the east coast of North America. Additionally, Spain colonized the Caribbean and also areas in South America. However, when the Africans came over to the...
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...filled with residences who believe they achieved the American Dream, but in fact, ruined by the Dream; besides, the East Egg, a place for the proud “old money”, that believe themselves as “born and breed riches”, the upper class, represent the ultimate goal of American Dreams, that is empty and shallow. Last but not least, The Valley of Ashes, sheltered the people who blindfolded by American Dream, spent days and nights to serve the riches and believe that one day they’ll become one, and who at last realized that the dream bring nothing but destruction. First, the nouveau rich settlement in Long Island, the West Egg, is a shelter for sad people who thought themselves work hard enough and achieved the American Dream. In the beginning of the story, the narrator, Nick Carraway told us about his background as an “old money” descendent, but decided to venture out his comfort shelter, in search of a new and independent life. Nick eventually became a neighbor of Jay Gatsby, a rich man who throws party almost every day, in the West Egg. We can see the crassness of the house in West Egg, Gothic style tower and some mismatch details, desperately trying to imitate European style architecture. These architectural narrations signify the general style of the nouveau riche – and American by that time— trying hard to achieve the upper class’s taste on art and lifestyle, blindfolded with materialism, ignorantly idolized European and other foreign objects. Jay Gatsby represents...
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...Hector St. John Crevecoeur who was a farmer. Part of his letter discusses “Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world” (Crevecoeur, 1782). From this reading my understanding is that men have emigrated and gathered together to unify themselves for a better life. Working hard, bringing arts, church and fellowship to all and also instill change from where they have come from. They are European or of European descent and all pitch in to help to till the soil and work on the land to make something of it, more than what they had before coming here. They are unified to create and extend their means for enhancement. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a humanitarian, a clergyman and a civil rights activist. He believed in freedom, equality for all and a non-violent approach. It has been 50 years since his “I have a dream speech” wherein he says “even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. He goes on to say, “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir (King, 1963). Although it still rings with truth, we still find our American selves hearing about injustices, racism, segregation and inequality when we turn on the TV news, read the papers (or electronic device) or listen to the radio. Humans sometimes act...
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...The emergence and deepening of the European identity has been a significant aspect of integration over the past two decades. The European identity can be classified as a set of values shared by all the citizens of the European Union. The most tangible illustration of a European identity is the European Union (EU), a political-economic union that consists of 28 member states within Europe. Individuals and nations within Europe subordinating parochial interests is an imperative influence for the assimilation of Europe, as it achieves a common sense personified by the identity, based on the beliefs, values and norms. The concept of European identity can be demonstrated through cultural, social and political factors in varying degrees, with reference to the French society. Cultural and social identities involve the existence of a European identity that exceeds the distinctiveness of individuals based on native factors such as national identity or culture group identity, whereas political identities considers the strengthening expansion of a European identity through the influence of European identity. Supporters of European integration regard the development of a European identity as part of the quest to a culturally, politically, economically and influential united Europe. A European identity can notionally exist simultaneously through national or cultural identities, with individuals establishing a hierarchy of importance or relevance for their identities to their lives. Cultural...
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...the notion of the American Dream, the players spoke excitedly about how open American culture was compared to their home countries and the opportunities to pursue any career they wished (Damon 1). Despite their different origins from across the globe, on the pitch this group of first, second, and third generation immigrants were all united under one nationality. This...
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...diverse answers. Many factors go into answer of this question when asking it. For example, take the time period in which you focus the question of what an American is. After reading a letter written by a farmer named Hector St. John de Crevecouer, who was a farmer from Pennsylvania in the colonial days of early America, I got a perspective to this question in a way I never thought before. I enjoyed the examples he gave to what differentiated an American from a European. For one, in Europe you never got to look out and see a new nation or land that was uninhabited. Crevecouer explained this experienced inspired a good citizen. Another difference was Europe has and for the most part always had lords and royalty. When you looked around in Europe you saw lords who had everything and people who had nothing. In America there were no “Aristocratical families, no courts, no kings, no bishops.” In Europe there was one great one and thousands working for him. The colonies were very different from the already established European countries. The people who formed the colonies worked for themselves and were people of cultivators. They were united by their works which, to me, sounds like they took a lot of pride in. How inspiring it must feel to be a part of a royal monarchy and leave that life and move to your own new land where everyone is pretty much equal. This foundation the new colonies built bred people to respect the laws because they were among like people who worked hard and owned...
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...“So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs from Americans “by Jimmy Santiago Baca, the narrator explains in immigrants come to America and try to take make living for their families but society discriminate against them because they are different .American Dream” by Arnold Schwarnegger is an interview with Schwarzenegger detailing how a man tries to pursuit his dreams as a bodybuilder, never giving up no matter what. Even when he placed second times in competitions, he became successful in America. In other words, these two narrators give examples of how immigrants come from other countries, trying to pursuit dreams in another land, making better living for their children, and becoming leaders in many different ways. Society discriminates against them due to look. The optimistic tone of schwarnegger’s interview is in stark contrast to Baca’s poem, underlining American society’s preference for immigrants to European versus Latin-American descent. First, some people successfully sneak across the border but do not mean they will successful once they get to America. “So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs from Americans” by Baca gives a mental picture of where a lot of immigrants are coming from, and gives an understanding as to why they would choose to risk their lives coming to America. “The rifles I hear sound in the night are white farmers shooting blacks and browns whose ribs I see jutting out and starving children” reflects the bitterness he has towards Americans for the violence that occurs with border...
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...America, the land of opportunity. Many of these European immigrants hailed from Eastern European countries such as Russia, Hungary, Italy, and Lithuania. Unlike the immigrants of the past who came to America educated and with financial resources, this new group of immigrants came to America in search of jobs, political freedom, and to escape the mass poverty in Europe. This new group of immigrants were often poor and uneducated and were likely considered peasants in their own countries. Jurgis Rudkus, a fictionalized character in Upton Sinclair's novel, The Jungle is an example of such a person. Jurgis is from Lithuania and comes to America in search of the American dream. At the beginning of the novel Jurgis comes to America as any other typical European immigrant. He dreams of America as being a land where a man with little can rise through the ranks and ultimately become a man with wealth and prosperity. Jurgis quickly realizes that industrial America is a land of heartache, where a willing man is exploited and used as energy to fuel the never ending industrial machine. At the end of the novel Jurgis learns that the great land of America has its limitations, but at a cost as he loses his wife and child and spends stints in jail for trying to defy the machine. Thus, the novel, The Jungle exemplifies how immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe in the early 1900s could not fully realize and achieve the American dream no matter how hard they toiled and worked in the...
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...Molly Dadrugue December 13, 2014 Gatsby and the American Dream “I have spent my life judging the distance between American reality and the American dream.” -Bruce Springsteen Through the use of metaphors and analogies, Fitzgerald creates a reflective and logical conclusion to The Great Gatsby. In this concluding passage, the narrator, Nick, provides an explanation regarding the extinction of the American Dream, the theme of the novel. The American Dream is not shown to be the American reality in this emotionally and figuratively colorful novel. Fitzgerald uses the analogy of the American Dream in comparison to the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. The green light represents Gatsby’s dream of being with Daisy. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.” (Fitzgerald) This quote describes the metaphor of the green light being Gatsby’s glimpse of hope that he and Daisy will be together in the future. Gatsby’s ignorance caused him to lose touch with the reality that year by year Daisy is moving further and further from Gatsby. This is similar to the American Dream because the green light is being compared to the continent of America. The Dutch sailors mentioned in the passage see American as a glimpse of hope for mankind. With this the American Dream is created, but as time goes by the American Dream seems to fade into a fantasy, just as Daisy fades into an element of Gatsby’s fantasies. At the end of this...
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