Langston Hughes Definition Of The American Dream

American Dream The American dream has no set definition because it means something different to each person, for some its freedom and equality but for others it could be wealth and success. It varies person to person but it always has the same foundation which is that they are given the opportunity to reach their goals. The Declaration of Independence is the declaration that secured our freedom from England and in it our founding fathers stated “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” guaranteeing us our right to the American Dream. (US 1776) One of the most popular way to influence people back before the day of technology was through writing, and many authors like Langston Hughes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Benjamin Franklin helped shaped the American Dream into what it still is today. In Langston Hughes poem “I, Too, Sing America” he taps into the the American dream from a slave’s point of view. His poem is about an equal America and an America where whites weren’t seen superior to African Americans. He is assertive that is he also an American and that it is just as much his country. He envisions and believes in a more hopeful future and says
He was an extremely productive man in helping our country move forward and would always ask himself “What good shall I do this day?” or at the end of the day, ‘What good have I done today?” (Franklin 305) His accomplishments are perfectly examples of the American dream because everything he had he earned himself. Franklin was not born into wealth and good education, he taught and quizzed himself in his bedroom and never gave up in wanting more out of life. He believed in the the opportunity of the American dream and that every single person deserved a chance at their