THE AMERICAN

DREAM

What is American Dream?• The American Dream is the freedom that allows all citizens

and most residents of the United States to pursue their goals in life through hard work and free choice

• The phrase's meaning has evolved over the course of American history. The Founding Fathers used the phrase, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." It began as the opportunity to achieve greater material prosperity than was possible in their countries of origin. For others it is the opportunity for their children to grow up and receive an education and its consequent career opportunities. It is the opportunity to make individual choices without the restrictions of class, caste, religion, race, or ethnic group.

FROM RAGS TO RICHES• Development and discovery of new areas and natural

riches provided the base on which American economy expanded. A web of railroads and tracks spread across the country. This expansion helped to increase nation’s steel industry and sprawned coal production. Betweeen 1870 and 1910 the population grew from 40 to 90 mln. As a result demand for farm products rose and scientific advances made farmers use the soil more efficently. Railroad expansion made farming regions more accessible and the farm machinery was in common use. In industry changes were stimulated by new manufacturing initiative. In the 1870’s textile mills began to sprawl up in the cotton states. Iron and steel production made many cities boom.

Statue of Liberty• Statue of Liberty was presented to the United States by

the people of France in 1886. Standing on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, it welcomes visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans traveling by ship. The copper-clad statue, dedicated on October 28, 1886, commemorates the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence and was given to the United States to represent the friendship established during the American Revolution.Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi sculpted the statue and obtained a U.S. patent for its structure

• The statue is of a robed woman holding a torch, and is made of a sheeting of pure copper, hung on a framework of steel with the exception of the flame of the torch, which is coated in gold leaf.

Immigration

Waves of immigration:American immigration history can be viewed in four epochs: the colonial period, the mid-nineteenth century, the turn of the twentieth, and post-1965. Each epoch brought distinct national groups - and races and ethnicities - to the United States. The mid-nineteenth century saw mainly an influx from northern Europe; the early twentieth-century mainly from Southern and Eastern Europe; post-1965 mostly from Latin America and Asia

Wacławowo - Chicago

Chinatown - PhiladelphiaLittle Italy – New York

Ellis IslandBetween 1892 and 1954 more than 12 million people passed through the Ellis Island Immigration Station in New York Harbour to begin life in a new country. This is the heritage of untold millions of United States citizens today, who entered through Ellis Island themselves or are the children or grandchildren of those who did. The Station opened in 1892 and closed in 1954. During those years it was a symbol of dramatic, sometimes traumatic experience of beginning one’s life anew in a strange land, with unfamiliar customs, and in most cases, a different language. The immigrants came with few resources but with endless hopes.

The American Constitution1787

Martin Luther King Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States and he is frequently referenced as a human rights icon today. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. There, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history. In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means.