1

Qingfen Li
Dr. KT Magnusson
ECON 1740-401
07/31/2014
E-portfolio Writing Assignment

Fight for Our American Dream

It is said that, Where theres a good will, theres a great way. I total agree that if
America would have a good will to fight for freedom, independence and liberty. Even though
most of the people doubt about the faith of the American Dream, we were successful gotten
through the Great Depression. That was the result of holding American Dream.
From the past, we fought for our freedom at American Revolution (1775-1783). In 1775,
Richard Harrison and a company of North Carolinians made a treaty with the Cherokee for a
colony they called Transylvania. The way west was opened and the American Revolution got
underway.(65) There was a tightly relationship between these two events. What was the
meaning of those west lands? Lands were money, treasures, business, and freedom. It also can
find from the book, What was true of the land was also true of trade and commerce.
A historical fighting was fight for independence, liberty and freedom. People wont gain
this success unless they fight for it. Complains about land settlement, population growth, cost
and abuse of bureaucracy, restraints of trade, unjust taxationwhether justified or notreveal
why the colonist said they want to be independent.(80) This revolution had brought individuals
rights toward liberty, economic equality and happiness. I believe that what makes people feel
equality and happiness, there will be a place for dreams. It is a place where filled with chances
and dreams.
Many people, displaced in the heartland, moved to California to look for work during
2

the Depression. Because of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, the great
migration from the heartland of the U.S. to California, Los Angeles had grown to over 1.5
million people.(Unit 3 #2) It was a place where we can find out the way toward success and
wealthy and it is America. America Revolution brought a dedication to unalienable rights to
"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,"which emphasize natural rights, equality under the
law for all citizens, civic virtue and duty, and promotion of the general welfare.(Unit 1#1) It just
as Jon Meacham says, Our dreams are more powerful when they are shared by others in our
time. And we are the only ones who can create a climate for the American Dream to survive
another generation, then another and another.
We have learned from the American Economic History that the Great Depression was the
hugest nightmare to every American Dream Holder. Nine thousand banks failed.Unemployment
rose to a quarter of the labor force; millions could find no work. Bread lines, worn-out clothes,
destitute living in cardboard hovels in Central Park, roads filled with vagabondsthese are the
images of that period in our history. (American economic history, Pg.263) If we cannot stand up
at the place where we have fell down, so how can we move forward? It is the right place where
we can figure out the way toward wealthy future. The Great Depression was the challenge of our
beliefs. Journalist Brandon King also points out that the American dream as "the potential to
work for an honest, secure way of life and save for the future"(573). I think the American dream
is advancing with the times.
We have tried a lot to improve our life that we had a great success at financial
developments. Success in the building of financial institutional was achieved in the teeth of
dysfunctions in the physical supply of the medium of exchange. (American economic history,
Pg.395)
3

However, fighting for our dream doesnt mean to start with a war.
Whenever there is a war, there is lives lost, money burned. We had learned that the
measures of the wars cost were huge. Approximately 600,000 died on both sides, 9 percent of
the male population age 15-39 as reported in the 1860 census. (American economic history,
Pg.263) Human beings life is vulnerable that it cannot defeat the war. We need a peace world to
live in.
To be honest, I am a person who strongly believe in American Dream. I know I can have
liberty, freedom, and wealth in this union. And I know that it is the result of fighting. If there is
no wars, there wont be a successful freedom country at all. Theres no doubt that it was the
historical reason which had caused the Civil War. But, neither the North nor the South gained
happiness. It was a war of wasting human and natural resources. The Civil War is a never-
ending tragedy in American history, the seeds of which were planted in colonial times. The
appalling human and economic costs of the war were augmented by the costs of the system that
grew up in the ruins of the Old South. (American economic history, Pg.278)
The place we are living at shouldnt be surrounded by threatens, enemies, nuclear
weapons, and killings. I hope there is no more wars in this peaceful world. We are looking
forward to having a peaceful life where we can pursuing our desirable future. We are positive
when we face to the difficulties and it is the way of achievement, improvement, and success. It
just as Jon Meacham says, Our dreams are more powerful when they are shared by others in our
time. And we are the only ones who can create a climate for the American Dream to survive
another generation, then another and another.

Works Cited
4

Hughes, Jonathan R. T. American Economic History. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman, 1983. N.
pag. Print.
Meacham, Jon. "Keeping The Dream Alive. (Cover Story)." Time 180.1 (2012): 26-39.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.

Meacham, Jon. "Keeping The Dream Alive. (Cover Story)." Time 180.1 (2012): 26-39.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.