The American Dream inspired, captivated and propelled our Nation's Founders and Citizens to a way of thinking which was unheard of in their day: we the people … created equal … endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights … life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. The right to vote based on citizenship rather than financial holdings, religious freedom, a free press and the right to assemble all flow from this Dream. To this very day it is unequalled and unparalleled in our world.
The Dream came to imperfect people in an imperfect world. A look back confirms that it was engaged by three basic types of individuals. Revolutionaries, patriots and those looking only to advance themselves. The distinction is not necessarily apparent in one's speech but becomes very clear in one's living. Consider the following: While George Washington was leading the revolutionary army, a patriot named Martha Washington was living out her life in essential and sacrificial support. Paul Revere and his female counterpart in Connecticut, Sybil Ludington, sounded alarms at critical points in the conflict. John Adams had the revolutionary task of obtaining a loan from the Dutch while the patriot Abigail Adams gave herself tirelessly to activities which kept them all alive. Esther DeBerdt Reed established “The Ladies of Philadelphia” raising an enormous amount of money to fund American troops. When Benedict Arnold wasn't being advanced as quickly under Washington as he thought he deserved he had no trouble going to the British to advance himself and his military career.
Along with the Dream, these three types are with us to this very day. In this election year the phrase "the American Dream" is being touted. The issue is that what many refer to as the Dream isn't the Dream at all. The beginning of the American Experiment came when 56 individuals started with the Dream and, as a result, pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honors to each other under the protection of Providence. The change of thinking and living that followed is providing the world (not just Americans) with so many opportunities and blessings to this very day. But the opportunities and blessings are not the dream, they are the result of those who embraced it. The Dream cannot be embraced for me. It calls me to decide my own response. My thinking and my living will be the final arbiters as to which of the three types I become.
