<p>"The American Dream" is one of the most familiar and resonant phrases in our national lexicon, so familiar that we seldom pause to ask its origin, its history, or what it actually means.<br> In this fascinating short history, Jim Cullen explores the meaning of the American Dream, or rather the several American Dreams that have both reflected and shaped American identity from the Pilgrims to the present. Cullen begins by noting that the United States, unlike most other nations, defines itself not on the facts of blood, religion, language, geography, or shared history, but on a set of ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence and consolidated in the Constitution. At the core of these ideals lies the ambiguous but galvanizing concept of the American Dream, a concept that for better and worse has proven to be amazingly elastic and durable for hundreds of years and across racial, class, and other demographic lines. Cullen then traces a series of overlapping American dreams: the quest for of religious freedom that brought the Pilgrims to the "New World"; the political freedom promised in the Declaration; the dream of upward mobility, embodied most fully in the figure of Abraham Lincoln; the dream of home ownership, from homestead to suburb; the intensely idealistic--and largely unrealized--dream of equality articulated most vividly by Martin Luther King, Jr. The version of the American Dream that dominates our own time--what Cullen calls "the Dream of the Coast"--is one of personal fulfillment, of fame and fortune all the more alluring if achieved without obvious effort, which finds its most insidious expression in the culture of Hollywood.<br> For anyone seeking to understand a shifting but central idea in American history, The American Dream is an interpretive tour de force.</p>

The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation

History

Jim Cullen

Americas

Oxford University Press

From the proliferation of novels written by white women in the late 18th cent. to the rise of rap music composed by black men in the late 20th, popular culture has been a powerful force in the U.S. In this fascinating history written for the general reader, Cullen traces the development of this culture over two centuries. He uses the novels of the late 18th & early 19th cent., the theater & minstrel shows of the mid-19th cent., the movies & TV of the 20th cent. to demonstrate the boundaries of form & geography. Cullen shows how unique & vibrant popular cultural forms have overcome initial resistance from the elites & enabled historically marginalized groups to gain access to the fruits of society & recognition from the mainstream. Illustrated.

Art of Democracy: A Concise History of Popular Culture in the United States

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Monthly Review+press

Popular culture (PC) has been a powerful force in the U.S., connecting disparate & even hostile constituencies. The novels of the late 18th & early 19th cent., the theater & minstrel shows of the mid-19th cent., movies, & the intro. of TV & computers in the 20th cent. are the building blocks that Cullen uses to show how unique & vibrant cultural forms overcame initial resistance & enabled historically marginalized groups to gain recognition from the mainstream. This updated ed. contains a final chapter which traces the history of contemporary computing from its WW2 origins as a mil. tool to its widespread use in the late 20th cent. as a tool for the masses. Shows how the computer is reshaping PC, & how that culture yet retains its capacity to surprise. Illus.

Art of Democracy: A Concise History of Popular Culture in the U.S.

Diane Pub Co.

Essaying the Past: How to Read, Write and Think about History

Wiley Global Research (STMS)

Essaying The Past

Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, John

Essaying the Past: How to Read, Write, and Think about History

Imperfect Presidents: Tales of Misadventure and Triumph

Politics & Government

Fall_River_Press

The Civil War in Popular Culture: A Reusable Past

Smithsonian Institution

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Books by Jim Cullen