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Lauren Havemann Ms. Lukowski English 103 17 February 2011 They Dreamed of America Since Columbus discovered the Americas, millions of Europeans have made the long journey across the Atlantic ocean to the United States. There are many reasons why they chose to come, but they all had one thing in mind, making a new life that is better than the one they were experiencing in Europe. Throughout history there have been different waves of immigrants, but each wave had its own reason for coming. Each wave of immigrants had its own American dream. America gave immigrants a chance to have a new life when the life they had was no longer sufficient. The first reason for immigrants to come to America is freedom to worship. The founding of the first European colonies was going along side the protestant reformation. Many Europeans suffered on the hands of the authorities and were forced to attend the religious services of the area. In some places death would be the answer to those who would not conform. When the Puritans came over from England, they searched for religious freedom in the New World and established colonies based off of their religion. Even though they wanted religious freedom, many puritans were excommunicated when not conforming to what their town considered pure. After hearing of all the wars in Europe based on religion the United States decided to state in the Constitution that the United States can not make laws that can prohibit the free exercise of religion . This being said the United States is now the most religiously diverse nation in the world which is a dream to many people.

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Another dream that people had was freedom from want. Throughout history status was linked to the ownership of land. When population grew in Europe many people had to come to America and when congress passed the Homestead act stating that any settler who could farm 160 acres of land for 5 years could have it, it seemed like a nice deal. The big sweep of immigration also tied in with the industrial revolution. During turn of the 20th century, the United States was the world's leading manufacturing nation. Immigrants were always needed to do the dirty work. Working conditions were poor and the pay was really horrible, but to most immigrants it was still better than what they had experienced in their old country. Also, there was always hope that their children would make it to a better situation than what they were experiencing at the time. Throughout Americas history, there have been many people feeling the poverty of their old country, in hopes of creating lives for themselves and maybe a life for the people back home. Being able to support a family and provide for loved ones is a dream for those coming from a poor country with nothing to lose. A third reason why many people choose to come to America is freedom from fear. For some people choosing to come to America was a matter of life and death. Some historians believe that the 20th century is the century of genocide. From World War I through the end of the Cold War, millions of people were murdered because they belonged to a certain ethnic or religious group or because they stood in the way of totalitarian programs. The Cold War led to American foreign policy and refugee policy. From 1945 to 1980, the United States gave a place for refugees fleeing from communist countries. In the mid1970s, the United States faced crisis when communist governments seized power in Southeast Asia. People from these nations who aided the United States in its long war against communism in Southeast Asia now faced persecution by their new governments.

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The United States therefore decided to let a certain number of people from Southeast Asia into the country and saved many lives in the process. The American dream for people wanting freedom from fear is to live in a safe place where they wont have to worry. The final reason why people come to America is the freedom to be creative. During the 20th century, the United States suffered from an inferiority complex. While the nation became very industrialized many people thought that America was lacking what Europe had in the arts. The last decades of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century were a time of great innovation in all the arts, from painting to psychology, even to science. But death and destruction from WWI left many artists struggling to survive. After the war the rise of fascism occurred and many of the artist lost their freedom of expression. After Hitler came to power thousands of artists fled Germany and came to America. More than 3,000 people received visas before the outbreak of WWII put most of Europe under Nazi control and came to America in order to pursue their careers at their own will without being scrutinized. Even though the end of WWII saw the fall of Nazism and Fascism, Russia stayed totalitarian. The leaders declared that any activity that id not go with the ideology or had even a hint of dissent was banned. Many people faced imprisonment, exile, or even being placed into a mental hospital. During the Cold War the United States welcomed many creative people from communist countries. The dream of these people was not to make a new life for themselves but to continue on the creative life that were going to achieve had it not been for their countries communist regime. May it be freedom of religion, freedom of want, freedom from fear, or freedom to be creative, coming to America in some way shape or form has changed peoples lives. All of these people have one thing in common, they came to America because what they had in

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their old country is not what they wanted from life and they came to America to change that.Being able to do things that they werent allowed to do in their own country gives people a sense of free that they never had before. Now the only question left is what about the people born in America? People who are born here dont understand how free they really are. Many ancestors came from countries where democracy wasnt available or freedom to do basically what you want on an everyday basis got you thrown into jail or a mental hospital. The American dream is not one that can be identified specifically, but they all fall under the principle of freedom. Freedom is taken for granted in America mostly by people who were born and raised here. If Americans took a step in others footsteps and what it took to get here then maybe everyone could have the American Dream that so many from other countries are trying to achieve.

Work Cited

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Wills, Charles A. "Destination America . Freedom to Create | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Sept. 2005. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/destinationamerica/usim_wy_05.html>.