Was the American Dream Really Obtainable to Anyone and Everyone?
Yoelmis Velasquez
Was the American Dream really obtainable to anyone and everyone? They call the United States of America the land of equal opportunity, where hope is a given and all you have to do is dream. However this was not the case for many people, such as the women in the United States around the late 1860 through the 1920s, when our beautiful country began opening its doors. As a matter of fact when we look back at our history, during that time period, it seems that women weren’t even allowed to dream. They would live their lives according to the rules and standards that society had set for them. From childhood they were only taught how to cook and clean, how to keep a house in order, and how to care for children. Education wasn’t an option and they were often shamed if they spoke out; in other words their opinions were meaningless. It seems that the female gender has come a long way in history, but it took many brave women to stand up and take radical steps to change the future for the upcoming generations. For women in the 1860s through the 1920s, the American Dream of equal treatment and the right to vote seemed to be a myth due to the strong male opposition throughout the workforce, the political field, and even the home; however, all the efforts that the brave women who spoke out and worked towards equality and suffrage soon paid off to make their dream a reality through the right to keep and earn profit from their working land and the 19th amendment being added to the Constitution. Our country is based on the promise that our founders wrote in the constitution; they stated that all men are created equal. However this constitution was written by men and as we read it we may notice that it was directed for the men as well. The female gender was probably the last thing on their mind when it came to writing about the rights that should be kept and respected. Women at the time were not taken in
Was the American Dream really obtainable to anyone and everyone? They call the United States of America the land of equal opportunity, where hope is a given and all you have to do is dream. However this was not the case for many people, such as the women in the United States around the late 1860 through the 1920s, when our beautiful country began opening its doors. As a matter of fact when we look back at our history, during that time period, it seems that women weren’t even allowed to dream. They would live their lives according to the rules and standards that society had set for them. From childhood they were only taught how to cook and clean, how to keep a house in order, and how to care for children. Education wasn’t an option and they were often shamed if they spoke out; in other words their opinions were meaningless. It seems that the female gender has come a long way in history, but it took many brave women to stand up and take radical steps to change the future for the upcoming generations. For women in the 1860s through the 1920s, the American Dream of equal treatment and the right to vote seemed to be a myth due to the strong male opposition throughout the workforce, the political field, and even the home; however, all the efforts that the brave women who spoke out and worked towards equality and suffrage soon paid off to make their dream a reality through the right to keep and earn profit from their working land and the 19th amendment being added to the Constitution. Our country is based on the promise that our founders wrote in the constitution; they stated that all men are created equal. However this constitution was written by men and as we read it we may notice that it was directed for the men as well. The female gender was probably the last thing on their mind when it came to writing about the rights that should be kept and respected. Women at the time were not taken in
Cited: Barry, Kathleen L. “Women’s Rights.” Encyclopedia Americana. Grolier Online, 2012. Web. 12 April 2012 Barry’s article on women’s rights is a very extensive and well written “Suffrage, women’s”. Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier Online, 2012. Web. 11 April 2012.