The American Dream In The 1950's

In the 1950’s the concept of achieving the “American Dream” was what the majority of the United States was aiming for. This dream was that “life should be richer and better and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement,” (Epic of America). For many this meant owning a home, having a car, and raising a family; the white picket fence idea. Although the idea was for everybody to be happy, it really only was achievable for white men. The women and non-white citizens did not have an equal opportunity to live the american dream. According to The Balance, the American Dream is defined as “the ideal that the government should protect each person's opportunity to pursue their own idea of happiness.” The United States Declaration of Independence supports this definition by saying, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." This means that the country was founded on the idea of pursuing happiness. This foundation is what motivates and inspires the

With all the new houses and pre existing gender roles women were expected to stay home, cook, clean, and raise children. They did not have equal rights and they were not as protected under the law. In the case of Evelyn Ryan from Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio, she was being abused by her husband, Kelly, and when the authorities were called when it turned violent nothing was done and the cops just talked to Kelly about baseball. Among this were other examples such as how women were not allowed to drive or have their names on mortgages. These are examples of how women were excluded from the American