In 1931 historian James Adams wrote a book about America and the optimism of the American people. Wanting to call his book “The American Dream”, his publisher claimed it was too broad and he needed to change the name. Although he changed the name, he referenced the American Dream several times in his book. This idea he created allowed Americans since the early nineteen hundreds till present day to envision their future. The idea of creating your own destiny and achieving the dreams you set out for yourself has been around since the time of Thomas Jefferson, but with each evolving era, what people perceive as their American Dream changes. During the time of the Revolution through the Civil War, Jefferson’s way of thinking dominated the minds of American citizens. Believing in “a nation of small farmers, owning enough land to guarantee economic self-suffieciency and personal independence”, his idea was perfectly aligned with the lives of people during the 18th and 19th century. However, as the 19th century ended, so did Jefferson’s view of the American Dream.Transforming to fit a new way of life, employees working for an hourly wage, America transformed from an agrarian to an industrial nation and the American Dream changed with it. Now tied to upward social mobility, people believed “the to realize the dream was not to be independent and self sufficient but to possess the skills that would allow you to navigate the new industrial order and to rise up through the ranks”. As time has progressed the American Dream has evolved to become more and more materialistic. Imagine if we had the same ideals as the 1900s. What would our world look like today?This picture shows that as the American Dream is becoming more and more materialistic, people are spending more and more money resulting in greater debt.