nations of dreams :: essays research papers

I have a dream. These are the infamous words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the day that he voiced his vision of America. It was his dream that was deferred for so many generations that finally exploded in the Civil Rights Movement of the 50’s and 60’s. The beginning of this nation was started as a dream and on dreams it has grown. For without a vision, the people shall parish. Nevertheless, there have been dreams that have fallen to the wayside of other dreams. These dreams may be left behind, but they have not been forgotten. To defer a dream, is to cause an explosion of mass proprieties. The American dream was first put on paper in what is call today the ‘Declaration of Independence.’ The dream was that all men are created equal. Before this dream America was ruled by a hierarchy system, that constables, dukes and kings ruled not by choice of the people, but because they were born into it. It was the dream that men had the right to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness that at first festered like a sore and finally exploded in the Revolutionary War. In Russia the dream of the turfs was to have food, clothing, and shelter while the czars lived in castles wearing ermine cloaks and velvet dress clothing, eating feasts of swan, sweets and caviar. In their Communist Manifesto of 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels printed the dream of a socialist system. It was a dream that exploded 70 years later. On March 8 of 1917 a severe food shortage cause riots in Petrograd. The crowds demanded food and the step down of Tsar. When the troops were called in to disperse the crowds, they refused to fire their weapons and joined in the rioting. From the smallest child to the oldest man, dreams are an integral part of us.