Culture and Politics in the Great Depression

Alan Brinkley considers the origins and development in the Great repression of the idea of the "American Dream." His aim is to inform the wide variance of what counts today as the American Dream by examining its beginnings.

The dream as developed during the Great Depression was unattainable but still widely held up to encourage and motivate the population. The vision was one of middle-class stability, prosperity, and security.

Brinkley frames his presentation with four words that describe how the people of the United States coped with and lived through the Great Depression. Persistence, empathy, rebellion, and community shape his essay.

Brinkley invites the reader to pursue this era further by analyzing evidence from popular literature and film.