American Dream Quiz

James Truslow Adams, in his 1931 book, "The Epic of America," first popularized the notion of an American dream.

The phrase "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is found in the Declaration of Independence.

According to Census.gov, the median household income in 2008 was $52,029.

According to Census.gov, 13.2 percent of Americans in 2008 were living below the poverty level, which is about $11,000 a year for a single person.

Home ownership dropped to 62 percent in 2010, the lowest level in 50 years.

Nineteenth century French writer Alexis de Toqueville wrote that Americans had "the charm of anticipated success."

King Henry IV of France told his subjects in the 16th century that he wished each of them had a chicken in a pot.

In 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt called for a wider and constantly rising living standard.

Between 1979 and 2005, the after-tax incomes of the richest one percent increased 225 percent.

Woody Guthrie wrote that "this land was made for you and me" in his 1940 protest song, "This Land is Your Land."

These words were penned in the 14th Amendment, which was passed by both houses of the U.S. Congress in 1866, a little more than a year after the Civil War ended.

Studs Terkel wrote "American Dreams," in which he interviewed both famous and ordinary people about their aspirations.

Gen. Douglas MacArthur said, paradoxically, that "part of the American dream is to live long and die young."

In the poem "Let America Be America Again," Langston Hughes blamed economic inequality and strike-breaking for preventing the American dream from becoming a reality.

Both upward economic mobility and home ownership generally are viewed as part of the American dream.

According to the study, both France and Canada, among other nations, have more upward economic mobility than the United States.

The Communist Party first coined the term "American Exceptionalism" in the 1920s, to explain why the United States would be late in converting to communism.

In a 2011 ABC News poll, 54 percent of 12 to 17 year olds said they could become president.

In a 2011 ABC News poll, about 20 percent of teenagers said they wanted to be president someday.

The New Jersey legislature designated "Born to Run" as the "unofficial youth anthem" of that state.

Beat Generation writer William S. Burroughs wrote the line "Thanks for the American Dream, to vulgarize and falsify until the bare lies shine through," in his poem "Thanksgiving Prayer."