The American Dream Academy

The Founders’ Vision

When Thomas Jefferson wrote of the “pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence, he drew on a tradition of philosophy stretching from Aristotle to Locke—one that saw happiness as flourishing through virtue. The Founders believed liberty could endure only among a people capable of governing themselves, both publicly and privately. Character, education, and civic virtue were not optional adornments of democracy; they were its foundation. To preserve freedom, citizens must first master themselves. To secure the blessings of liberty, they must understand that personal happiness and the health of the republic are inseparable. 

Our Response: The American Dream Academy

The American Dream Academy exists to rekindle that founding insight—that the pursuit of happiness and the preservation of democracy are one and the same project. Through study, dialogue, and community practice, the Academy helps participants cultivate the virtues that sustain both personal fulfillment and public freedom:

• Truth-seeking and wisdom – learning to discern what is real and good amid confusion and noise
• Personal reflection – connecting with purpose and understanding the good life 
• Self-governance and discipline – living with integrity, moderation, and responsibility 
• Civic virtue and service – contributing to the common good 
• Faith, hope, and community – recognizing our shared destiny as one people

The Academy’s aim is not nostalgia but renewal: to form citizens who are capable of leading meaningful lives and sustaining a free society.

The American Dream Demands a Revival

We must remember a fundamental question raised at the time the U.S. Constitution was drafted, debated, and ratified in the late 1780s. As Federalist No. 1 says:

“It has been frequently remarked that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force.”

The crisis at which we are arrived may be regarded as the era in which that decision is to be made.

• The Founders of the United States wanted to set up a country that would be led not by a king or dictator, but by the people.
• But how do you let the people lead without them either separating into tribes or falling into 'strong-man politics'? How do you build a pluralistic society where we allow differences but stay connected?
• The Founders believed that civic virtue (i.e., the willingness to put the good of community and country ahead of one’s personal interests) is necessary for self-government to succeed.
• Benjamin Franklin said, “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”
• This is the challenge of self government, and it is a challenge that must be solved in every generation.
• This is the American Dream of our society, that We the People can run our own country, free from corruption or coercion.
• The American Dream applies to our communities and our individual lives as well – that we can run our own communities and conduct our own lives however we wish.
• Everybody’s picture of the American Dream will look a little different, because everybody’s hopes and dreams are a little different, but at the heart of every American Dream is the desire to be the masters of our own fate, the charters of our own destiny.
• This concept was beautifully captured within the Declaration of Independence as “The Pursuit of Happiness.”
• Our ability to self-govern our country and achieve “happiness” (in the sense of the good life), depends on our ability to govern ourselves as individuals. The Founders believed that virtue is not only necessary for political governance, it is necessary for personal happiness. Thomas Jefferson encouraged us to follow the advice of an old Roman statesman, Cicero: “If the Wise, be the happy man, as these sages say, he must be virtuous too; for, without virtue, happiness cannot be.”

At the American Dream Academy, our dream is that by developing our capacity to pursue happiness personally and collectively, we can create a nation of “Just Citizens.”