According to Merriam-Webster, “The American Dream,” is “an American social ideal that stresses egalitarianism and especially material prosperity; also: the prosperity or life that is the realization of this ideal." These are the ideas that drove the first pilgrims to leave England. When we talk to anyone who chooses to come to America now, these are the same idea that drive they here. Can one truly find the American dream here in 2014? Of course majority would say yes; I personally think to have the American dream you have to also be oblivious to our ideas. Let me explain what I mean. When William Bradford was elected governor of Plymouth, he governed by the 1620 Mayflower Compact, which he composed during his travel to the new world. This compact, like our infamous Declaration of Independence read well, but was meant for those who wrote it. The Mayflower Compact stated, “All were to be treated justly and equally no matter what their religious beliefs” (Donald R. May). When we compare this to our Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence), we see the common thread but also the ugly truth. That common thread is” all are equal”, but the reality of both of those statements were they were only true if you looked, behaved, and believed the same as the masses. For example. William Bradford and his community banished a fellow columnist, Roger Williams, for his difference in beliefs. Though many might not know, Roger Williams is the start behind the separation of church and state. So because his beliefs were not the exact same as Bradford’s he was banished and due to be shipped back to England. Williams believed King Charles could not lay claim to land that belonged to the Native Americans, he felt