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ndence described the dominant idea of the American founders that titanic government should be overthrown and national laws should guarantee the happiness of its people. Individualism in the Declaration was apparently from the theories of Montesquieu, Rousseau and Locke. Later, Westward Movement greatly promoted the development of individualism. Arriving at the western areas, people were free from the bound of class and official restraints; therefore, lands were opened up freely. As long as one tried hard, he could gain fortune and status. Thus, new contents such as freedom, independence and personal efforts were added to individualism.

2.1.2 The Development of Individualism in the 1920s

1920s was not only the time of American economic boom but also the time of great American social changes. The First World War exerted a tremendous effect on American thought and spirit. People’s belief in liberal democracy began to shake, and general confusion and despair appeared, showing that what was pursued then was the idea of Carpe diem. Traditional individualism of America convinced people of the belief that fortune and happiness could be gained as long as one made his efforts. However, the reality was that the richness of the material world brought about the fall of spirit and the disillusion of dreams, and that the increase of wealth aggravated polarization instead of eliminated poverty. And increase without the eradication of poverty was exacerbating the polarization of wealth. Individualism at that time was the individualism of the provocative.

2.1.3 The Evolution of Individualism during 1930-1960 

People born in 1930-1940 experienced the economic crisis brought by the economic crisis which began in 1929 and the ongoing 10 years of economic depression. When the economy rebounded, they began to suffer the pain of the Second World War with the loss of job, political belief, relatives and the accompany of poverty. Therefore, this generation could only stand on their own feet instead of inheriting their parents’ property to be successful. “Get it alone” and “independence” were the important features of them. People born in 1950-1960 were a generation of baby boom and economic prosperity. In this period, too many people were born, so people were faced with tough competition. Parents respected their free will and treated them equally. They were the first generation growing up in the atmosphere of radical and equal individualism. They went for freedom, pursued self implementation, fought against the limitation of self thought, but the Vietnam War brought them with pain and suppressed their expression of personal free wishes. So they strongly opposed the war and this generation’s individualism was obviously self-anti-establishment.

2.1.4 The Evolution of Individualism during1970-1980s

1970-1980s were known as the “conservative era”. After the 70th, the economy of United States began to decline. 1973’s oil crisis induced a second severe global economic crisis since the great depression and the United States began to lose its economic dominance. The Reagan administration thoroughly implemented conservatism, fighting against the implementation of the Suppression of individualism in the past 20 years as well as the policies of expanding equality. It marked the ruthless individualism overcame the neo-liberalism advocated since the “new deal time”, marking the vic本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。