America, for many, has long been a country where it was believed that you control your own destiny and prosperity. With hard work, persistence and struggle, the success of the “American Dream” can and will be achieved regardless of past social status and financial shortcomings. It's something that has rung true for most Americans, but certainly not without difficulty. The late nineteenth century brought a great deal of obstacles to many groups of people living in America as they sought prosperity in social and economic aspects. The “American Dream” has long been part of American society and culture. In particular, Native Americans, the working class, and African Americans have all experienced the struggle and achievements that come with the “American Dream.” Native Americans faced many difficulties in their efforts to achieve the “American Dream.” Shortly after the West became open to settlement, America's discovery of approximately 350,000 Native Americans proved a problem for Western settlers. In 1867, reservations were established in North Dakota and Oklahoma to allow Native American life, keeping the western lands free of Native Americans. However, these two states in particular did not have rich enough soil to support the Plains Indians' attempts at cultivation. Even more, a gold strike in the 1870s that led to whites moving onto reservations caused clashes between Native Americans and whites. What most harmed the Native American peoples was the near extinction of the buffalo, a primary source of food, clothing, and tools for many Plains Indians. Buffalo near extinction was, in part, due to over-hunting by Plains Indians for a resource. But, in a strategy to further displace and weaken the Native Americans, the Army began killing millions of people… middle of paper… that despite the great obstacles they faced, the “American Dream” was something this never was abandoned from their minds and was absolutely attainable. This is not to say that it was in any way an easy task for African Americans, Native Americans, and the working class. The experiences of each group seem to have a common theme: social and economic mobility during the late 19th century was incredibly slow and, at times, virtually stationary. Let us reconsider that nearly thirty years after being freed and given citizenship, many African Americans were disenfranchised and terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan and lynchings. Or for Chinese immigrants, a group not discussed in this article, who were prohibited from immigrating if they wanted to seek labor work. In the face of obstacles like these, the goal of “making it” in America was never lost among these groups.