Horatio Alger was a late 19th century author; he wrote books for little boys about the American dream. The Algiers books seemed to hark back to an older time, where the American dream was very different than it was in his time. He subscribed to thoughts of morality, individualism and competence; but keeps the contemporary idea of ​​fertility. Alger wrote many books to encourage young boys to be moral and work hard. One of Horatio Alger's books was called Ragged Dick or Street Life in New York. This book featured a young black man named Dick Hunter and his friend Henry Fosdick. At first, Dick lives on the streets and never knows where he will sleep from one night to the next. He is quite happy but wants to be respectable. One day, he offers to Mr. Whitney, a businessman, to show his nephew, Frank, around New York, because Mr. Whitney is too busy to do it himself. After that day, Dick's life begins to change, going from a black man with an uncertain life to a clerk who rents a room and earns ten dollars a week. The ideals that Algiers encourages are morality, individualism, and competence or earning enough to be comfortable. give the rest to help the rest of humanity. Gilded Age businessmen did not really subscribe to this ideal; in fact, the only one they adhered to was individualism. Individualism was the idea that a person was expected to create wealth on their own, without any real help from others. Accepting charity was frowned upon, but acquiring loans and borrowing money or equipment for your business was a good thing. The idea of ​​individualism in Alger's book is seen in the way Dick strives to learn to read and write under the tutelage of his friend Fosdick. This learning helps in......the middle of a paper......or in a counting house. None of these jobs can be defined as successful. None of Algiers' supporting characters were very successful either. Mr. Grayson and Mr. Whitney were both businessmen and Mr. Rockwell, Dick's future employer, was a merchant. Even the hero's closest companion, Fosdick, was not successful. It was also not a priority for men of that age. The fact that it would be quite difficult to find successful employment may be the reason why Alger did not include this ideal in his books of instruction and encouragement. Horatio Alger wrote several books to help young boys have morality and succeed in an ever-changing world. questionable practices. These books were extremely popular because everyone wanted their sons to succeed and be respected; even though most of the fortunes of the time were based on questionable practices.