John Gast American Progress

Words: 772
Pages: 4

What happened during the 1800s in America? During this time period, the US government wanted more land and control. They also wanted to get Europeans out of the country. So this meant the government wanted to expand west to achieve those goals. But expanding meant adding more states, so at the same time they wanted to keep the balance between Slave and Free states. The US people similarly wanted more land. They also wanted money, resources, and opportunities. All of these goals came together to create the idea of Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was the idea that white Americans were divinely ordained to settle the entire continent of North America and that the expansion of the US was justified and inevitable. In “American Progress” by John Gast 1872 it depicts a female figure representing …show more content…
One example of this violence is the Black Hawk war. This war was a brief conflict in 1832 between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The Native Americans were trying to reclaim their land in Illinois, but things didn't go their way, and it ended with Black Hawk's surrender. In “American Progress” it doesn’t show any of the wars that happened, including the Black Hawk war. John Gast made it look peaceful instead of what it really was, which was violent. This was a conflict over land and this war was started because of Manifest Destiny. About 450–600 Native Americans and 70 soldiers and settlers died in that war. This further concludes that “American Progress does not accurately represent the idea of Manifest Destiny because it does not show any deaths in the painting. It tries to paint the picture that Manifest Destiny is peaceful. In conclusion, not showing the violence that happened is not representing Manifest Destiny and Westward