John Gast American Progress

Words: 772

Pages: 4

Open Document

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

Summary Of American Progress By John Gast

In the 19th century, Americans were seeking new land and opportunity and began to move west. Manifest Destiny was the belief by the people of the United States that they were meant to spread from sea to shining sea. Journalist John O’Sullivan was the first to use the term “Manifest Destiny”. He wanted the United States to annex Texas and the Oregon territory. Americans believed it was their duty to spread democracy from coast to coast and they had no consideration as to the effect settlement would…

Words 878 - Pages 4

What Is The Tone Of American Progress By John Gast

right and it was their right to capture and even kill people in their way. The painting American Progress by John Gast depicts an angelic woman walking west and leading a telephone line with her. It includes settling Americans moving westward in search of new land. In the background you can see a tribe of Native Americans surrounding a teepee and dancing and around them there's a herd of bison heading west. John Gast’s tone is hopeful and prosperous. For example, in the background you can see all the…

Words 309 - Pages 2

John Gast Westward Expansion

projects a perspective that sums up the main idea of the Westward Expansion: The American Progress. The American Progress is a painting that was created by John Gast, an American artist in the late 1800s. The painting depicts an allegorical representation of the United States’ expansion to the west coast of North America, an unstoppable manifest destiny that was determined to give current and future North Americans an…

Words 145 - Pages 1

John L. O Sullivan's Manifest Destiny

The article “Manifest Destiny,” written by John L. O’Sullivan, the book Undaunted Courage, written by Stephen E. Ambrose, and the painting “American Progress,” by John Gast, all exemplify Manifest Destiny and westward expansion. Both of these events changed the United States forever. In all three materials, each one shows the the Americans’ relationship with the land can be seen, and they materials also show the Americans’ desire to control and own something they could not truly possess. In the…

Words 692 - Pages 3

Westward Expansion In John Gast's, On Manifest Destiny,

American Progress, by John Gast, “on Manifest Destiny, 1839,” by John O’Sullivan, and “Reporting to the President, September 23- December 31, 1806,” by Stephen Ambrose, are all a type of literary work that exemplifies westward expansion. The authors, as shown above, are elaborating on the idea that westward expansion was a stupendous idea. What would it be like if you didn’t know anything about the past? O’Sullivan explains in his article that the westward expansion helped people learn about the…

Words 557 - Pages 3

Manifest Destiny 1839 Analysis

great nation it is today. Americans’ relationship with the land made them have desires to own things that cannot be truly possessed. In the painting, American Progress by John Gast, the article “Manifest Destiny, 1839” by John O’Sullivan, and the chapter “Reporting to the President, September 23- December 31, 1806” by Stephen Ambrose, Americans desired to own land that was already possessed by other settlers, or they desired to own land that cannot be possessed. Americans moved Indians or other settlers…

Words 787 - Pages 4

The Manifest Destiny Reflected Native Americans In The 1800's

and it called for progress in technology and civilization. If this was supposed to be such a great time for the new settlers, how could it have ruined lives of Natives who already lived in the west? This time period, otherwise known as the Manifest Destiny, changed many lives; some for better, some for worse. In this essay, it will display what the Manifest Destiny is, and who moved west during it; how this time period affected Native Americans; the inaccuracy of Native Americans in media shown today;…

Words 1104 - Pages 5

Manifest Destiny: White, Protestant Americans In The 19th Century

Protestant Americans in the mid-nineteenth century define progress, and who or what got left out of that definition? Why did they believe their version of "progress" was divinely ordained? In the 19th century, Manifest Destiny was a belief or attitude that the United States was divinely destined to expand and settle across North America and to impart Protestant beliefs and ideas. Manifest Destiny was not an official political policy, but a concept that was embraced by many Americans as they moved…

Words 553 - Pages 3

Westward Expansion Dbq

It was called “expansion fever” or also known as the draw that many Americans had in the 1810s to move westward. This movement was said to be predestined by God, or called Manifest Destiny. The majority of people wanted to experience what life would be like, including the farmers, miners, and the average settlers. In 1803, the Louisiana Purchase was made by Thomas Jefferson which expanded the United States by doubling the size of it. Then adventurers, Lewis and Clark set forth to explore the new…

Words 607 - Pages 3

Westward Expansion Research Paper

Ever since the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, westward expansion has been a continuity in American history until the US census of 1890, which announced that the frontier no longer existed. In forty-five years, the organized United States doubled in size, from the Louisiana Territory to the west coast. Westward expansion to the Pacific Coast wouldn’t have been as efficient, or perhaps not possible, without several key factors. This research paper will discuss such factors. The major influences of a continuous…

Words 1370 - Pages 6