The Manifest Destiny Reflected Native Americans In The 1800's

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There was a time for change in 1800s America. There was a prophecy that God wanted the settlers to fulfill, 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; the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of movies and television shows about the time period; and what information has been gathered during this …show more content…
It was a period of time where technology was advancing, and many people sought a better life than the one that they were living in the east. This was a driving force that brought many Americans to live in the west, even if their lives in the east were secure. Even just the thrill of moving was enough to get Americans to venture out into the new land and start a different lifestyle.
In John O’Sullivan’s “The Great Nation of Futurity”, he describes America as “the nation of human progress, and who will, what can, set limits to our onward march?” (John O’Sullivan). O’Sullivan, the first to coin the beliefs shared by most settlers as a “manifest destiny”, believed that expanding his country west was a prophecy of America, and that America’s people would fulfill the prophecy eventually. As demonstrated in multiple pieces, Americans believed that the prophecy to go westward was a holy one. Since religion was a very important thing in America, people took these supposed words of god quite …show more content…
The clouds are dark, with the exception of where the face of a heavenly being is. In one arm, she holds a book and a rope. In the lower left quadrant, the dark colors display a theme of unsurety yet again. Native Americans, animals, and miners head west as well. In the upper right quadrant, there is most of the heavenly being from before. There are trains and boats, which are advancements of technology. The colors are much lighter. In the lower right quadrant, the rest of the heavenly being appears in the painting, and there are farmers, oxen, and another carriage heading west. The colors are also light in this quadrant. Gast cleverly put each group of people going west in the order of when they set off to expand America’s land, or had to go there by force, such as the Native Americans. The “divine being” is none other than the angel Columbia, who is holding the bible. She is the namesake of the U.S. capital, the District of Columbia. The angel is a symbol for how the destiny for America’s westward expansion was a sign of God. The light is where Columbia has been, and the west was not too well known in America. This is why the left side, where the west is, was dark. Columbia had not lit the path yet, but was guiding the Americans to fulfill their destiny. As shown in the painting, all the carriages, trains, boats, and other methods of transportation, travel on westward to fulfill the prophecy, as well
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