Essay --

Evan SmeengeProfessor StablerHST 30301/31/14From Ideal to endingJohn Gasts painting titled American Progress absolutely portrays the idea of manifest destiny that engulfed the legal opinions of Americans. Portrayed in the right placement of the painting is indubitable westbound influence with boats, a bridge in the distance, and trains with little or no track in front of them which allows the mind to conclude the youngcomers argon pushing west. In the middle of the landscape are horses, buggies, and covered wagons, showing a slight increase in modernness compared to what is shown in the far left of the painting, Indians or better known by 18th and 19th century Europeans as savages. Gast also places the portrayal of western influence in the light portion of the piece, and the old primitive appearance of live portrayed by savages on the dark side of the piece. This is not coincidence, primitive behavior was viewed as improper and it needed enlightenment this is exactly what Ga st presents in American Progress. In the bottom left corner an wildcat shows its teeth, which could be a signal of the dangers to moving west. What is probably noticed premiere however is the woman in the center of the painting. The angel, the guiding light of unmingled Destiny the one who is bringing the light that you see so conspicuously in the right side of the painting. Manifest Destiny was thought of as Gods call to bring western enlightenment to the west. Those who were beginner and civilizations created by those who were enlightened were viewed as utopian. However, eleven years before Gast multi-colour American Progress was the start of a war that rattled America. wolfram expansion and subsequent acquisition of the west was fought over and the utopian perfection Gast portrays was... ...h and the southwestern wanted the territory for themselves. The northwestern wanted to expand its industrial fingers to better their economy, but the South wanted more land for plant ations to also better their economy. First, the Wilmot Proviso established popular sovereignty as the new factor that decided what side was going to obtain the land. This angered the South because they were frightened that their voice would be lost, and subsequently slavery would be demolished. However, the North felt anger after Stephen Douglass proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and allowed each white male settler to decide if the new territory would be slave or free. With Southern white men trying to pass on the territories slave territories, the North were furious and started bleeding Kansas, which arguably was the spark that kindled the Civil War.