John Gasts American Progress 1872 Painting - Term Paper Example

? American progress American progress John Gast’s American Progress 1872 painting was one the most symbolical piece of art in the history of America. It symbolizes one of the most important events that took place in American history. This event was about the movement of people to the West and they discovered the west coast of America with the believe that this was God’s guidance. Manifest Destiny is a conviction that the United States was intended for expansion across the continent. This belief outlined the mission of America which had the purpose of promotion and defending of democracy to the whole world. The supporters of Manifest Destiny had the certainty that expansion was apparent and expected. It was a rationalization that growth and western movement was to help in spreading of Christianity. The advocates of Manifest Destiny were guided by the themes of virtue, mission and destiny. The American progress painting shows a translucently and unsteady dressed America floating westwards through the air with the star of empire on her brow. Behind her are the cities of the East, the wide Mississippi and her route is westward. On the right of the picture is a city, schools, steam trains and churches over which beams of illumination are streaming and lighting the air representing progress. The theme of the painting depicts general confusion. She carries a school book of her national enlightenment testimonial on her right hand while her left hand is used to trail slender wires of the telegraph for binding the nation. Her advance causes the fleeing of Indians, wild horses, buffaloes and bears disappearing in the tempest and waves of the pacific coastline. They are fleeing the amazing vision of the star is too much for them. The assumption is that they are of the same class thus dehumanizing the natives into animals which make their dislocation more pleasant. Everything in the east is arranged in order unlike the territory towards the Rockies is engulfed in black clouds of lack of knowledge and uncivilisation. Next to the forefront are homesteaders moving on plains, breaking the lawn and their backs in bringing an unfriendly terrain under nurturing. The picture portrays the whole splendid immigration of the savage waste by the development. It also hints at the past, lays out an unbelievable version of a developing present and the vision of the prospect. The painting is divided into four main parts which are: heaven above, the earth below, right and left and are divided into positive, superior, negative, weak, powerful, conscious. Spiritual light, undeveloped and primal darkness. The painting of the American history portrays the east as a place that was void of any evils as it is brought out as a civilized place symbolized with clearness as compared with the west which was symbolized with darkness. John Gast’s painting of the American history omitted the coin history. With the civilization of America was to be determined by economic growth as it was the back bone of the developments in the whole world. The manifest Destiny led to the standards of living improving but this meant low wages, long working hours and poor working conditions as growth in the economy affected all aspects of the American structure. Latest developments and opportunities were always associated with new societal tribulations. The painter avoided highlighting the evils in the history of America which define the Americans. Racial terrorism engineered by the Ku Klux Klan who engaged in intimidation, physical violence, lynching, genocide and other forms of evils. The painting is called the magnificent destiny but there is the omission of God in the picture. The painting shows a woman carrying an extension of the telegraph from the east heading to the west. Though this shows civilization, the pony riders lost their jobs as they were replaced by the telegraphs. The picture of a half naked woman is symbolical in the sense that the woman has to some degree covered herself. This action of covering herself might mean that the painter was covering some truth which was of great importance as though she appears to be clean and holy meaning she is taking holiness to the west, she has a hidden agenda. She is carrying the Bible a sign of religion which is her primary weapon of overcoming the west. The purpose of this movement is to improve the west in terms of civilization though their main objective seems to be hidden. There is the omission of the women in the picture. There is only one woman in the picture which shows that women were not involved in matters related to civilization. Women have a great impact on the developments and there is the omission of the role of the women in this west movement. What is simple, strange, wild has been omitted as well as the dark imaginative possible of the females. The idea shows a divergence of an inspirational divinity and the merely substance world thus removing the consecrated from every day life and establishing an organization of hierarchy maintained by hunger for attainment of materialism. Including these omissions to the picture will help in greater understanding of the history of America in terms of growth in civilization. The rights and wrongs done in the past should not be hidden as this helps the people to relate to their history in a more personal way. If we look at the real picture without any inclusions we notice the Native Americans have been portrayed as weak and escaping from the white people. This could lead to the whites being discriminative to the natives which should not be encouraged. Including some of the omissions is important as it can be used for future references like for studies in schools. The term magnificent destiny was used to persuade the community of America that it was with God’s consent that they had the right to spreading out to the west coast. Over and above all the main objective of the American history is for the purposes of remembrance and forgiveness by looking at the prospects of developing a united nation. The amendments of the arrangement to express the history of the west could be improved through the protrusion of the rail path diagonally the continent to the pacific as nearby will be a need of synchronized course of the Atlantic and pacific ocean. The being of railway technology motivated the western increase through capable ways of binding a new territory to the union. In the book, shadow of the moon, modern exploration on Indian massacre in the past of America shows the conflict of American and ethnic cultures of southern borderlands. In 1871, the Americans gathered near a campsite in the Arizona borderlands and they struck killing many people especially the women who were the most casualties and became the massacre of the camp Grant. Though this massacre has faded from memories, print media has been used to highlight this era to the present reality through Karl Jacoby’s shadows at dawn. He challenges the authority of the American account of the western narrative and reveals the remembrance and forgetting of the mass execution. In the present day America, the camp Grant has been replaced by the Aravaipa villa RV Park and the Central Arizona College. Most of the Aravaipa villa is part of the countrywide wasteland of the Bureau of land Management and the canyon’s recreation is an oasis of the untouched scenery for the exhausted urbanites. Lisa see’s on Gold Mountain, follows the story of an old man called Fong See who tries to reflect on his life. His main concern was the question, what am I? And what his life meant? He tries to flashback himself as a boy in China looking for his father who was lost on the Gold Mountain which is the United States and he goes to find his father in Gold Mountain. There, life is not easy especially for Chinese immigrants. These foreign Chinese were poorly paid, overworked, relied on themselves for shelter, fed themselves and were faced with heckling of envy from the other non-Asian workers. After staying there for a while he marries Ticie and they have children and they become successful entrepreneurs. Fong see and his family returns to China and he insists of staying there according to their customs but Ticie goes back to the United States with their children after realizing that this had been a pre- arranged plan. The scene moves back to the present time and Fong See admits that he has all he dreamt of but his heart is not at serenity. His young girl teases him regarding his ancient ways and she declares her freedom. He laments of how he crossed the oceans to discover his dreams but at the moment he is afraid of still crossing the streets. He eventually visits Ticie and she reminds him of his loyalty to his new family unit and admits that although the separation was not easy, it gave her potency to move on and their parting enabled each one to realize their fate. Having forgiven their pasts, they go outside where the new year’s merriment are commencing and they join their comprehensive families as they imagine their prospect and as the revelry end, Fong See’s great grand son steps ahead to begin his own expedition. The American progress stood for the civilization of all spheres of life: transport, communication, education and other factors. This has happened within the years and there has been an evolution of technologies which has led to easier living conditions which was the main objective of the magnificent destiny. The paint of the American advancement shows development in equipment upon the wild land like the coming of a strong and expected armed force led by a female figure. The essence of the female figure is to offer guidance, fostering and security and the angel like being acts as a diversion for the fighting of this progress of overcoming the west. The native people predicted the occurrences and the rapid progress in America through imaginings and visions. The change of human life led to the incorporation and progress of modern amenities in the way people reside in their homes. Scientific advancements have distorted the point of view of the humans through the use of fiber optic cables and satellite for broadcast of information transversely the globe. Advancements in communication has been used in telephones and through the internet. John Gast’s painting shows upgrading to the idea of advancement and improvement in political, economic, technological, social and personal areas in human life. References Anspach, F. (2009). The sons of the sires: A history of the rise, progress, and destiny of the american party. New York, NY: BiblioBazaar. Stephenson, A. (1996). Manifest destiny: American expansion and the empire of right. New York, NY: Hill and Wang. Read More