Does john Gast's painting American Progress mean something?

Answer 1

The historical importance of the painting American Progress by John Gast is that it relays a wide range of ideas about the nineteenth century's American frontier. This painting was created in 1872.

Answer 2

This painting shows how as Americans pushed west, they threw out old customs of the country and brought their own into the cycle of life.

If you start looking at the painting by examining the far left, you see the first cities of the east, with trains, boats and bridges. When you move west a bit, you see cabins and farmers with oxen. There is a carriage with six horses pulling it across the prairie next to that, and above to the west of the carriage there is a covered cart being driven by oxen with kids in it. Above is a man on a horse, under an Indian village, under a wagon train. Underneath the covered wagon and next to the farmers with oxen, there are four men wearing hats, and one of them is on a horse. They are walking west. In front of them there is a bear running away with his teeth bared, probably warning the men to stay away from his home, but at the same time running because he knows they mean danger. Above the bear is a group of Indians running from the men, but shaking their fists as if to say, "this is not over! We will be back!" among the group is three men, one on horseback, one woman leading a horse, and two crying women on the ground, with dos running beside the group. I the far left middle, there is a big herd of about fifty buffalo running together, disappearing. In the middle of the painting is a big angel wearing a white dress, she is holding a coil of wire, which leads to the line of telephone poles that run from the city in the far east to the middle of the painting. She is holding a schoolbook. I think that the angel holding items of a white man moving west shows that the pioneers think this is their manifest destiny, that if an angel of god is leading them to the west, then they must go. It is further encourages the idea that god asked them to move west and bring their customs with them , that if god is on their side then they must be right.