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Going West
Going West



Image Gallery: Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny is a phrase that expressed the belief that the United States was destined to expand from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean; it has also been used to advocate for or justify other territorial acquisitions. Advocates of Manifest Destiny believed that expansion was not only good, but that it was obvious ("manifest") and certain ("destiny").
American's desire to expand westward intensified after the economic instability resulting from the Panic of 1819. The 1840s saw a rapid migration of pioneers to the Oregon and California territories (particularly California, during the Gold Rush of 1849) . The end of the Mexican War in 1848 facilitated the acquisition of western Indian lands, and prices dropped rapidly. The Indians, ill-equipped at first to combat the influx of people (in this illustration from the 1850s no Indian carr... "Shadow of the Owl" by unknown Above is the "Trail of Tears" painting by Robert Lindneux. This is a diagram of a covered wagon John Quincy Adams, painted above in 1816 by Charles Robert Leslie, was an early proponent of continentalism. Late in life he came to regret his role in helping U.S. slavery to expand, and became a leading opponent of the annexation of Texas. American westward expansion is idealized in Emanuel Leutze's famous painting "Westward the Course of Empire Takes its Way" (1861). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. This painting (circa 1872) by John Gast called "American Progress" is an allegorical representation of Manifest Destiny. Here Columbia, a personification of the United States, leads civilization westward with American settlers, stringing telegraph wire as she travels. The different economic activities of the pioneers are highlighted and, especially, the changing forms of transportation. The Indians and wild animals flee.



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Groveland Park Elementary
2045 St. Clair Avenue Saint Paul, MN 55105
Phone: 651-293-8760 FAX: 651-293-8653 last updated on 3/20/2007 5:22:35 PM