Manifest Destiny Movement Analysis

During the U.S history the growth and expansion of the nation had been always prevalent in the minds of the American people and it was manifested during different eras in their artworks as a reference to what they called Manifest Destiny. This is a term for the common belief during the nineteen century period of American expansion that the United States not only could, but was destined to, stretch from the east coast to west coast. Also, according to this belief, this expansion would involve not only territorial elevation, but the progress of liberty and individual economic opportunity as well. The phrase was first employed by John L. O’Sullivan in an article and inspired artist and cartoonist to create artworks as the movement occurred throughout
history.
In 1872, artist John Gast created “American Progress” and oil paint where Manifest Destiny is the emphasis of the painting. In the image the viewer can see as the focal point a large figure of a woman with the “start of the empire” on her forehead dress in while carrying a telegraph cable and a schoolbook, used as a symbol of knowledge in east, in her hands. The figure advances and as she floats through the land with the right half of the painting representing eastern America, and the left half of the painting representing the western. Something to notice about this is the variations in the value seen when comparing the east and the west. The right side edge of the painting is bright, but a degradation of darkness begins as the eyes move to the left. From these landscape features alone, Gast creates the mood in the viewer emotions that the East is warm and welcoming, while the West is dark. Also, the figure is followed by men of various trades in different methods of transportation. This presents the idea of technological advancement being brought further West as American folk continue to settle the frontier. In the background in the upper right quadrant there is a river that represents the Mississippi river where boats navigate. At the bottom of the image farmers cultivate the land and there is a stone house marked by trees and split-rail fence in the middle background. In the left of the image, beneath the mountains, wild bison, a bear, and several Native Americas retreat into the darkness into which the river also flows. This silently evidences as the eastern Americans as the superiority of one race over and above another. Gast used of symbolism throughout the painting describes the belief in Manifest Destiny that Americans strongly believed at the time and the future they imagined and the past they had lived.
Another artwork that emphasis the same concept but in different era is a colorful lithograph political poster made for the campaign of William F.
McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. In this poster the focal point is both candidates in the center of the poster with the U.S flag behind them. Both rivals are looking at each other and there is a quote that says “The American flag has not been planted in foreign soil to acquire more territory but for Humanities sake.” This quote expresses the idea of Manifest Destiny and the attitude of superiority the Nation felt over the others. In the background both sides the space is filled with three images on each side with different outcomes according to the party. In the left side the viewer can see the side “Gone Democratic” where the city is more industrialized in contrast with the other party side where horses are still used as a method of transportation. The second image is “A run on the Bank” where in the democrat side the viewer can observe people arguing in the other side the people seemed content. The last image describes the rule over Cuba in the left side is rule by Spain and in the right side is rule by America. These series of images show how the world might have been if William Jennings Bryan had instead won the White House on the Democrat ticket with closed factories, no railroads, plows rusting in the fields, a currency based on silver rather than gold, and Cuba before the Spanish American War, which was won during McKinley's first presidency in
1898.