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Title
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American Progress
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Description
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American Progress by John Gast depicts the United States' westward expansion during the 1800s. Gast chose to present this expansion as the angelic figure of Columbia bringing white settlers, railways, horses, and other technology along with her. This painting also includes Indigenous Americans and buffalo, who appear to be being chased away. Columbia's angel-like presence further illustrates the religious associations behind this perspective, including the idea of Manifest Destiny. Plowed fields, oxen, horses, and railways are depicted as improvements to a dark land, or "progress".
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Date
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1830 – 1880
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Location - Physical Location
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Now held in the collection of the Autry Museum of The American West, Los Angeles, California.
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Name
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Dorothea DeMarle
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cites
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Gast, John. American Progress. 1872.
