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AMERICAN PROGRESS aka MANIFEST DESTINY
(John Gast circa 1872)
This is a copy of the painting, the details are clearer
than on the original one. (click to enlarge) |
American Progress
This painting (circa 1872) by John Gast called American Progress, is an allegorical representation of the modernization of the new west. Here Columbia, a personification of the United States, leads civilization westward with American settlers, stringing telegraph wire as she sweeps west; she holds a school book. The different stages of economic activity of the pioneers are highlighted and, especially, the changing forms of transportation.
Manifest Destiny Manifest Destiny noun the belief or doctrine, held chiefly in the middle and latter part of the 19th century, that it was the destiny of the U.S. to expand its territory over the whole of North America and to extend and enhance its political, social, and economic influences. |
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File Size: | 79 kb |
File Type: | doc |
American Expansion
The First Thanksgiving
Jean Louis Gerome Ferris
1863-1930
1863-1930
Extra reading : historical background
In September of 1620, 102 pilgrims embarked from England aboard the Mayflower (see Aboard the Mayflower, 1620). Their intent was to establish a settlement in the Hudson River area in the northern reaches of the recently established Virginia Colony. However, after a sixty-six-day journey they made landfall some 150 miles north of their target (whether by design or mishap is unclear) at the eastern tip of Cape Cod in present-day Massachusetts. They explored the area for about a month and then sailed further west to the mainland at present-day Plymouth. It was here that they decided to establish a new homeland.
For the first few months the majority of the expedition remained cloistered aboard ship where many succumbed to mal-nutrition and disease. It is estimated that half of their number died by the following Spring. With the return of favorable weather the remaining adventurers abandoned their ship and moved ashore to establish a settlement in the wilderness. They were aided by two members of the local Native American tribes. To the astonishment of the Pilgrims, both of these Good Samaritans spoke English. One, Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe, had been kidnapped by English adventurers a few years earlier and taken to England. He was subsequently able to achieve his release and return to his homeland
The Pilgrims' first corn harvest was successful and in November the group's leader, Governor William Bradford, called for a feast to celebrate their good fortune. Hunters were sent into the wilderness to hunt game for the event. Members of the local Native American tribes were invited and brought deer meat to add to the menu. The celebration lasted for three days
"...for three days we entertained and feasted."
Edward Winslow was among the group of Pilgrims present at the first Thanksgiving. He describes the scene:
"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week.
At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, and many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."
References:
Edward Winslow's account appears in: Heath, Dwight, A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth: Mourt's Relation (1963); EyeWitness to America (1997); Morrison, Samuel Eliot, Builders of the Bay Colony (1930).
For the first few months the majority of the expedition remained cloistered aboard ship where many succumbed to mal-nutrition and disease. It is estimated that half of their number died by the following Spring. With the return of favorable weather the remaining adventurers abandoned their ship and moved ashore to establish a settlement in the wilderness. They were aided by two members of the local Native American tribes. To the astonishment of the Pilgrims, both of these Good Samaritans spoke English. One, Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe, had been kidnapped by English adventurers a few years earlier and taken to England. He was subsequently able to achieve his release and return to his homeland
The Pilgrims' first corn harvest was successful and in November the group's leader, Governor William Bradford, called for a feast to celebrate their good fortune. Hunters were sent into the wilderness to hunt game for the event. Members of the local Native American tribes were invited and brought deer meat to add to the menu. The celebration lasted for three days
"...for three days we entertained and feasted."
Edward Winslow was among the group of Pilgrims present at the first Thanksgiving. He describes the scene:
"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week.
At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, and many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."
References:
Edward Winslow's account appears in: Heath, Dwight, A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth: Mourt's Relation (1963); EyeWitness to America (1997); Morrison, Samuel Eliot, Builders of the Bay Colony (1930).
Want to know more? Here's a bit of trivia ;)
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For many Americans, the Thanksgiving meal includes seasonal dishes such as roast turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. The holiday feast dates back to November 1621, when the newly arrived Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians gathered at Plymouth for an autumn harvest celebration, an event regarded as America’s “first Thanksgiving.” But what was really on the menu at the famous banquet, and which of today’s time-honored favorites didn’t earn a place at the table until later in the holiday’s 400-year history?
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Painting Analysis
Ferris' "The First Thanksgiving" helps to illuminate the mythology and commemoration of the Thanksgiving Holiday. The Wampanog Native Americans of Squanto and Somerset are seated in the foreground of the picture while the Pilgrims are sharing the fruits of their bounty with them. We can note that the Indians are not invited at the table.
In the background, Pilgrim settler women are chatting with Native American women, and there is an overall sense of community present within the entire painting. The theme of such a rendering might be to invoke the spirit of togetherness that the holiday is meant to commemorate.
If one accepts the premise offered as part of this mythology, the Pilgrims were thankful at being able to survive the harsh conditions of the first year in settlement. Their dependence on the Native American assistance is the reason why they were being honored in this festival of brotherhood and togetherness.
At the same time, the drawing is a mythologized version of Americana, because the treatment of Native Americans at the hands of settlers throughout its history is as diametrically opposed to the painting as possible.
For their part, the Pilgrims, a splintered group that left England, was never quite at ease with communitarian notions of the good, as demonstrated through the Salem Witchcraft Trials where religion drove a true wedge in between the hopes of community.
Simultaneously, the painting depicts a sense of contentment within the settlers.The expressions of the characters reflects a sense of happiness and joy within the individuals at their own state of being.
The Westward Expansion of the nation belies this for in this process was a natural restlessness that widened the boundaries and permanently altered the relationships between White Settlers and Native Americans, as well as the connection between themselves and the land.
In the background, Pilgrim settler women are chatting with Native American women, and there is an overall sense of community present within the entire painting. The theme of such a rendering might be to invoke the spirit of togetherness that the holiday is meant to commemorate.
If one accepts the premise offered as part of this mythology, the Pilgrims were thankful at being able to survive the harsh conditions of the first year in settlement. Their dependence on the Native American assistance is the reason why they were being honored in this festival of brotherhood and togetherness.
At the same time, the drawing is a mythologized version of Americana, because the treatment of Native Americans at the hands of settlers throughout its history is as diametrically opposed to the painting as possible.
For their part, the Pilgrims, a splintered group that left England, was never quite at ease with communitarian notions of the good, as demonstrated through the Salem Witchcraft Trials where religion drove a true wedge in between the hopes of community.
Simultaneously, the painting depicts a sense of contentment within the settlers.The expressions of the characters reflects a sense of happiness and joy within the individuals at their own state of being.
The Westward Expansion of the nation belies this for in this process was a natural restlessness that widened the boundaries and permanently altered the relationships between White Settlers and Native Americans, as well as the connection between themselves and the land.
The Border
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Cartoon Analysis
American Land
Bruce Springsteen
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