American Progress by John Gast was a painting that focused on manifest destiny in 1872. Westward expansion was an ideal thought throughout the 19th century by the first Americans. This ideology was common at the time because Americans believed that Manifest Destiny would allow them to start from scratch; in general, people thought it was an economic opportunity. Clearly, this ideal start to a new life depicts a positive vision of westward expansion. Gast's painting is an example of westward expansion and how it symbolizes a wonderful uprising to move forward in life. This chart shows the highlights of the expansion, but it may not be the whole truth behind the work. Gast's painting depicts the landscape of America: the eastern part of America is painted on the right side of the canvas and the western part of America. is painted on the left side of the painting. Gast describes the lighting in great detail in order to compare the landscape from east to west. He does this by making the right side of the board very bright and moving towards...