American Progress, 1872 Giclee Print by John Gast. Find art you love and shop high-quality art prints, photographs, framed artworks and posters at Art.com. 100% satisfaction guaranteed.
Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. This is why the Americans held the belief that they were destined to expand across the continent. One thing that the American settlers did not acknowledge was that all progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem—the Native Americans. Within the painting, American Progress, John Gast incorporated these ideas, beliefs, and problems all onto one image. The painting, American Progress, employs pathos and logos in an attempt to convince the audience that it was the heavenly duty of Americans to expand the country all the way to the Pacific Ocean. It portrays Western expansion by Americans as a glorious and righteous thing. In reality, however, expansion may not have been as just as the painting makes it seem. American Progress is positioned on an American landscape with the left half of the painting representing western America, while the right side of the picture represents eastern America. This painting is filled with numerous colors all throughout the image, but the left side of the painting is noticeably darker than the rest. In fact, as you move towards the right of the painting, the colors get lighter and