Focus Question:

How was the idea of westward

expansion depicted as a sign of
American progress in the 1800s?
Do Now:
Do you think the United States of
America is EXCEPTIONAL (special
or extraordinary) as a nation? Why
or why not?

Causes of westward expansion

the Louisiana Purchase

a rapidly growing population
shortage of good farmland in East
to reduce the threat of foreign
invasion
American nationalism
the idea of Manifest Destiny
The idea that God wanted the U.S. to
expand from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Lewis and Clark At Three Forks, Edgar Paxson (1912)

Paxson was commissioned to paint this mural by the state of
Montana. It is located in the Montana State Capitol building.

Westward The Course Of Empire Takes Its Way, Emanuel Leutze (1860)

This is an oil sketch of a mural located in the U.S. Capitol building in

Washington, DC. Leutze completed the mural in 1862, during the Civil War.

Across The Continent, Currier & Ives (1868)

This image was a popular lithograph that was reproduced in
thousands of copies and sold to the public.

American Progress, John Gast (1872)

Gast painted this picture for a popular series of western travel guides. Its
reproduction sold thousands of copies throughout the U.S.