Territorial Growth

American Progress, John Gast

John Gast’s 1872 image was widely reproduced to encourage westward expansion. In this Warm-Up, you will analyze this image. As you are carefully studying the image, you will want to think about the following questions:

• Who is the central figure in white and what does she represent?
• What do you think is the message of the painting and why?
• What specific groups of people can you identify in the painting?
• What do you notice about the lighting in the painting?
• What do you notice about the transportation methods in the painting?
• What changes do you notice as you compare the left and right side of the painting?

Based on your analysis of the painting, compose a four to five sentence paragraph that answers each of the questions above in your journal. If you need assistance on writing a journal entry, please visit the Developmental Module for more information.

Once you have completed your journal entry, please save it with a file name of mod4_westward and submit it to the journal dropbox.