American Progress
The “American Progress” was painted just seven years after the end of the Civil War by John Gast. The image is a depiction of a feminine Columbine figure floating over the continent of America. The angelic lady carries a book in one hand a telegraph wire in the other. On the land, there is a vanguard of an advancing empire of coaches, trains, miners, horsemen, and wagons. One can also see a herd of bison and a fleet of ships in the distance. The people and the animals all seem to be fleeing as she approaches. The static image conveys a vivid message about the passage of time and the inevitability of technological advancement.
Coming in the wake of the American Civil War, the image portrays a promotional sense of evolving spirit from the daily lives during that period. The floating feminine image portrays a protective and nurturing figure that guides the land in the new dispensation that sees immigrants gain more power. The people were quite industrious and had invested in what was considered the epitome of affluence in the state. On the other hand, they might be seen as the miners, and farmers, as well as other pioneers who ruthlessly tore people from their homes, lands, and families. The telegraph lines are a depiction of the precursor of the Information Age, a promise of the future that was never delivered.
The Civil War brought substantial destruction to the South, economic changes in the country, and new ideas. It also altered several lives in an unprecedented way. The “American Progress” depicts a sense of change from the violence to a new way of life. The angelic figure may also be a paradoxical comparison against the violence of that had just passed. However, the rest of the figures in the image tell a story of a land that was mainly dominated by whites. As a new system gets into place, the angelic figure breathes a new sense of civilization that pushes out the population that would be deemed unsupportive of the change. This was the period after the Civil War – a period known as the Reconstruction.