American Progress is an 1872 painting by John Gast, a Prussian-born painter, printer, and lithographer who lived and worked most of his life during 1870s Brooklyn, New York. American Progress, an allegory of manifest destiny, was widely disseminated in chromolithographic prints. It is now held by the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, California.^[1]

American Progress, a painting of profound historical significance, has become a seminal example of American Western art. Serving as an allegory for Manifest Destiny and American westward expansion, this 11.50 by 15.75 inches (29.2 cm × 40.0 cm) masterpiece was commissioned in 1872 by George Crofutt, a publisher of American Western travel guides and has since been frequently reproduced. The woman in the center is Columbia, the personification of the United States, and on her head is what Crofutt calls "The Star of the Empire." Columbia represents progress, which moves from the light-skied east to the dark and treacherous West, leading settlers who follow her either on foot or by stagecoach, horseback, Conestoga wagon, wagon train, or riding steam trains. Columbia is the figure of progress as she lays a telegraph wire with one hand and carries a school book in the other. On the right side of the painting, in the East, New York City can be seen in the background, while farmers who have settled in the Midwest are featured in the foreground. As Columbia moves westward, indigenous people and a herd of buffalo flee from her and the settlers who follow.

In the bottom right of the painting, we observe farmers diligently tilling a field, a clear symbol of the Midwest as a developed and colonized region. This symbolizes the relentless push of settlers from the East to the West. This movement was facilitated by treaties with native tribes, often resulting in the forced relocation of these tribes to smaller reservations with little compensation for their land. This depiction in the painting provides a poignant visual representation of the complex and often brutal history of westward expansion in America, inviting us to reflect on the human cost of progress.

This artwork is a standard reference in conversations regarding the American sentiment of expansion in the 1800s. The depiction of Columbia leading settlers and bringing sunlight westward can be identified as a metaphor for expansion, signifying positive new beginnings for early Americans. As sunlight and brightness are associated with God, the painting can serve as a metaphor for Americans considering expanding and exploring the land beyond the states as a God-given right; Manifest Destiny was an often used justification for expansion.

As the railroads were considered a key example of successes in Westward Expansion, Columbia bringing railways and telegraph lines with her to the new West symbolized the cultural advantages of the expansion. Additionally, Columbia is carrying with her a "School Book," which may be interpreted as her bringing education and knowledge with expansion. As most indigenous peoples were illiterate at the beginning of the expansion period, this can be seen as a further justification of expansion as indigenous people began to attend government or church-operated schools in the late 1800s to gain literacy. It is, however, more apt to consider the education of native children at the time to be cruel as they were forced to attend boarding schools where they were forbidden to speak their native language.

John Gast uses this painting to convey the idea of Manifest Destiny that is widely known in America at this time. Much of the west was still occupied by Native Americans in 1872, but Gast portrays the idea that America was destined to expand to this area as part of Manifest Destiny.^[2]

The main idea Gast is trying to portray through this image is the theme of light vs. dark. From right to left, we can visually see the advanced technology slowly progressing to the left with the use of transportation such as wagons and trains. The imagery of the Natives being forced off their land for the implementation of animals as servicing men reveals a deeper meaning to the placement of wild animals in this image.

Gast shows New York in the top right by pointing to the Brooklyn Bridge. Trains coming from the Northeast show how most colonization and technology are expanding from the Northeast to the West.

The Native Americans on the left side of the painting are shown running away from the settlers, contrary to the truth of being removed from the land by force. This can exemplify many governmental implications, such as the Indian Removal Acts. The poor representation of the Indian population as inferior and running away gives a theme of the time in the 1870s. Gast is like trying to show the Indians a lack of technology and how they run away from the European Americans as they resettle west. There is a significant amount of bias in this painting. The natives are running away from civilization when, in reality, their cultures and people were killed for their land. The idea that this movement was a peaceful takeover of the western land is shown from the perspective of a progressive American colonist (John Gast). It is noteworthy that the Native Americans left behind two buffalo skeletons, indicating their resourceful use of every part of the animal and their careful hunting practices to maintain a sustainable population. The image depicts a scene without any buffalos on the right side, symbolic of their eventual extinction due to the relentless hunting by euro-settlers.