Transcript United States by 1900

Manifest Destiny
United States History
The West
Day Two Notes
manifest: clear or obvious
destiny: future or fate
John Gast, American Progress, 1872
What do you see in this painting?
The floating white woman is heading West. What do you think
she represents? How is this symbolized in the painting?
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Proclamation Line of 1763
Limited The Western Border at the Appalachian Mountains
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Treaty of Paris (1783)
Limited American western border at the Mississippi River
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Louisiana Purchase (1803)
Doubled the size of the United States
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1872 Map
U.S. had already expanded to Pacific Ocean
This is after the Louisiana Purchase and War with Mexico
So this painting is basically celebrating what had already happened.
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John Melish, Map of the U.S. with the contiguous
British and Spanish Possessions,1816
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Melish’s comments on his 1816
map of the United States
To present the country this way was desirable . . .
The map shows at a glance the whole extent of the
United States territory from sea to sea.
In tracing the probable expansion of the human race from
east to west, the mind finds an agreeable resting place on
its western limits. The view is complete and leaves
nothing to be wished for. It also adds to the beauty and
symmetry of the map.
Source: John Melish. Map of the United States with the contiguous British and Spanish
Possessions. Philadelphia, 1816.
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The Mexican Cessation (1848)
Land given purchased by America from Mexico,
including California and the rest of Continental America
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Transcontinental Railroad (completed 1869)
Unites East to West economically and socially by dramatically decreasing travel
time and increasing safety through the Western plains and mountains
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United States by 1900
45 states (12 added since Civil War began through 1900)
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