L’Impérialisme américain ne date pas d’hier… Manifest Destiny vu par les 4e euro

Most people wonder about American decisions and whether their policy is similar to what they had in the past, and whether it is ethical at all. Before finding out, we have to clarify a few terms that will eventually be used in this essay. Our first order of business is imperialism. It is a term often used in world-scale news. But what does it really mean? Imperialism is a policy used by a faction that consists of making another faction dependent on it for defense or economically by gaining influence in order to obtain benefits and privileges.

Now that we have cleared that out of the way, let’s talk about how I am going to answer this step by step:

• First of all, I am going to describe this depiction and try to find its actual meaning.
• Then I will show you how the Americans took this policy to the next step and its unfairness toward others.
• The final step is to see if they are still putting this model into action and for what purpose.

I. The painting

This oil on canvas is a depiction of “American Progress”, as stipulated in its name, painted by John Gast in 1872 and exhibited in the Autry National Center in Los Angeles. Well, how could that help us? It is actually because it shows the general American perspective on westward expansion at that time. This was a brutal period in the history of America, so how did people allow it? Well, the clues and the answer are in this painting, so let’s take a look at it, shall we?

To begin, in the foreground, we can figure out that these people are indeed farmers, as they are migrating with their whole families and livestock, as well as building houses and creating new farmlands that would help feed the growing population, as part of their policy of free development, which consisted of settling in the West and moving toward new places that they had just stolen and bought, as part of a greater way of thinking that is mentioned in the title, but we will get to that later.

Indeed there are farmers, but they are not the only ones migrating westward, as there are what seem to be aristocrats, as they are being transported by convoys instead of the less reliable way, walking. However, how can so many people afford to move westward and leave everything behind? It is actually part of a policy introduced first by Abraham Lincoln: the Homestead Act, which granted 160 acres of land to anyone who wanted it for a very low price.

This westward push attracted people to seek further exploration to the west, like Lewis and Clark, who went on multiple journeys to map out the rest of the unexplored land from 1804 to 1806, so that was before that act but proves the interest that the West inspired.

On the other side of things, it led to the Natives first being pushed back and then exterminated as part of a policy of “replacement” of people.

That can be seen in this depiction as we can see Natives fleeing from their homelands as part of a so-called “genocide”, on the same level as buffaloes, which proves they were considered savages, which at the time meant that they could not think or have any culture. Also they could be considered difficult to assimilate and people would say: “Should just be dealt with by force!”

Next, we will go over the whole point of this depiction: the woman. We can see she is flying, so we can imagine that it represents that she is superior to others. She is holding a book and stretching a wire, so we can understand that she brings culture and knowledge, together with communication and electricity. So from what I could gather she represents modernity, so I guess she represents America. It is an allegory because I can see a star on her face.

We can also see she is guiding the migrants toward their “promised” land and clearing up the dark spaces of the continent with modernity and “upgrading” the infrastructure to their standards. They also represent cities, railways and bridges, which shows they had a real interest in those faraway lands and an interest in modernizing them.

This is obviously a biased depiction of westward expansion where we see America bringing light to the dark spaces of the world, representing the modernization of said lands. However, we need to address the actual situation, because whereas the Americans could benefit from new lands to settle into and their potential, meanwhile the Natives were kicked out of these same lands and were killed, and the few that survived were put into reserves, with a notable one being the Indian Reserve of Oklahoma. Also, it benefited slavery as it expanded westward.

Now, put into perspective, we clearly see the unfairness of this situation, but how could they allow this? How was it justified and how didn’t anybody intervene? Well, all these questions can be answered with one concept: Manifest Destiny.

To comprehend Manifest Destiny, we have to go back in time. In the 1800s, people were still very religious, as shown in the United States, given that science had not developed that much yet, so people still believed strongly in God. It is because of their origins. Remember: the first American settlement, all the way back in 1620, was founded by Pilgrims, people who fled because of their harsh religious beliefs, so a big part of the heritage they left was religion.

It is in that society that a belief spread like wildfire: they believed it was America’s right to expand westward and clearly do anything they judged beneficial, as granted by providence, in this case God. With that, the Natives were pushed out of the expansion.

We can conclude this is ridiculous and just an excuse to do anything they want, but at the time it counted as a valid excuse.

The term “Manifest Destiny” was used for the first time to describe westward expansion in 1845, when an author named John O’Sullivan published in the United States Magazine & Democratic Review an article named Annexation, after the annexation of Texas into the Union. Even though it was used for the first time in 1845, it was already a common belief among Americans.

Our final subject of this part is their intentions, and for this we have to ask ourselves a question: what purpose does it serve?

Well, it was actually for different reasons all linked to each other. First of all, there is expansion, given that the growing population greatly benefited from those annexations that contributed to helping sustain their growing numbers and to get power. The second is influence, because to get power you need influence so you can get benefits from other countries that will help you become richer and more influential, so essentially it is just a loop.

Conclusion: We can see the whole point of this depiction is to represent American expansion westward through a biased view that shows the beliefs of the Americans of this era and a main one, Manifest Destiny, that would benefit them in multiple ways and help them become who they are today. It is based on the belief that God gave them the right to…

II. American imperialism at its finest

The Americans first gained their independence in 1776, and it was ratified by the Treaty of Paris in 1784 after a bloody war in the cold weather of New England, where we see battles like the Sieges of Boston, Philadelphia, Savannah, and Charleston, and the battles of Fort Ticonderoga and Lexington, where the Americans finally gained independence after France and Spain joined the war, mainly for revenge.

However, their first expansion actually occurred with the Treaty of Paris, as while Florida was awarded to Spain, the thirteen colonies of the new United States of America were awarded all the land east of the Mississippi River.

After a few years of consolidation, something happened: the French, under Napoleon I, took Louisiana back from the Spanish crown in exchange for the leadership of Tuscany in 1800 to try to reform a French colonial empire in the New World. But after their most valuable colony, Haiti, rebelled in a slave revolt, they saw no more interest in the New World, so they sold the territory for a steal (15 million dollars), which is about 7 dollars per square kilometer.

In 1812, benefiting from the context in Europe, the American army marched into British North America and took the city of Quebec, before they were pushed back by heavy guerrilla warfare and the national guard, and they ended up signing a white peace.

Next up is Florida, which they simply took away from Spain in 1819, even though they were not even at war with each other.

However, they entered a border dispute with British North America concerning the Oregon Territory, which spanned from Mexican California to Russian Alaska, before agreeing on a border along the 49th parallel north.

But something else caught their attention: Texas.

In 1836, Texas declared independence from Mexico. Eventually, Texas joined the Union, which led to a war between the United States and Mexico.

What was a war turned into a humiliation after the United States occupied California, crossed the Rio Grande, and eventually captured Mexico City, marking Mexico’s surrender.

We can see that even though Manifest Destiny wasn’t used as a term, Americans still expanded greatly while not caring about what the occupied people wanted, as Latinos and Natives were slowly assimilated into American culture.

However, tensions inside the country grew into a devastating civil war, which lasted four years and ended with the victory of the Union and the abolition of slavery under President Abraham Lincoln.

However, that break was not long-lived, as they resumed expansion shortly after the Civil War, when in 1867 they bought Alaska from the Russian Empire for 7 million dollars.

Later, in 1898, after trouble arose in Hawaii, the United States annexed the islands.

Then came the Spanish-American War, where the United States gained influence over Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines.

III. Today?

Well, after Trump was elected for the second time, many things happened. The first thing is him trying to pressure other countries into giving up their sovereignty to join the United States, such as the idea of Canada becoming the 51st stateor the pressure on Denmark to give up Greenland.

Another controversy concerns his police force, ICE, which deports people who are not of “white” origin back to where they supposedly belong.

This has led to protests such as the “No Kings” protests, as well as reactions from celebrities like Billie Eilish, who said: “There are no illegals on stolen land”, and Bad Bunny speaking about the American continent.

Now the situation continues with tensions in Venezuela and the Middle East, where the United States and Israel bombed Iran, claiming it was developing nuclear weapons.

Conclusion

Most people wonder about American decisions and whether their policy is similar to what they had in the past, and whether it is ethical at all.

Well, with all the information I gathered, I can confirm that their policy has often been used to justify actions that go against international law, which is a very unethical way of acting because the justification is not viable at all in 2026, and it should not have been acceptable back then either. Their imperialism keeps influencing other countries and interfering in their decisions.

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Why is Manifest Destiny the reason for allowing the United States to expand by bullying other countries?

American history has always been about expansionism and imperialism, but before going any further I will explain what those two words mean.
Imperialism is when a country or a state wants to defeat another country (or state) to increase its political or economic power and expansionism means a policy that wants to spread its influence over other nations. It is also important to define American Progress, which is the belief in the westward expansion of the United States from the Atlantic to thePacific Ocean.

First, we will see what happened in the past like the fact that they pushed the natives west or the painting “American Progress.” Then, we can learn about current American policy and their thoughts on the past. Finally, I will tell you about the opinions of celebrities and what might happen in the future.

I. The painting

American Progress is an oil on canvas painted by John Gast in 1872 which is close to when it really happened so we can think it’s historically accurate whereas we are going to see that it’s not. To begin, we can see a gorgeous girl floating in the middle of the painting. She almost looks like an angel coming from the sky. She is carrying two things that are important to help us understand what they thought of the natives. First, she is holding a book which represents knowledge since for them natives were savages and uncivilized, so by their deduction they were dumb and they didn’t discover anything. She is bringing everything the “Old World” knows. On the other hand, she has an electric wire and a train is also heading in her direction which represents new communication and modern development since the artist painted a biased perspective of westward expansion. American settlers would bring light to the so-called dark spaces of the world.

In her hair she has a star; it may suggest that she is a star or an angel insofar as she is the light and the beauty, like a dream because she isn’t actually the representation of someone but an American ideal or dream. Now let’s look at the foreground where there are many things to say and deduce. We can see that some of the settlers are starting to cultivate vegetables, they are claiming ownership of this new land while others are pushing the natives west on their horses, inhorse-drawn carriages or in a wagon. Actually, some Americans benefitted from westward expansion by establishinghomesteads and creating a new life, while others were not so lucky. Many American Indian Nations were pushed from their homelands and mistreated by the settlers. On top of that, slavery expanded into the west. Settlers believed God forced them to expand westward. As we all know, the sky is always predicting what is going to happen. In this painting, on the right it is very sunny and without any clouds given that it is the part where we only see the settlers, so the artist wants to show the fact that they are bringing good, knowledge and development. Whereas on the left everything is dark and foggy; everybody is running because the natives were defined as weird, uncivilized and primitive. It is the lady who is the separation between the two parts of this painting; she is like a bridge between the good and the bad.

II. Today

In today’s world the policy has changed but some things are exactly the same. Since the first president, all the presidents have wanted United States expansion even if they were not from the same political party. It seems weird since people thought some of them were “better” or “kinder,” but they all wanted it!

Donald Trump wants to erase those parts from history because he is claiming that America is the best country and that the people have never done anything bad. He wants the past to be perfect but in my opinion the USA can’t be perfect if it does not have all its history. Even the worst things need to stay in the knowledge of everyone because knowing the past helps you to stop repeating the same mistakes. He even wants to chase all the “non-US citizens” out of the United States with his police agency ICE which stands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They are totally inhuman, dangerous and brutal.

III. Artists about this

Finally, celebrities who are famous in America react to ICE and Trump’s ideas. At the 2026 Grammy Awards a lot of celebrities wore a badge “ICE OUT” because they do not agree with that police force and think it is totally awful. In Bad Bunny’s speech he said:

« We are not savages, we are not animals, we are not aliens, we are humans and we are Americans […] The only thing more powerful than hate is love »

It is a reminder that we are all equal and we can do so much better without hate or being mean. We should all stick to that speech because it could help us realize that we are humans so we must be full of love and not hate. Billie Eilish also said something important:

« No one is illegal on a stolen land »

It is also a very good quote insofar as America was stolen from the natives by the settlers. They purchased the French Louisiana territory in 1803, they annexed Florida from Spain in 1819 and they had the independence of Texas from Mexico in 1845. It was in 1845 that the term Manifest Destiny was used for the first time to describe western expansion in the US by John O’Sullivan.
In the future nobody really knows what is going to happen but we never change our views about expansionism and imperialism so it may never change.

Conclusion

To conclude, Manifest Destiny is the reason that allowed United States expansion given that they believed that it was a right given by God or a higher power to expand and settle in new territories in the West and as they are really religious they never stop thinking in that direction. It was a growing feeling that it was America’s destiny to go westward and that nothing would stop the country’s quest to achieve the goal. It is also because, as I said before, people do not change often so if they did it in the first place, they will continue.

«Bring forth the sun where the storm is raging »

What are the common points between this painting and the government of the United States of America?

I – Painting

Let me present this painting. The painting’s name is « Manifest Destiny », by John Gast, in 1872. In this painting, the first thing I see is a woman. I suppose the woman is Manifest Destiny. She stands out because she is wearing white and she is bigger than the rest of the painting. Maybe I am wrong, but I think the woman brings light, electricity, trains, bridges, houses… Whereas where she hasn’t gone, I can see darkness. Manifest Destiny has got a star in the woman’s hair. If you ask me, this star could represent the flag of the United States, because on the U.S. flag there are 50 stars for the 50 states of the United States.
Now I can present this woman: she has long, wavy, blonde hair. She is tall and she wears a white dress. She holds a book in her arm. I believe it’s for education. Manifest Destiny also holds a wire, therefore I imagine it’s for electricity.
At the bottom on the left I can see many wild animals. On the right the clouds are light, whereas on the left the clouds are darker. At the bottom I can see white men; they hold weapons. In front of them there are Native people. I believe the white men are hunting them. From what I have gathered, she represents progress and development.

II – Painting vs. Today’s Government

On the one hand, the meaning of « Manifest Destiny » is the belief that it was America’s right to expand westward.
American Progress: The artist painted a biased perspective of westward expansion. American settlers would bring light to the so-called dark spaces of the world thanks to new communication and modern development. The artist painted a caricature of « Westward Expansion », showing how the United States wanted to grow and move forward. Expansion means enlarging one’s territory or influence. Imperialism means that a country tries to control other territories or countries. The painting shows us the history of the expansion of the United States and the conquest of the West.

In conclusion, the painting « American Progress » illustrates how the United States in the 19th century wanted to grow, advance in technology, the economy and its influence in the world.

The USA were born from the belief that it was America’s right to expand westward as given by God or a higher power.

But to start, let’s define some terms.
First is the term imperialism. Imperialism is when a country wants another country to be dependent on it. The second term is expansionism. Expansionism is to gain territory in order to extend borders.

But, does Manifest Destiny give power to American presidents?

Let us state the idea of our text.
In the first part we will speak of the history of this painting, and the second part will speak of the description of the painting.

I. Hidden meaning behind The painting

Let’s start with the hidden history of this painting.
In 1803 France sold Louisiana. In 1819 Spain ceded Florida. And to finish, in 1845 two things happened. First, Mexico proclaimed the independence of Texas. To finish with this date, for the first time the term Manifest Destinywas used in 1845 to describe western expansion in the US by John O’Sullivan.
The American government bought / stole Native lands in the name of God and said “God says it is ours to take.” Let’s speak more precisely about the first dates.
First, in 1803, the purchase of Louisiana from France was negotiated rapidly, and at the end of April the U.S. envoys agreed to pay $11,250,000 and to assume claims of American citizens against France in the amount of $3,750,000.
It was a huge asset. One year later, precisely in May 1804, the president Thomas Jefferson commissioned the three-year-long Lewis and Clark expedition. Things happened the same way for other territories.

Now, we will explain what the painting is about. In the foreground, we can see a giant woman; actually, this is an allegory of America. Indeed, you can see a bright part and a dark part.
In the bright part, on the right, I can suppose that the many people are Americans. I’m assuming this is an idealizedversion, because the two parts divide the painting. They want to say the natives are the dark side, so they say they are evil. On the right side, we can see Americans who are expanding to the rest of the land.

II. Manifest destiny today

Moving on to our era, I think it is important to speak about this because of what is happening now. Donald Trump, the 48th President of the U.S., uses Manifest Destiny to justify war, but he is not alone, there have also been some former presidents. He resorts to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). ICE commits crimes under the rule of Donald Trump, killing innocents; all of that creates a regime of terror to quench his thirst for global domination. This is quite xenophobic because they want to push back foreigners, whereas Trump is not a true American.
As Billie Eilish said in her speech at the Grammy Awards: “Nobody is illegal on stolen land.” She is correct, because land is free for all when we do not talk about Natives.
Trump wants to expand America but he doesn’t want people to come to America. This is not an honest step.

To conclude, yes, we believe that Manifest Destiny was, is, and will continue to be a form of power for American presidents, because it has never ceased to be present in the United States. The first presidents used it, and the last president still uses it for political ends that benefit him, but not everyone. As French citizens, we assume that all this is normal for them in the US, but if Emmanuel Macron did this in France, it would trigger riots and so on. This is Tyler and Elric explaining what Manifest Destiny means in the United States.

Why does humankind always want more territory? First, you need to understand two words, which are expansionism and imperialism.

Expansionism: expansionism is when someone always wants more territory.
Imperialism: imperialism is the same as expansionism, but we impose our customs on the territory.

Why did homesteaders go to the west of America? Indeed, with this oil painting, we can develop an answer to the problem.

First, the most important thing in this painting, according to me, is the allegory that is in the middle of the oil painting, and she is bigger than the rest of the painting. I am pretty sure it is important too for the painter. If it is very important for him, I believe it is because he is very religious. Indeed, the colonists who were on the Mayflower were Puritans and prisoners. I am not sure, but I suppose John Gast is the great-great-grandson of a Puritan who was on the Mayflower. Moreover, the fact that the first colonists were religious is the answer to why the USA is so religious, though this is not the subject. From what I gathered, the allegory is installing electric poles and maybe it is her who built the city in the top right-hand corner. Plus, according to me, she is guiding the homesteaders who are below her. Perhaps she is protecting them from the Natives. She is wearing a star in her hair, which makes me think of the USA’s flag, so maybe she is the god of Americans or she is the representation of the USA.

So, moving on to the description of this famous oil painting. Actually, this oil painting by John Gast was painted in 1872, so contrary to the oil painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme Ferris, it was painted in the same year as the scene, whereas American Progress, which is the painting’s name, is not more realistic than The First Thanksgiving. From what I gathered, it is exhibited in the Autry National Center in Los Angeles. Indeed, American Progress deals withthe progress to the West by homesteaders. Indeed, in the background of this oil painting we can see a lot of homesteaders on the right. Moreover, on the right there is a world which is developed. Actually, there is a huge city, two trains, many ships, so I think it is a commercial city. Plus, there are many homesteaders who are walking to the left, so they are walking to the West. On the left, we can see Natives; from what I gathered, they seem both frightened and wild, or perhaps it is Americans who bothered the Natives. The reality was much more complicated. Indeed, if some settlers homesteaded and created a new life, others were not so lucky. Many American Indians were pushedfrom their homelands and mistreated by settlers. On top of that, slavery expanded into the West. This representation is a caricature because in the painting, Natives are wearing feathers and they are shirtless. Moreover, on the left of the allegory’s arm there is a tribe that is dancing like wild people. Plus, we could remark that the painting on the right is more enlightened than the left. I guess it is a choice of the painter to paint like that. Maybe it is to represent the supposed hostility of the Natives. The allegory is bringing the light, whereas she is the representation of Americans, so in reality it is them who are bringing the light. I am not sure, but I believe the light is the representation of the intellect and of civilization. So John Gast, who is a homesteader, represents Natives as people who are not smart or civilized, while it is just that they do not have the same religion and the same language as them.

With my two texts dealing with the oil painting, we can create an answer to the problem, which will be the conclusion. Actually, Americans went to the West because, according to them, America is their territory that was given by God, so they could do what they wanted. This is expansionism. Moreover, the allegory of the USA, Columbia, went to the West with them; it is as if Americans brought their religion with them to impose it on the land where they were headed. This is imperialism. To finish, all this is the concept of Manifest Destiny, and this concept gave the authorization to Americans to expand to the West, and now the leaders of the USA apply this concept.

Who knows why American presidents always want to expand America by buying other countries?

Maybe not you, because otherwise you would not be here, so this document description can help you understand expansionism, and if you do not know what expansionism is, I am here for you. Well, expansionism is an idea where a country tries to expand its territory, for example by buying other countries.

Now you know what expansionism is, I can tell you what I am going to do. First, I am going to describe an oil painting to you and explain the history of this representation.

First of all, this oil painting was made by John Gast in 1872 in Los Angeles. This oil painting is named “American Progress”, and you can see that it was painted during the period when this actually took place. In the foreground, there are many people: in the middle and on the right there are “New Americans,” and on the left there are “Native Americans” who are moving to the right as if they were in danger. Perhaps they think they are in danger because they see “New Americans” who are expanding their territories to the west. On the right, “New Americans” look like they are cultivating the land. I also can see a house; it seems “New Americans” are here and they do not want to leave. In the middle, there are also “New Americans” who look like they are talking, maybe about what they could do in this “new territory.” And on the left, I can see a bear near the “Native Americans,” as if the artist wanted to say: “Native Americans are like a bear; they are dangerous.”
The middle ground is split into three parts; I will name them: on the right, the light part; in the middle, the middle; and on the left, the dark part. The light part looks like it represents the “civilised” part, and the left part looks like it represents the “savage” part, because there is the skeleton of an animal with an arrow in it, as if “Native Americans” were savages who killed animals like this. In the light part, I can see something like a port and some trains that are going to the left. In the middle, there is a tall blonde woman who is wearing a white cloth; on her head there is a star. I am not sure, but I guess this star is the same as the one on the American flag; maybe it is not a coincidence. The woman appears to be installing electrical cables as if she was bringing civilisation with her. I also see she has a book in her hand; maybe John Gast wanted to show that she is bringing knowledge. This woman is represented as a “god.”

You can understand that this oil painting is a good representation of Manifest Destiny, and if you do not know what Manifest Destiny is, I am here for you. Manifest Destiny is the belief that the United States was meant to expand west across North America. They were using God to justify their acts. And even now, American presidents use Manifest Destiny to justify why they are expanding their country. In 1803, Louisiana was purchased from France, and now Donald Trump wants to buy other countries because in his head buying other countries is normal, given that before some countries were purchased. So, in his opinion, purchasing other countries is normal to American presidents, so do not see him and the other presidents before him as strange people.

Why does Manifest Destiny allow the USA to extend?

First, I will describe the oil painting, and secondly I will speak about the history of Manifest Destiny.
First of all, this document is an oil painting by John Gast, and the title of this oil painting is “American Progress.” I chose this hook phrase: “The good days after the storm” because in the oil painting I can see a woman. I think the woman represents the USA because the USA expands as in the oil painting. So the hook phrase means that the woman will bring the sun after the storm, as the USA believes.

Indeed, for many months, the USA has wanted to buy Greenland to expand.

After that, I can see a lot of men and women. I’m not sure, but I suppose maybe they will go towards the sun. Then I can see a woman; I think she represents the USA, and in the oil painting I can see a book that is in her right hand. I’m not sure, but I suppose this book is a law book. With this book, the USA will impose its laws. Secondly, from what I gathered, I can see an electric wire, and I reckon this wire gives electricity. That is why the woman holds the wire. Next, on the right of the oil painting I can see a train, and I deduce maybe the woman who is in the oil painting gives the taste of life and freedom, although today in the USA it is not the same as in the story of the oil painting.

Secondly, I will speak about the history of the oil painting.
First of all, the oil painting was painted in Los Angeles in California in 1872. This oil painting doesn’t represent the reality because the settlers were not correct with the American Indians. The settlers wanted to impose their laws; on top of that, they believed their laws were given by God. When the settlers went to the West, the American Indians suffered: they became slaves. Moreover, the American Indians did not have their own territory.

We can wonder why the US government thought they could afford to expand over all American territory.

That concept was not created by Donald Trump because I can see in the oil painting by John Gast entitled American Progress in 1872 that it proves that the American people have wanted to expand for a long time. But first, I will present the oil painting.
So the oil painting was created by John Gast in 1872; its name is American Progress. Now we can start the description. In this oil painting, I can see many Americans expanding to the West with their baggage. In the middle of the painting, I can see a huge woman; it is an allegory of America. I am pretty certain that the book she holds is a Bible because she looks like an angel. That suggests that American people think they can do that because, basically, “God says yes,” whereas that is surely not the case.

But that shows something else: it shows that they bring their culture while forcing it on other people. That changes their expansionism into imperialism. So that is why American presidents abuse this idea, like Donald Trump with Venezuela when he dropped bombs and kidnapped its dictator to recover the country for economic purposes (the oil), or with Greenland for strategic purposes. That is the expansionist side.

But a typical case of imperialism is ICE. It is Donald Trump’s police who control immigration, while they expel people who have not lived in America for three generations. That is absurd because his wife is not American, anyway.

But as I said at the beginning, Donald Trump did not create that, because on the left of the painting you can see Native Americans running away because settlers will massacre them, convert them, and enslave them; basically, they will act in an imperialist way. So Manifest Destiny is still in the news because every American president demonstrates imperialism and expansionism.

Is Trump’s idea so new?

First, I am explaining to you why Trump’s idea is not new…
It is not new because in 1845, it was Manifest Destiny that was used for the first time to describe Western expansion in the US. The Separatists who founded the Plymouth Colony referred to themselves as « Saints », not « Pilgrims ». The use of the word « Pilgrim » to describe this group did not become common until the colony’s bicentennial. The belief was that it was America’s right to expand westward.

To explain better, I describe an oil on canvas by John Gast named « American Progress ». You can find it in the Autry National Center, Los Angeles, California; it was painted in 1872.

In the foreground, we can see several men who are working in the fields. We can see on the right bridges, ships, trains, and stagecoaches with six horses.

Whereas on the left, settlers push back Native Americans to the West, and we believe that they are forced into the darkness.
On this oil on canvas, we can see a woman; we believe she brings the light of the new day. And we believe she brings electricity, light, and knowledge.

Now, we can make the link between Trump and Manifest Destiny. First of all, I reckon we can talk about imperialism, because Trump tries to have both Canada and Greenland, and I may be wrong but I assume he is trying to have other countries… To go back to the term imperialism, Manifest Destiny was completely identical. We can take the example of what is happening right now, because Trump is interfering in the confrontation between Iran and Israel.

I conclude that he is doing what has already been done, and we still have imperialism today, so it is anything but new.

Well, we will explain that imperialism and expansionism existed before Donald Trump.

The concept of Manifest Destiny has existed since 1845. Imperialism is when a state wants to make another state dependent on it. And you could ask why the United States thought they were entitled to kill all the Native Americans and to colonise the West. So we will describe how our presentation will be organised: the beginning, the middle, and the end.

First, we will describe the oil painting that was painted by John Gast. Its title is American Progress, which is kept at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles, California, and was painted in 1872. Then, we will explain the historical context of Manifest Destiny, and how it began. Finally, we will explain the current situation and why Donald Trump is doing this today.

Then, we will describe the first part: the oil painting. The title of this painting is « American Progress ». I think this painting represents the expansion of Americans toward new lands, and that is why this is the title. It shows the Americans moving toward the left. This represents “progress.” Now, let me describe the painting little by little. The real description starts now. We will start not with the foreground but from the right side toward the left, which will lead us to the center of the painting.

In general we can see many Americans moving toward the left. On the right, in the foreground, we can see two men who are working on plantations. One of them has a plough to turn the soil, and the other has a whip to guide his animals. Behind them, I can see a house, so I am quite sure it is their home. Above this area, there are three trains going toward the right. I can also see a river and many boats, so I am assuming that the American territory was near the coast. Finally, I can see a sunset.

Then, moving to the center of the painting, I can clearly see a woman who is flying like a goddess and leading the Americans toward an unknown territory. We can see that she has an electric wire in her left hand, and in her right hand she holds a book with the words “school book” written on it. So I am assuming that she represents education for children. She also has a star on her forehead, so I guess she represents the nation. Behind her, we can see someone riding a horse.
Below her, there are many men carrying weapons. As in many paintings, they are armed, and the Native Americansalso have weapons. They wear feathered headdresses and are sometimes represented almost like animals. Behind the woman, we can see a tribe of Native Americans dancing around a campfire.

Finally, Manifest Destiny refers to the idea that a country wants to expand and control more territories, and people were often expelled from their lands by force.

Now we can talk about the present situation. Two months ago, many people were killed by ICE, the immigration police under Donald Trump. Its role is to arrest, deport, and send back people who are in an irregular situation, but it sometimes does this with violence against foreigners, even if they have not committed an illegal act. I also say this because Donald Trump wants to seize Greenland, even though it belongs to Denmark, arguing that it is necessary for security. Otherwise, China or Russia could also try to control it. However, the real reason may be that the territory contains many natural resources. We can conclude that Donald Trump is not the first president to pursue expansionism.

First of all, I will introduce the topic of the text.
How does Manifest Destiny predate Donald Trump ?

Before I tell you more, let me describe what Manifest Destiny is and who Donald Trump is.
Manifest Destiny is the belief that it was America’s right to expand westward. In 1845, the term Manifest Destiny was used for the first time to describe Western Expansion in the United States, by John O’Sullivan, a newspaper editor. Indeed, he wrote an article in the U.S. Magazine & Democratic Review called “Annexation.”
Donald Trump is the 47th President of the United States.

Now, I will explain this in two parts : the first part will be devoted to describing a painting called « American Progress », and the second part will be devoted to the history of the painting. I will write a concluding paragraph to wrap up my discussion.

I. American progress

The name of this painting is « American Progress » and it is signed by John Gast. This oil on canvas is located at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles, California and was created in 1872. In this painting, in the foreground, in the bottom right-hand corner, there are two people : the first one, who I suppose has a stick or a whip in his hands, and the second one, who I think is holding a cart with oxen. Behind them, there are a house, a fence and vegetation. In the foreground there is also a group of four men. Three men are lined up, one of whom is on horseback. The fourth man is in front. I don’t know for sure, but I think they are Pilgrims. We can also see animals running away and two streams, which may be a single stream that splits into two. In the middle ground, we can see a steam train in action, a horse-drawn carriage with a bell tower, a boat pulled by oxen and a group of Natives who appear to be driven from their territory towards the West. There are also animal carcasses and electric wires. In the background, we can see a herd of bison heading west, a steam train, a caricature of Natives dancing and dwellings in the distance. You can also see mountains on the left, a harbor in the distance with boats on the right; perhaps these are boats used for the triangular trade, and the sky is dark on the left and very clear on the right. In the middle there is a woman with a star on her forehead. This star represents a star on the American flag, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” She is also holding a book in her right hand ; it is a schoolbook to represent education. Finally, she is holding an electric wire in her left hand to symbolise renewal and modernity with the advent of electricity. Her body is positioned towards the West, like all the objects and people in this painting.

II. Story behind the painting 
The painting is completely out of step with the times, as it depicts an electric wire and a boat on the same canvas, proving that it does not correspond to the actual dates of creation. They are heading west because they thought it was a right given by God to expand and settle in new territories in the West. There was a growing feeling that it was America’s destiny to go westward to the Pacific Ocean, and that nothing would stop the country’s quest to achieve that goal. They promote free development : move west and settle in new places. The artist painted a biased perspective of westward expansion : American settlers would bring light to the so-called dark spaces of the world, thanks to new communication and modern development. The reality was much more complicated. Indeed, if some Americans benefited from westward expansion by establishing homesteads and creating a new life, others were not so lucky. Many American Indian Nations were pushed from their homelands and mistreated by the settlers. On top of that, slavery expanded into the West.

Finally, to answer the issue, we cannot say that Donald Trump invented Manifest Destiny and that his current behaviour is unique to him because we can see that even the Pilgrims already had this approach.

Since the dawn of time, the history of America has been based on imperialism and expansionism.

Why is Manifest Destiny used as a pretext for expansionism and imperialism?

First, this oil canvas was painted by John Gast in California in 1872 and he called it « American Progress ». Well, I can obviously see the main protagonist of the painting; it is an allegory of the United States because she brings light, electricity, peace, health… She is THE ICON of America; this is a romanticized version of the situation of America.
The belief that it was Americans’ right to expand westward, given by God or a higher power. Americans wanted to move west and settle in new places. It is America’s right given by God to expand and settle in new territories.

The artist painted a biased perspective of Westward expansion: American settlers would bring light to the so-called dark spaces of the world, thanks to new communication and modern development.

The reality was much more complicated. Indeed, if some Americans benefited from Westward expansion, establishing homesteads and creating a new life, others were not so lucky. Many American Indian nations were pushed from their homelands by the settlers. On top of that, slavery expanded into the West. At the time, many Americans believed that the United States had a mission to expand westward, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. They thought they were bringing progress, civilization, religion, and technology to new lands.

What are the people doing in the painting?
In the center, there is a woman dressed in white. She represents America. She is floating toward the West and bringing light with her. She is holding a book (which probably represents education or religion) and she is stretching a telegraph wire, which symbolizes modern technology.
On the right side of the painting, we can see settlers moving west. There are wagons, trains, farmers, and boats. They are traveling, building towns, and developing the land.
On the left side, it is darker. We can see Native Americans and wild animals running away. They are being pushed out of their lands as Americans move west.

Why was this painting created?
The painting was made to show westward expansion as something positive and heroic. It presents progress as light and civilization, while the West is shown as dark and wild.

However, today we know that this expansion caused many problems. Native Americans lost their lands, their homes, and many lives.
In my point of view, I think ICE is very racist toward black people because they are much more harsh toward black people, while with white people ICE is more lenient. Like Bad Bunny said, America cannot be limited to the United States but includes all countries of America. Bad Bunny’s speech takes again what he hates about America.

Before the creation of the USA, the land was inhabited for thousands of years by Native American peoples. From the 16th century, European powers began colonizing North America, especially the British along the East Coast. In 1776, the thirteen colonies declared independence and created a new nation. During the 19th century, the country expanded westward: some leaders bought territories, others went to war, which led to the taking of land from Native Americans and from Mexico. By the end of the 19th century, the USA also began controlling territories outside its continent, marking the beginning of American imperialism.

In the 20th century, the country became a global superpower and intervened in many international conflicts. More recently, under Barack Obama, the USA maintained strong global influence while emphasizing diplomacy and international cooperation, whereas Donald Trump promoted a more nationalist approach, focusing on American interests, stricter border control, and a more direct vision of power.

Since the 19th century, this desire for expansion and influence has been linked to the idea of Manifest Destiny, the belief that Americans had a natural mission to expand their territory and spread their values of freedom.

Manifest Destiny is used as a justification for present territorial growth and global influence as something legitimate and almost destined, allowing leaders to defend actions of conquest in the name of freedom and progress.

We can ask why the United States considers that they have the right to expand their territories westward.

So, we are going to introduce you to a painting called “American Progress”.

Before you start, you need to know some vocabulary points. First of all, Imperialism is a policy pursued by a country that seeks to dominate other countries outside its borders. Moving on to Expansionism, Expansionism is when a country wants to become larger by controlling other territories. Finally, Manifest Destiny is the idea that the USA should and has to expand its territory.

In the dark part of the painting, we see the Wild West before the arrival of the settlers. The sky is dark and there are many shadows. It gives a sad atmosphere. We see settlers with their horses. They seem to be afraid and are leaving their lands. There are also bison and wild animals that go in the same direction. Nature is still very present: there are no cities or roads. This part shows an ancient world that gradually disappears.
In the middle of the painting, there is a woman in a white dress. She floats in the sky above the landscape. She holds a book in one hand. In the other hand, she holds threads. She advances to the right and guides the settlers. It shows light in the dark parts. It represents both progress toward a better future and she represents America.

In the light part, the light arrives and the landscape changes. We see settlers advancing westward. They travel with horse-drawn carts. You can see a train, fields, houses and cities being built. There are also electric wires that cross the landscape. All this shows progress, modernity, and the development of this country. This part gives an impression of the America of today.

The United States considers that they have the right to expand their territories westward because the USA reckons that they can go and take the West; they believe that God offered them the right and the mission to expand their territories.