It is difficult to find comfort in an unfamiliar place. In the 17th century, there were many different reasons why people traveled to and throughout the opportunistic new world. Whether it was a puritan or a settler, they all traveled to start a new beginning. For new settlers anticipating the second coming of Eden, civilizing the New World meant changing bad into good. However, for some settlers, the reality of the New World did not meet their expectations and hope turned into disappointment. The colonists were shocked as the wilderness of the New World presented a challenge of survival. The New World was inhabited by wild and savage people, while they were uneducated, the settlers found that they were loving and gentle. Although the settlers …show more content…
The landscape in this photo is divided by different light variations. The right edge of the painting is bright while the left edge is ominous. As the angel flies towards towards the West, she is holding a schoolbook and a cable. A river is in the background with ships. These features are interesting because it signifies Western United States to be saved or recovered. These features depict technological advancement towards the wild west. The angel provides protection over the explorers as they venture towards further indigenous land. Miller writes in The Fate of Wilderness in American Landscape Art, “The problems of the wilderness were displaced to the frontier West” (Miller 105). The dominating angel in the middle of the painting illuminates the way in which the settlers travel. With wagons, horses, and stagecoaches moving west, the heavenly angel is a symbol representing uplifting exploration for America to advance as a country. The West “...appealed to those bored or disgusted with man and his works. It not only offered an escape from society but also was an ideal stage for the Romantic individual to exercise the cult that he frequently made of his own soul” (Nash 47). “American Progress” depicts territorial growth westward which modernized