Land, God, America, and Destiny: the 1800s
Between 1803-1853 the land area of the United States quadruples -- see maps in Pohl pp.130 & 191
Landscape painting rises in popularity as it depicts the newly-acquired territories
Landscapes indicate a spiritual shift from Enlightenment Deism to ìChristianized naturalism,î an appreciation of the natural world as a reflection of God -- ìGod as nature, God in nature,î immanent, Godís order idealized as natural order
Landscapes also indicate ambivalence toward the new territories: its spiritual qualities vs. its potential for economic development (Brooks quote in Pohl p.134)
Reinterpreted the Native Peoples as ìcloser to nature,î and therefore as ìgenuine,î ìnatural,î ìwildî in a positive sense -- but therefor also ìdoomedî to destruction in name of progress