A voice of one calling:

In the desert prepare

the way for the LORD;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our od!
"very valley shall #e raised up$
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall #ecome level$
the rugged places a plain!
And the glory of the LORD will #e revealed$
and all mankind together will see it!
%or the mouth of the LORD has spoken!&
'' Isaiah ():*'+
,!- .he /estern as Idea
the concept of the /est as a promised
land! .his is not the /est& of /estern 0ivili1ation! It is the /est as the empty land of the
new world! .he empty land of this /est is #oth a wilderness and a promised land!
.he ancient reeks knew that land lay /est of the 2editerranean! .hey #elieved that it was
close to the 3traits of i#raltar$ and many thought that India was a short distance across the
sea #eyond the straits! One reek e4plorer$ 5ytheas$ traveled #eyond i#raltar to reach what
is now reat 6ritain$ #efore going further to the 6altic!
In the 7iking era$ travelers went west to discover Iceland and later reenland! /estern
8ourneys and the western lands were the setting for many history sagas$ including such
western lands as "ngland$ Ireland$ and the Orkneys! .hey also created a western setting for
the Icelandic family sagas$ a series of dramatic medieval tales!
.hese stories esta#lished conventions that would #ecome standard fare in later /esterns!
Rugged$ empty land was the #ackdrop of high adventure! In this open landscape$ heroic
settlers struggled to #uild a new civili1ation far from the old!
3trong$ willful men fought each other and the elements in an attempt to create or to fulfill destiny! .his
was a man9s world$ #ut strong women were often central to the action of the men! .hey also served as
pivotal figures in narrative sagas centered on their fate and character! .he open land intensified a rich
mi4 of human emotions from love$ loyalty$ and honor to #etrayal$ vengeance$ and frontier
8ustice! .he land seemed to magnify human #eings rather than diminish them as they act out
their lives on the great stage of the earth!
3everal centuries after the 7ikings went west$ 0hristopher 0olum#us followed their trail! :e
#umped into the Americas while trying to sail westward to India$ and 0olum#us was
convinced that he reached his goal! Instead of finding India$ however$ 0olum#us #rought
"uropeans to the Americas$ introducing them to a new world! :e also introduced this new
world to the "uropean imagination$ with different cultures seeing and imagining this new
world in very different ways!
.he 6ritish settlers who #egan to coloni1e the new world in the -+;)s only managed to
esta#lish the first permanent settlement in -<)=$ at >amestown$ 7irginia! .he 6ermuda
shipwreck of "nglish colonists headed for 7irginia was part of 3hakespeare9s inspiration for
.he .empest$ written in -<--! /hen "uropean men are shipwrecked on 5rospero9s island$
2iranda e4claims: O$ wonder? :ow many goodly creatures are there here? :ow #eauteous
mankind is? O #rave new world that has such people in it?& = "uropeans said the same thing of
the new world they encountered in the west! .his was a new land$ fertile and rich #eyond
imagining:
6y the -<,)s$ religious dissidents sought to #uild a @ew >erusalem! %ailing to restore virtue to "ngland
itself$ they sought a new world far from "urope! .hey chose @ew "ngland as the site of their righteous
community!
In -<*)$ the 5uritan minister >ohn /inthrop delivered a sermon titled A Model of Christian
Charity on the sea 8ourney to @ew "ngland! /inthrop$ who was repeatedly elected overnor
of the 2assachusetts 6ay 0olony #y his 5uritan #rothers$ offered three religious doctrines
that came to characteri1e 6ritish @orth American culture! .hese themes lived on in the
national policies of the new Anited 3tates!
.he three doctrines were:
the idea of a civili1ation in the wilderness;
od9s #lessing for a new chosen people;
and special relationship #etween od and his chosen people leading to uniBue
destiny!
/inthrop drew on 2atthew +:-( C to descri#e the new world:
The Lord will be our God, and delight to dwell among us, as His own people, and will
command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see much more of His wisdom,
power, goodness and truth, than formerly we have been acquainted with !e shall find that
the God of "srael is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our
enemies# when He shall ma$e us a praise and glory that men shall say of succeeding
plantations, %may the Lord ma$e it li$e that of &ew 'ngland( )or we must consider that, we
shall be as a city upon a hill The eyes of all people are upon us!& --
/inthrop #elieved that the pilgrims and their westward'traveling successors would #uild a civili1ation in
the wilderness!
:e asserted that od would govern this civili1ation through a new chosen people whom he
would #less$ ordaining 6ritish @orth Americans as the creators of a @ew Dion! /inthrop also
stated an idea that would$ in time$ lead to the theory of American e4ceptionalism #y claiming
that the @ew Dion E "uropeans in America E would fulfill the destiny a#andoned #y the Old
Dion and relinBuished #y "urope itself!
%or /inthrop$ the #lessings of this @ew Dion included a special relationship with od! .his special
relationship is the theological and political 8ustification for the doctrine that others will la#el manifest
destiny!&
C Fou are the light of the world! A city on a hill cannot #e hidden!&
.he notion of America as a @ew Dion$ a righteous presence in the wilderness$ was as
important as the notion of a city on a hill -,! .he wilderness was more than a new land! It was
a place of isolation and redemption!
In political terms$ the politics of isolation #egan soon after the 6ritish colonies #ecome an
independent nation with a national government the first president$ eorge /ashington$
summari1ed this policy in his %arewell Address! :e advised Americans to engage in open and
honest commerce$ #ut to avoid interweaving our destiny with that of any part of 'urope!&
In his -;,* 3tate of Anion Address$ >ames 2onroe defined the @ew /orld as a purely
American sphere of interest$ asserting an e4ceptional claim to hemispheric leadership! @o
nation had attempted to e4ercise such a vast hegemony since the days of the Roman "mpire!
-+
.he 2onroe Doctrine esta#lished three main concepts * separate spheres of influence for
the Americas and 'urope, non+coloni,ation, and non+intervention!& 2onroe intended to
signal a clear difference #etween the fledgling democracy of the Anited 3tates$ a nation where
the people governed their own destiny as citi1ens$ in contrast with "uropean monarchies
where autarchs$ aristocrats$ and oligarchs governed su#8ects!
.wo centuries after /inthrop proclaimed the @ew Dion$ Andrew >ackson9s populist wing of
the Democratic 5arty echoed his claim to demand ownership of the entire continent! .he idea
of a single nation divinely ordained to span the @orth American continent #lossomed as an
overt ideology during the >ackson administration G-;,H'-;*=I!
-, 0f: Isaiah ():*'+!
.he notion of a divine mandate would come to #e called manifest destiny! 6y the late -;*)s$
the doctrine of manifest destiny emerged to provide an ideological foundation for the great
era of /estern e4pansion! @ewspaper editor >ohn L! O93ullivan coined the term in an -;(+
newspaper editorial$ writing of !!!! the right of our manifest destiny to over spread and to
possess the whole of the continent which -rovidence has given us for the development of the
great e.periment of liberty and federative development of self government entrusted to us "t
is right such as that of the tree to the space of air and the earth suitable for the full e.pansion
of its principle and destiny of growth!& -= /hile the term was #orn in -;(+$ O93ullivan and
others like him had long proclaimed the idea of America9s great futurity$& writing of
America9s destiny as manifest and given! -;
.his appeal to destiny 8ustified the wars and #elligerent policies that anne4ed .e4as into the
Anited 3tates along with other formerly 2e4ican possessions in -;(;! .his land comprises
much of what #ecame the /estern Anited 3tates$ including 0alifornia$ @evada$ and Atah$ as
well as parts of what would #ecome Ari1ona$ @ew 2e4ico$ 0olorado$ and /yoming!
.he Anited 3tates #egan with a spirit of self'reliance and disengagement from foreign
political affairs$ especially "uropean affairs! .he first great /estern addition to the original
thirteen states and the original @orthwest .erritory -H took place in -;)* with the Louisiana
5urchase! In contrast to the spirit of manifest destiny propelling the actions of the -;*)s and
-;()s$ the purchase of the Louisiana .erritory was a nearly reluctant effort to protect growing
American commerce on the 2ississippi River while guaranteeing access to the port city of
@ew Orleans! In addition to Louisiana$ this territory would ultimately #ecome the first states
that later generations would identify with the /estern genre: 2issouri$ Arkansas$ Iowa$ @orth
Dakota$ 3outh Dakota$ @e#raska$ and Oklahoma; in addition$ the area included most of the
land in Jansas$ 0olorado$ /yoming$ 2ontana$ and 2innesota!
/hile deep cultural forces were at work$ popular culture also played a part in the way that the
young nation understood itself! .he dime novel first #lossomed in this era$ #eginning as a
form of popular entertainment! It soon #ecame the first great medium for the typically
commercial /estern! ,) .he themes linked to the @ew Dion and to manifest destiny are larger
still$ and these themes have echoed in American politics$ fiction$ and film from the colonial
era to the present day!
After the Louisiana 5urchase and the war with 2e4ico$ one further development esta#lished
the physical #oundaries of the Anited 3tates in the era 8ust #efore the American 0ivil /ar!
.his was the anne4ation of the Oregon .erritory in -;(<! Antil the -;()s$ #oth American and
6ritish citi1ens could settle and trade in the Oregon territory! .hen$ following a tense
negotiation that might have #ecome a war$ 6ritain ceded Oregon and what is now
/ashington to the Anited 3tates! .hese three developments #etween -;)* and -;(; created
the /est of /estern films!
to define America9s vision of its /estern frontier! .he comple4 relations of character and conte4t in these
novels hark #ack to the dualistic view of 5uritan @ew "ngland with its 0alvinist theology!
.he 5uritans divided the world into factions$ and each was generally at war with the other:
civili1ed or uncivili1ed$ wilderness or settled land$ the riches of the forest or the fruits of
agriculture$ hunter'gatherers or settler'farmers$ country or city$ grace or sin$ good or evil$
white or dark$ chosen or unredeemed$ saved or savage!
Daily life Ework and family life E were the platform of 5uritan spirituality$ and the 5uritans
sought to integrate religion in every aspect of their living! .hey sought a sense of wholeness
and authenticity at the same time that they divided the world #etween the saved and the
damned!
5uritan 0alvinism uniformly favored civili1ed values and the 0alvinist doctrine! .he 5uritans
#elieved in human depravity$ unconditional election of the saved$ particular redemption$ the
doctrine known as the perseverance of saints$& meaning that anyone chosen #y od for
salvation will #e saved!
a su#tle and comple4 relationship #etween civili1ation and the uncivili1ed! /ilderness and freedom signify
od9s grace and #lessing rather than their a#sence! .he native savage em#odies natural dignity and
unvarnished no#ility where civili1ation em#odies the fall from grace! 0ities and towns represent
humankind at work$ repeatedly choosing human goals over and against divine law! 0hurches and schools
represent man9s ways! od speaks in the open$ wild places! :enry David .horeau$ :erman
2elville$ and /alt /hitman followed 0ooper9s line of thought$ as did much of Ralph /aldo
"merson9s philosophy of the individual! ,+ "merson argued that the individual was greater
than tradition! :e argued that overturning tradition is the duty of true men! /herever a man
comes$& he wrote$ there comes revolution! .he old is for slaves! /hen a man comes$ all
#ooks are legi#le$ all things transparent$ all religions are forms! :e is religious! 2an is the
wonderworker! :e is seen amid miracles!&
.his rhetoric took root among the proponents of individual li#erty and personal conscience who shaped
the Anited 3tates as a nation where church and state were separate! Along with the missionary cause
and the repeated waves of revival and awakening that swept @orth America since the first reat
Awakening of the -=()s$ this theology would influence the idea of the /est! ,=
,; 0hanning$ /illiam "llery! -;-H! Anitarian 0hristianity! Delivered at the Ordination of Rev! >ared
.he early themes of what would #ecome the /estern genre took on political importance
when they 8oined the doctrine of American e4ceptionalism in American politics! .hey appear
in eorge /ashington9s farewell address$ in the 2onroe Doctrine of the @ew /orld as a
purely American sphere of interest$ and E even more to the point E in A#raham Lincoln9s
-;<, 3tate of the Anion Address$ descri#ing the Anited 3tates as the last #est hope of earth!&
*,
In -;;+$ .heodore Roosevelt articulated the idea of an American destiny linked to the
evolving /estern frontier in a seven'volume history #ook! ** Roosevelt$ who #ecame
president of the Anited 3tates from -H)- to -H)H$ developed the concept that %rederick
>ackson .urner would make his own as the frontier hypothesis& of American history! *(
.urner #ecame the leading American historian of his generation$ positing an American
national character defined #y the ever'moving westward frontier! In doing so$ .urner
esta#lished the myth of the /est as the central metaphor in American iconography and gave
the /estern genre a central position in American arts and letters! *+