Westward, Ho!
The Westward Expansion and Art
Albert Bierstadt's Yosemite Valley, Yellowstone Park
Artists were a key factor
in building excitement
and creating awareness
of the beautiful country
that lay west beyond the
Mississippi River.
VIDEO: Learn more
about these pieces of art
One of the best ways for the home educator to integrate artintothestandardacadem- ic curriculum is to weave it
into the study of history, because art has
represented the times, people, culture,
and so many aspects of any region of the
world since the dawn of time. If you study
a country’s art through the ages—
painting, music, sculpture, design—it will tell
you a lot about the country without you
ever having to open a textbook!
One of the most exciting periods in
United States history was the period
known as the Westward Expansion in
the nineteenth century. This is the period between the Louisiana Purchase in
1803 and the turn of the twentieth century, when the land mass that constituted the United States grew significantly.
It all started in 1804, when a team of
explorers launched out from St. Louis,
Missouri, with the Corps of Discovery.
The team’s leaders, Meriwether Lewis
and William Clark, were charged by
President Thomas Jefferson with finding
a trade route to the Pacific coast.
1 It was
a turning point in American history, and
along for the journey were some artists
who were there to record the flora, fauna, and topography the travelers would
come across. From that point on, artists
were a key factor in building excitement
and creating awareness of the beautiful
72;May;2012;•;The;Artistic;Homeschooler
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