Sins of Colonialism - Collection 74

This is currently my desktop background image:

"The painting American Progress, which is considered to be historically significant, is considered an important example of American Western Art, since it represents the Manifest Destiny and American westward expansion. This painting, which is 11.50 by 15.75 inches, (29.2 cm × 40.0 cm) was commissioned in 1872 by George Crofutt, a publisher of American Western travel guides and has since been frequently reproduced. The woman in the center is Columbia, the female personification of the United States. On her head is what Crofutt calls "The Star of the Empire." In the painting, Columbia represents progress, which moves from the light-skied East to the dark West, leading settlers who follow her either on foot or by stagecoach, horseback, Conestoga wagon, wagon train, or riding steam trains. Columbia is the figure of progress as she lays a telegraph wire with one hand and carries a school book in the other. On the right side of the painting, in the East, New York City can be seen in the background, while farmers who have settled in the Midwest are featured in the foreground. As Columbia moves westward, indigenous people and a herd of buffalo (bison) flee from her and the settlers who follow.

In the bottom right of the painting, farmers are diligently tilling a field, which shows the Midwest as a developed and colonized region. This symbolizes the migration of settlers from the East to the West. This movement was facilitated by treaties with native tribes, often resulting in the forced relocation of these tribes to smaller reservations with little compensation for their land."