SIGHT - Thinking about Manifest Destiny FOR THIS SIGHT ON MANIFEST DESTINY – Show the slide and explain that this is an example of how teachers can use the SIGHT method to teach about Manifest Destiny. WHAT YOU DO WHEN MAKING A SIGHT - On the first slide, you simply include the title of the power point and the painting, photo, or other image that will be the subject of the SIGHT presentation. You DO NOT include the title of the image.

Manifest Destiny The belief that Euro-Americans had the God-given right to move across North America and in so doing, spread democracy and to conquer anything that got in their way. FOR THIS SIGHT ON MANIFEST DESTINY – Go over the definition and be sure that everyone understands the key vocabulary: Euro-Americans, God-given right, democracy, and conquer. WHAT YOU DO WHEN MAKING A SIGHT – Only include a definitional slide if it is essential to understanding the SIGHT presentation.

SIGHT S Scan for important details I Identify the issue G Guess the artist’s intent or message H Hear the voices T Talk about interpretations FOR THIS SIGHT ON MANIFEST DESTINY – For this painting, explain that we will use the five-step SIGHT process to examine a painting focusing on the topic of Manifest Destiny that was completed during the late 19th Century WHAT YOU DO WHEN MAKING A SIGHT - write down in your own words how you would introduce the SIGHT concept - a new format for learning to understand artistic interpretations of history.

John Gast, 1872 FOR THIS SIGHT ON MANIFEST DESTINY – Do not providethe name of the painting. Explain only that it was painted by John Gast in 1872. WHAT YOU DO WHEN MAKING A SIGHT – Tell them ONLY the name of the artist and the date it was created.

Scan for important details FOR THIS SIGHT ON MANIFEST DESTINY – Go around the room and ask students to SCAN the painting for important details. Discuss what they see. WHAT YOU DO WHEN MAKING A SIGHT –Tell your students that they need to SCAN the painting for important details. Go around the room and see what they observe.

Identify the issue FOR THIS SIGHT ON MANIFEST DESTINY – Ask if they think the purpose of this painting is to IDENTIFY any particular issue. If so, what might that be? Then, explain that you will break up the painting into smaller parts to help them better identify the issue. WHAT YOU DO WHEN MAKING A SIGHT – Ask your students if they can IDENTIFY the issue. Explain that to help them better identify the issue, you are going to break up the painting into particular parts.

FOR THIS SIGHT ON MANIFEST DESTINY – Ask what they think is happening in this particular part of the painting. If they cannot figure out anything, provide them with some clues. For this painting, you might ask “What do these men do for a living? Do you think this was easy work, tilling the soil and getting it ready for crops? Would this be rewarding work? Why or why not?” Would this be the type of work Euro-Americans did? Would it be the type of work Indians did? Why or why not? What does it represent? Is this progress? What is progress? WHAT YOU DO WHEN MAKING A SIGHT – Break the painting down into at least 4 different key parts that will help them understand what is happening. For each part, ask them what is happening. If they cannot figure out anything, provide them with some clues. What is happening?

FOR THIS SIGHT ON MANIFEST DESTINY – Ask what they think is happening in this particular part of the painting. If they cannot figure out anything, provide them with some clues. For this painting, you might ask: What is the importance of two railroads? In what direction are they moving? What do the railroads tell you about westward expansion? Would this be considered progress? By whom? WHAT YOU DO WHEN MAKING A SIGHT – Ask them what is happening in this part of the painting. If they cannot figure out anything, provide them with some clues. What is happening?

FOR THIS SIGHT ON MANIFEST DESTINY – Ask what they think is happening in this particular part of the painting. Who is this? What does she have in her hands? (The Bible and telegraph lines.) How are these symbols of Manifest Destiny? Could this also be interpreted as bringing democracy to the West? WHAT YOU DO WHEN MAKING A SIGHT – Ask students what is happening. If they can’t come up with any ideas, provide them with clues. What is happening?

FOR THIS SIGHT ON MANIFEST DESTINY – Ask what they think is happening in this particular part of the painting. Make sure that students examine the lighting in the painting and that they understand the significance of passing from the light into the dark. Who is in the light and who is in the dark? (Whites are bringing the light – progress, God, democracy – while the Indians flee from progress into the dark, unable to adjust to the shifting tides of history. WHAT YOU DO WHEN MAKING A SIGHT – Ask them what is happening. If they can’t tell you, provide some clues. What is happening?

Guess the artist/author’s intent or message FOR THIS SIGHT ON MANIFEST DESTINY – Ask them to GUESS what the thought the artist wanted them to understand about Manifest Destiny in this painting. Then, after they have had time to interpret, give them information about what you know from the author’s intent. The Indians are fleeing from the covered wagon and the pony express, the overland stage and the three railroad lines. The painting is supposed to convey a vivid sense of the passage of time as well as of the inevitability of technological progress. The Indians who were in the west are being pushed out into the dark while the light of western, Euro-American progress replaces them on the land. The idea of progress coming from the East to the West, and the notion that the frontier would be developed by sequential waves of white people who will bring the advantages of progress to the frontier – God, democracy, technology. WHAT YOU DO WHEN MAKING A SIGHT – Ask them to GUESS what the artist intended the viewer to understand about this painting. Provide some clues if they cannot guess the intent. Guess the artist/author’s intent or message

Hear the voices What do you think the people at the left might be saying? What do you think the people on the right might be saying? FOR THIS SIGHT ON MANIFEST DESTINY – Ask that they try to HEAR the voices of certain people in this portion of the painting. You may need to provide some clues – like, the Indians flee from progress, unable to adjust to the shifting tides of history. So, what might they be saying? And how would their words differ from those pioneers on the right? WHAT YOU DO WHEN MAKING A SIGHT – Ask them to HEAR the voices in the painting – to really think about what they might be saying.

What might this farmer be thinking? FOR THIS SIGHT ON MANIFEST DESTINY – Ask that they try to HEAR the voices of the two farmers in this portion of the painting. How might their words differ from those of the Indians on the previous slide? WHAT YOU DO WHEN MAKING A SIGHT – Ask them to HEAR the voices in the painting – to really think about what they might be saying.

And what might she be thinking? FOR THIS SIGHT ON MANIFEST DESTINY – Ask that they try to HEAR what Lady Liberty might be saying in this portion of the painting. How might her words differ from those of the Indians and the farmers on the previous slides? WHAT YOU DO WHEN MAKING A SIGHT – Ask them to HEAR the voice in the painting – to really think about what she might be saying.

How might their thoughts be the same as or different from those of the other people in the painting? FOR THIS SIGHT ON MANIFEST DESTINY – Ask that they try to HEAR the voices of the people going west on the stage coach and the horseback rider in this portion of the painting. How might their words differ from those of the Indians on the previous slide? WHAT YOU DO WHEN MAKING A SIGHT – Ask them to HEAR the voices in the painting – to really think about what they might be saying.

Talk about interpretations FOR THIS SIGHT ON MANIFEST DESTINY – Ask that they TALK about the interpretation of this painting. Tell them the title of the painting by John Gast, “American Progress.” Then, you want to get into a further discussion about interpretation. In the case of this painting again ask students: What is progress? For whom is this an example of progress? Are all people in the painting experiencing progress? Was westward expansion always progressive? Is progress always progressive? WHAT YOU DO WHEN MAKING A SIGHT – Ask them to TALK about the painting. What does it tell them about the historical period during which the painting was created? What does American Progress tell us about Manifest Destiny?