Thomas Cole's 1838 painting The Oxbow depicts America's westward expansion and manifest destiny through a divided landscape. The left side represents an untamed wilderness and America's past, while the right depicts prosperous fields representing the future of industrialized America. The painting reflects John L. O'Sullivan's concept of manifest destiny and the belief that America was destined to expand westward. It also alludes to the forced removal of Native Americans to make way for white settlement during the era in which it was created.

1. Thomas Cole’s The Oxbow
The Oxbow is a painting of an American landscape by Thomas Cole, completed in 1838,
possibly representing the changing climate of America at the time with the removal of Indians,
westward expansion and the idea of manifest destiny. It has much in common with some of the
themes addressed in John L O’Sullivan’s of writing on manifest destiny, published in 1839.1
These include that America is destined to expand westward as our god given right.2
The composition of the painting is divided by into three major parts: the foreground, and
the left and right backgrounds. In the foreground a gnarled tree displayed very prominently. On
the left hand side of the painting is an untamed wilderness which is dark and forbidding
overshadowed by a thunderstorm. On the right hand side of the painting is a beautiful golden
field, and a vast blue sky. By contrast, the right side of the painting shows an area changed by
man, with lush golden fields that are neatly divided by hedges, as well as farms. The two sides
represent the past and the future: since we read from left to right we associate the wild left hand
side of the painting with America’s past, a past in which settlers were constantly challenged by
the natural environment. The right side represents the future of America where people no longer
simply try to survive, but rather growing wealthy, by making the environment work for them.
This theme is present in the O’Sullivan's writing on manifest destiny. In it, O’Sullivan writes:
“America is destined for better deeds.” 3 O'Sullivan was explaining how America had grown
1
John O'Sullivan, “On Manifest Destiny”, “The Great Nation of Futurity The United States
Democratic Review,” Pgs, 426-430
2
Ibid
3
John O'Sullivan, “On Manifest Destiny”, “The Great Nation of Futurity The United States
Democratic Review,” Pgs, 426-430.

2. from a nation based around farming, to one that was rapidly expanding and producing large
amounts of goods for Europe.
The painting itself may well be a depiction of manifest destiny. With the left hand side,
representing America’s move westward, pushing the remaining parts of America into the future.
America had already settled the eastern seaboard at this point, and was expanding westward. If
the left hand side does represent the unknown West, then does conform to O’Sullivan’s ideas.
O’Sullivan believed that the West was “an untrodden space", and as a place of promise, for
people to escape and forge their own destiny.[3]
Their are people visible in the painting, but are difficult to spot unless your look closely.
A person is visible in the immediate foreground where we can see an artist, possibly Thomas
Cole, painting the very landscape we are looking at. We also see several farmers in the fields on
the right hand side of the painting.
The storm on the left hand side of the painting hints at a great tragedy unfolding in
America at this time. The removal of Native Americans occurred around when Cole painted the
Oxbow. The storm may represent how Americans removed natives in order to use the land they
once held for their own purposes, though this is probably a modern reading. It is more likely that
Cole, a white man living in the early 19th century, was depicting the constant dangers the
American population faced from natives and the need to remove them. Manifest destiny was
used in justifying the removal of the native population in order white people to use the land.
O’Sullivan writes: “We are entering on its untrodden space, with the truths of God in our mind.”.
The Oxbow painting shows two different Americas: the one on the left is the idea of a
wild land that the country is trying to escape, and on the right is the industrious America we want

3. to be known as. America was founded in an attempt to rid itself of oppression from either
monarchs, or other oppressive regimes. O’Sullivan says “victims to emperors, kings, nobles.”[4]
O‘Sullivan shows how with America expanding westward and spread the idea of hard work and
improvement across the whole of the continent.
When the Oxbow was painted America was undergoing many changes as a country, one
of which was indian removal. Indian removal was not a new concept in America, but the 1830s
was the first time that large scale removal occurred. Many tribes were forcibly removed by
either soldiers or state militias and forced to move to to completely different environments than
what they were used to. These tribes usually suffered greatly, especially among the youngest
and oldest members who usually died.4 The Indian removal act was signed into legislation by
President Jackson six years before the Oxbow was completed, in 1833 with Cole's painting
showing the progress of civilised America replacing the receding Indian influence.
Many Americans at this time were moving westward to improve their lives. The idea of
manifest destiny, and westward expansion were prominent in America’s mind at the time. Many
citizens who would be unable to own land on the eastern seaboard due to the large population
and cost decided to move west to be able to provide for themselves and their families more easily
than they would have been on a city on the eastern seaboard.5 The idea of manifest destiny was
coined by John O’Sullivan, describing it as America's god-given duty to expand democracy and
our own ideals beyond what was currently considered settled America.6
4
Lauren Brown, “The American Past I Jacksonian Democracy”, Marymount Manhattan College, Fall
Semester, 2015.
5
Lauren Brown, “The American Past I Jacksonian Democracy”, Marymount Manhattan College, Fall
Semester, 2015.
6 Ibid

4. The Oxbow by Thomas Cole has a great deal of symbolism in it. The landscape has
shows a great deal of what America holds dear from the idea of pursuing your goals, and
improving you life by using what you have been given. America was using the idea of manifest
destiny to encourage expansion, into the western areas of the country. The country was also
attempting to move beyond the idea that it was a farming country, but one that was able to
produce good for countries in Europe. The Oxbow is a painting that tells a story of westward
expansion and manifest destiny.

5. Thesis | Unclear – you’re too vague in that sentence on the first page. fixed
Organization | Needs to be stronger. You talk about the painting in every paragraph. Do you see
how the logic development would be clearer if you discussed the painting in two or three
paragraphs, then one paragraph dedicated to O’Sullivan, and one paragraph dedicated to Indian
removal?
Analysis | All good ideas, but the Indian removal needs to be flushed out further. And cited?
You mention it briefly but could provide a much more thorough explanation. Also, the image
needs to be cited throughout.
Writing | Please review footnote forms AND needed another proofread. Also, be on the lookout
for shorter sentences which you could edit down and combine.
Good work, but more if revising this essay! B
[1]
[2] John O'Sullivan, “On Manifest Destiny”, “The Great Nation of Futurity The United States
Democratic Review,” Pgs, 426-430.
[3] Ibid.
[4] John O'Sullivan,“On Manifest Destiny”, “The Great Nation of Futurity, The United States
Democratic Review,” Pgs, 426-430.
[LB1]What does it have in common?

6. What themes?
Too vague.
[LB2]Citations?
[LB3]Why was O’Sullivan writing this?
[LB4]This slightly contradicts your left = past earlier point.
[LB5]Passive voice.
[LB6]Citation? More info?