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A voice of one calling:In the desert preparethe way for the LORD;make straight in the wildernessa 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 Ideathe concept of the /est as a promisedland! .his is not the /est& of /estern 0ivili1ation! It is the /est as the empty land of thenew 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 thesea #eyond the straits! One reek e4plorer$ 5ytheas$ traveled #eyond i#raltar to reach whatis now reat 6ritain$ #efore going further to the 6altic!

In the 7iking era$ travelers went west to discover Iceland and later reenland! /estern8ourneys and the western lands were the setting for many history sagas$ including suchwestern lands as "ngland$ Ireland$ and the Orkneys! .hey also created a western setting forthe 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$ heroicsettlers 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! .hiswas 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 richmi4 of human emotions from love$ loyalty$ and honor to #etrayal$ vengeance$ and frontier8ustice! .he land seemed to magnify human #eings rather than diminish them as they act outtheir 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 wasconvinced 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 newworld to the "uropean imagination$ with different cultures seeing and imagining this newworld 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 -amestown$ 7irginia! .he 6ermudashipwreck of "nglish colonists headed for 7irginia was part of 3hakespeare9s inspiration for.he .empest$ written in -

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.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 willcommand 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 thatthe God of "srael is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our

enemies# when He shall ma$e us a praise and glory that men shall say of succeedingplantations, %may the Lord ma$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 inthe wilderness!

e asserted that od would govern this civili1ation through a new chosen people whom hewould #less$ ordaining 6ritish @orth Americans as the creators of a @ew ion! /inthrop also

stated an idea that would$ in time$ lead to the theory of American e4ceptionalism #y claiming

that the @ew ion E "uropeans in America E would fulfill the destiny a#andoned #y the Oldion and relinBuished #y "urope itself!

%or /inthrop$ the #lessings of this @ew ion included a special relationship with od! .his specialrelationship 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 ion$ 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 wasa 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 nion Address$ >ames 2onroe defined the @ew /orld as a purelyAmerican 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 forthe Americas and 'urope, non+coloniation, and non+intervention!& 2onroe intended tosignal a clear difference #etween the fledgling democracy of the nited 3tates$ a nation wherethe people governed their own destiny as citi1ens$ in contrast with "uropean monarchieswhere autarchs$ aristocrats$ and oligarchs governed su#8ects!

.wo centuries after /inthrop proclaimed the @ew ion$ Andrew >ackson9s populist wing ofthe Democratic 5arty echoed his claim to demand ownership of the entire continent! .he ideaof a single nation divinely ordained to span the @orth American continent #lossomed as anovert ideology during the >ackson administration G-,H'-*=!-, 0f: Isaiah ():*'+!

.he notion of a divine mandate would come to #e called manifest destiny! 6y the late -*)s$the doctrine of manifest destiny emerged to provide an ideological foundation for the greatera of /estern e4pansion! @ewspaper editor >ohn L! O93ullivan coined the term in an -(+newspaper editorial$ writing of !!!! the right of our manifest destiny to over spread and topossess the whole of the continent which -rovidence has given us for the development of thegreat e.periment of liberty and federative development of self government entrusted to us "tis right such as that of the tree to the space of air and the earth suitable for the full e.pansionof its principle and destiny of growth!& -= /hile the term was #orn in -(+$ O93ullivan andothers like him had long proclaimed the idea of America9s great futurity$& writing ofAmerica9s destiny as manifest and given! -

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.his appeal to destiny 8ustified the wars and #elligerent policies that anne4ed .e4as into thenited 3tates along with other formerly 2e4ican possessions in -(! .his land comprisesmuch of what #ecame the /estern nited 3tates$ including 0alifornia$ @evada$ and tah$ aswell as parts of what would #ecome Ari1ona$ @ew 2e4ico$ 0olorado$ and /yoming!

.he nited 3tates #egan with a spirit of self'reliance and disengagement from foreignpolitical affairs$ especially "uropean affairs! .he first great /estern addition to the originalthirteen states and the original @orthwest .erritory -H took place in -)* with the Louisiana5urchase! 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 growingAmerican 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 statesthat later generations would identify with the /estern genre: 2issouri$ Arkansas$ Iowa$ @orthDakota$ 3outh Dakota$ @e#raska$ and Oklahoma; in addition$ the area included most of theland in Jansas$ 0olorado$ /yoming$ 2ontana$ and 2innesota!/hile deep cultural forces were at work$ popular culture also played a part in the way that theyoung nation understood itself! .he dime novel first #lossomed in this era$ #eginning as aform of popular entertainment! It soon #ecame the first great medium for the typicallycommercial /estern! ,) .he themes linked to the @ew ion and to manifest destiny are largerstill$ 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#lishedthe physical #oundaries of the nited 3tates in the era 8ust #efore the American 0ivil /ar!.his was the anne4ation of the Oregon .erritory in -(

to define America9s vision of its /estern frontier! .he comple4 relations of character and conte4t in thesenovels 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 5uritanssought to integrate religion in every aspect of their living! .hey sought a sense of wholenessand authenticity at the same time that they divided the world #etween the saved and thedamned!

5uritan 0alvinism uniformly favored civili1ed values and the 0alvinist doctrine! .he 5uritans#elieved in human depravity$ unconditional election of the saved$ particular redemption$ thedoctrine known as the perseverance of saints$& meaning that anyone chosen #y od forsalvation will #e saved!a su#tle and comple4 relationship #etween civili1ation and the uncivili1ed! /ilderness and freedom signifyod9s 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 representhumankind at work$ repeatedly choosing human goals over and against divine law! 0hurches and schoolsrepresent man9s ways! od speaks in the open$ wild places! enry David .horeau$ erman2elville$ 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 greaterthan tradition! e argued that overturning tradition is the duty of true men! /herever a mancomes$& he wrote$ 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 thewonderworker! e is seen amid miracles!&

.his rhetoric took root among the proponents of individual li#erty and personal conscience who shapedthe nited 3tates as a nation where church and state were separate! Along with the missionary causeand the repeated waves of revival and awakening that swept @orth America since the first reatAwakening of the -=()s$ this theology would influence the idea of the /est! ,=

, 0hanning$ /illiam "llery! --H! nitarian 0hristianity! Delivered at the Ordination of Rev! >ared

.he early themes of what would #ecome the /estern genre took on political importancewhen they 8oined the doctrine of American e4ceptionalism in American politics! .hey appear

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in eorge /ashington9s farewell address$ in the 2onroe Doctrine of the @ew /orld as apurely American sphere of interest$ and E even more to the point E in A#raham Lincoln9s-