The Elusive Northwest Passage

During the Romantic Era in the United States, the previous rationale of uniting the country and correcting domestic affairs was transitioned towards westward expansion and nature; making the exemplary American a man of the frontier. The United States was no longer content with its success of the American Revolution, and sought to expand its country. In 1803, Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from the French for merely pennies per acre. The Louisiana Purchase was the start of romanticism because it enabled settlers to explore the untamed west. The new western frontier transcended Americans towards embracing nature and began the shift away from the fundamental truths of the rational era. Correspondingly, the exploratory zeitgeist influenced Jefferson to create the Corps of Discovery in 1804, which was an expedition team led by Lewis and Clarke in search for the elusive Northwest Passage. The …show more content…
It lives too fast” (Thoreau 749). Thoreau writes this with the intention to criticize the past beliefs of the rationale era and all of the internal affairs that occurred. Hence, Thoreau wants to minimize industry with an emphasis on living off essentials in order to create new frontiers through natural beauty. However, another reaction to the age of Romanticism was the emotion of nostalgia, with a constant and continual praise of nature and the frontier. These ideals are displayed in Albert Bierstadt’s painting Emigrants Crossing the Plains (1867) where settlers are depicted moving towards the west into a large horizon. Bierstadt captures the passion towards moving west and the amount of untouched wilderness in order to establish a longing of the Romantic era. Since this painting was after the civil war and during industrialization, it reflects on the glory of past times. Ultimately, the Romantic era in the United States resembled a switch from constructing and uniting a nation to embracing and emphasizing the nature in the surroundings to embody the