A dramatic shift in tone in the final letter of J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur's Letters from an American Farmer reveals Farmer James' conflicting attitudes about an independent America. When the letters are juxtaposed with a Western myth of origin such as Virgil's Aeneid, it becomes clear that Crèvecoeur is forcing his narrating persona to repeat a pattern of civilization – destruction, renewal – on which all of Western civilization is based. The sudden pessimism that erupts in the penultimate "Distresses of a Frontier Man" is symptomatic of James' anxiety about the American Revolution and the resulting disruption in his bucolic way of life.

19th century America is shaped greatly by territorial expansion into NativeAmerican lands. A famous painting which represents this process is called AmericanProgress by John Gast. This study argues that the display of power between the settlersand the Native Americans in the painting mirrors the dominant discourse on 19th centurywestward expansion. So, the analysis is concerned with how the settlers are constructed,how the Natives are displayed and how this results in a power hierarchy. These findingsare then compared to 19th century discourse on the westward movement. The analysis isguided by the methodological tool of Foucauldian discourse analysis. The analytical stepsare informed by the two American Studies scholars Angela Miller and Martin Christadler.The research is based on pragmatism with a leaning towards constructivism. This studyfinds that American Progress contrasts civilisation and nature in similar ways as thisdichotomy is established in the discourse of the 19th century. Westward expansion in thepainting and in 19th century discourse is justified by constructing the Natives as godlessand the settlers as godly. The difference in brightness in American Progress supports thedichotomies of civilisation and nature as well as godliness and godlessness.