Natalie Merchant, singer of “Gold Rush Brides” mentioned various aspects of American History situating around Westward Expansion in her lyrics. “The land was free and the price was right.” In this line there’s a reference to the Homestead Act which allowed Americans to put in a claim for free acres of federal land by encouraging westward migration. “The Price was right” referred to the small filing fee that the Homesteaders had to pay. “I see indians that crawl through this mural that recalls our history.” This line referred to the Plain Indians that were victimized and atrociously treated by the figureheads of the federal government. It was also stated that these lands were obtained by wars and “treaties” that often led to bloody conflicts and positions. The word “crawl” would ultimately represent the many endeavors and struggles that these Indians faced. …show more content…
Savery was intimately related to this expansion, in the sense that slaves wanted freedom. Land basically guaranteed freedom because during this century land was acutely recognized as “power.” However, slavery during this period was not utterly abolished. “The connection of slavery and American growth was really sort of ignored. In other words, people would talk about the expansion of the "Empire of Liberty" and never quite mention that millions of people in this "Empire of Liberty" were slaves.” (Foner) Slavery was a pivotal factor in Westward Expansion, yet these slaves were completely neglected. In “Gold Rush Brides” one line states “Do their works survive their yellow fever lives in the pages they wrote?” Basically, Natalie Merchant questions if the labor of the slaves were acknowledged, “Do their works survive?”, because they had a crucial role in