Old America seems to be breaking up and moving Westward . . . —an English immigrant, 1817, Panel 30, 1956, Inscription: Wagon West, Jacob Lawrence, from Struggle: From the History of the American People, 1954–56, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University, gift of Dr. Herbert Kayden and family in memory of Dr. Gabrielle H. Reem, 2013.96, © 2019 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
English Quaker and abolitionist Morris Birbeck published a pamphlet in 1817 that contained this passage describing his westward trek across early America. Birbeck dreamed of a utopian community that would improve the lives of the downtrodden and expand the boundaries of freedom to all people.
This picture is from one of Lawrence’s source books. Two figures on horseback lead a covered wagon caravan, while Native people in the bottom right corner of the composition either face or turn their backs to the brigade. Unlike Lawrence’s painting, which does not depict people, this picture signifies the weight of sacrifice, deprivation, isolation, and hardship endured by those pushing west.