Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth

Author Henry Nash Smith has written a book which attempts to encapsulate the symbolism and mythology of the American West. Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth, "...traces the impact of the West...on the consciousness of Americans and follows the principal consequences of the impact in literature and social thought...." The work is based on the theory developed by historian Frederick Jackson Turner which states "...that our society has been shaped by the pull of a vacant continent drawing population westward...." Smith continues this study in Virgin Land through three sections (referred to as books): "Passage to India," "The Sons of Leatherstocking," and "The Garden of the World." Virgin Land's premise is that the American West was settled and developed due to the romanticism and heroics written about in eighteenth and nineteenth century poetry, books, and dime novels. Although the term "Manifest Destiny" was not coined until the 1840s, American patriot Benjamin Franklin seized on this concept about eighty years before Andrew Jackson's followers. Throughout the latter half of the eighteenth century, Franklin insisted that North America would eventually become the largest jewel in the British crown of possessions. England would at once not only have the largest empire in the world, but the greatest navy, most favorable trade routes, and a towering economic base from which to rule. Thomas Jefferson, as Secretary of State to President George Washington and as president himself, was an early force in the exploration and development of western areas. Under the guise of scientific exploration, Jefferson commissioned several expeditions. One such event planned by Jefferson while he was ambassador to France was to send a Connecticut traveler named John Ledyard who "...was to go eastward through Siberia to the Pacific Northwest and thence overland across North America to Virginia, but the venture was frustrated by the Empress Catherine [of Russia]." History shows that Jefferson was the president who commissioned Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore much of the western portion of the continent. Spain granted the United States permission to map and chart its own territory because Jefferson assured them it was for scientific purposes for the sake of the fur trade. But Jefferson knew that "...a responsible statesman was not likely to forget that geographical knowledge was a necessary preliminary to economic penetration and eventual political domination." Later it was hoped that there would be a western passage to the far east, specifically "...India, with its associated images of fabulous wealth...." Still later in the early 1800s, when passage to India was not available through the American West, it was discovered that the rich soil was suitable for farming and would bring opportunity and wealth to those who conquered and settled the land. In "The Sons of Leatherstocking," the second section or book within Virgin Land, Smith introdu

An excellent book on several levels. I highly recommend it for all of those interested in American History, Cultural Studies and Sociology.The purpose of this book is to demonstrate the development of the American myth of the "Garden of the World". Smith argues (persuaively) that the idea of the American continent as a garden: fertile, lush and tamed(or tameable), deeply influenced the course of American history.As Leo Marx said in his similarly awesome "The Machine in the Garden", the brillance of this book lies in how Smith demonstrates how ideology drives action (or, alternatively: how ideas drive behavior).Smith divides "Virgin Land" into three parts. Part One "Passage to India" describes the initial path westward and the philosophy of the individuals who pushed for westward expansion (Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Hart Benton, Asa WHitney, William Gilpin and Walt Whitman). By way of a prologue, Smith notes that the idea of "Manifest Destiny" did not develop as soon as the settlers arrived, but rather was developed by American Philosophers and Politicans (and land speculators). In the first Part, Smith describes how the initial push westward was justified via the idea that a passage west would increase trade with the Orient. Smith notes that this idea dervied from 18th century Mercantilist economic theory and was therefore "archaic" (a favorite term of Smith's in this book) from the very beginning.The Second part of the book ("The Sons of Leatherstocking") uses the literary character of Leatherstocking as an entry point for a discussion of the development of the western hero figure in literature.A highlight of the book comes in Chapter Ten when Smith discusses the "Dime Novel Heroine". I found his discussion illuminating.In the third and final part of the book, Smith lays out the characterstics of American Agarianism which would come to define westward expansion after the Civil War. Smith outlines the conflict between Southern Pastoralism and Nort/Western "Yeoman" Agarianism and notes how the Homestead Act was singularly influenced by this second conception of American settlement. He also documents how this same philosophy of agarianism prevented later reform of the Homestead Act even after it became clear to many that the Homestead Act had failed miserably in its goals.Smith also discusses the struggle by authors to develop authentic western "characters" and relates that struggle to the emegerence of the "Garden of the World" symbol.This really isn't the forum to tease out all the different issues presented, thoughtfully, in this classic book. I recommend it highly.

Smith is clearly an academian yet tackles some rather fun topics like Wild Bill Cody and the prototype American spaghetti western plot. Alongside in this book he recounts the many historical perspectives flawed in their historical accounts by the most famous writers of their time through the period of manifest destiny. Lastly, he takes on the romatic images of the homesteaders in a re-worked story of their evolution as pioneers showing the earliest prejudices from the east.