Study for "The Freshet" 1857

William Tylee Ranney made this drawing in preparation for his painting "The Freshet". "The Freshet" depicts a group of pioneers stranded by a flood. It speaks to the social conditions of the time. Ranney made a career out of idealized images of the Western frontier in the United States in the middle of the 19th century. During this period the concept of "Manifest Destiny" was at its peak. Settlers believed they were divinely entitled to occupy the land, regardless of who was already living there. Ranney's painting embodies these beliefs about westward expansion. The image creates a scene of white settlers as innocent victims of nature who are bravely enduring hardship. A historian can look at these images as reflections of period attitudes. We can find popular prints, newspaper articles, and literature from the time that reflect the same ideas. Seen in this light, art such as Ranney's can tell us a lot about the social and institutional context of its time.