The Chosen People: The Hudson River School and the Construction of American Identity

This article considers nineteenth-century riverscapes of the Hudson in relation to formation American identity. It argues that United States contributed welding a national identity Christian one, although officially identities were distinct. I examine role River School creation ‘wilderness’ as an image homeland, and how this construct incorporated iconic figure Euro-American ‘pilgrim-pioneer.’ America looked more future than past for its narrative, orientation was symbolized art by flow toward distant horizons, while pioneer extended embrace entrepreneur-developer. The has remained nationalism, but is now firmly located nation’s past; Janus’s gaze been adjusted, demonstrating potentially fluid character nationalist discourse.