In high school, in the Midwest, I learned about the concept of Manifest Destiny.
This was the idea that White Americans were ordained, by God, to settle the entire continent “from sea to shining sea.”
The concept of Manifest Destiny was tied in with the idea of “American Exceptionalism,” the genocide of indigenous people, and the rejection of Native American rights.
Since Mount Rushmore was imagined by its’ sculptor (Gutzon Borghum) as about the expansion of America, one way to think about it is as a shrine to Manifest Destiny.
This was the idea that White Americans were ordained, by God, to settle the entire continent “from sea to shining sea.”
The concept of Manifest Destiny was tied in with the idea of “American Exceptionalism,” the genocide of indigenous people, and the rejection of Native American rights.
Since Mount Rushmore was imagined by its’ sculptor (Gutzon Borghum) as about the expansion of America, one way to think about it is as a shrine to Manifest Destiny.
Originally, Red Cloud was going to be immortalized on another North Dakota mountain.
Instead, Mount Rushmore was built by sculptor Gutzon Borghum.
Borghum was a proponent of nativism who believed in strict controls on immigration.
Honoring U.S. presidents was NOT the original concept for building a giant monument in North Dakota.
Moreover, the four presidents weren’t selected based on their thoughts on Democracy.
According to an article “75 Surprising Facts About Mount Rushmore” (by Dylan Mancy), the original idea was to sculpt images of “Oglala Lakota leader Red Cloud, explorers Lewis and Clark, and Buffalo Bill Cody.”
This concept would have made it a monument to both Native Americans, and to U.S. expansion—an exceedingly contrary proposal indeed!
However, it would have been more in harmony with what the Lakota (also known as the Teton Sioux) called Mount Rushmore.
The Lakota called Rushmore the “Six Grandfathers.”
Moreover, the four presidents weren’t selected based on their thoughts on Democracy.
According to an article “75 Surprising Facts About Mount Rushmore” (by Dylan Mancy), the original idea was to sculpt images of “Oglala Lakota leader Red Cloud, explorers Lewis and Clark, and Buffalo Bill Cody.”
This concept would have made it a monument to both Native Americans, and to U.S. expansion—an exceedingly contrary proposal indeed!
However, it would have been more in harmony with what the Lakota (also known as the Teton Sioux) called Mount Rushmore.
The Lakota called Rushmore the “Six Grandfathers.”
As far as I can tell, the main person who selected the four presidents for Mount Rushmore was the sculptor, Gutzon Borghum.
His idea was to pay homage to presidents who had contributed greatly to the “founding, expansion, preservation, and unification of the country.”
George Washington represented the founding.
Thomas Jefferson represented expansion—through the Louisiana Purchase.
Teddy Roosevelt represented preservation and economic growth.
Finally, Abraham Lincoln represented unification.
His idea was to pay homage to presidents who had contributed greatly to the “founding, expansion, preservation, and unification of the country.”
George Washington represented the founding.
Thomas Jefferson represented expansion—through the Louisiana Purchase.
Teddy Roosevelt represented preservation and economic growth.
Finally, Abraham Lincoln represented unification.
In Alfred Hitchcock: The Legacy of Victorianism, Paula Marantz Cohen, discusses how the chase in 1959’s North by Northwest (starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint) “dramatizes the puny but heroic efforts of individuals to stand up against institutional pressures.”
It’s interesting that President James K. Polk is not immortalized on Mount Rushmore, especially since Polk was the president most closely allied with U.S. expansion.
However, Teddy Roosevelt was associated with the West as a naturalist, hunter, and conservationist; helped build the Panama Canal; as well as a close personal friend of the sculptor.
However, Teddy Roosevelt was associated with the West as a naturalist, hunter, and conservationist; helped build the Panama Canal; as well as a close personal friend of the sculptor.
Another interesting fact (that I learned in “75 Surprising Facts About Mount Rushmore”) was that Mount Rushmore was named after Mr. Charles E. Rushmore—an obscure New York lawyer who surveyed gold claims in North Dakota, in 1885.
(His guides incorrectly assumed that the mountain had no name.)
How odd to name such a large mountain after such a minor official!
(His guides incorrectly assumed that the mountain had no name.)
How odd to name such a large mountain after such a minor official!
Sculptor Gutzon Borgham,* the creator of Mount Rushmore, was born in 1867, in the Idaho Territory.
His father immigrated from Denmark and his mother was the child of Danish immigrants.
According to Wikipedia, Borgham was a child of Morman polygamy.
At one time, his father (Jen) was married to both Borgham’s mother (Christina), and to her sister Ida.
(However, Jen Borgham eventually divorced Gutzon’s mother, stayed with Ida, and left the Morman Church.)
His father immigrated from Denmark and his mother was the child of Danish immigrants.
According to Wikipedia, Borgham was a child of Morman polygamy.
At one time, his father (Jen) was married to both Borgham’s mother (Christina), and to her sister Ida.
(However, Jen Borgham eventually divorced Gutzon’s mother, stayed with Ida, and left the Morman Church.)
In 2004’s Team America: World Police, the counter-terrorism force (Team America) used Mount Rushmore as a home base.
After attending preparatory schools in Kansas and Nebraska, Borgham moved to New York City where he sculpted religious figures for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
By age 40, one of his sculptures was accepted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and he was on his way to success and fame.
Over the years, Borgham became more and more fascinated with themes of American patriotism and heroic nationalism.
By age 40, one of his sculptures was accepted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and he was on his way to success and fame.
Over the years, Borgham became more and more fascinated with themes of American patriotism and heroic nationalism.
Now we come to the subjects of nationalism and nativism.
Nativism is a belief system in which “non-natives” are threatening, and only the “true natives” in a country are considered acceptable citizens.
This idea might seem an odd concept in a “melting pot” land in which everyone is an immigrant or descended from immigrants—except, of course, Native Americans.
However, somehow many White Northern European Protestants have come to assume that only they are “true Americans,” and everyone else is an unfit interloper.
Nativism is a belief system in which “non-natives” are threatening, and only the “true natives” in a country are considered acceptable citizens.
This idea might seem an odd concept in a “melting pot” land in which everyone is an immigrant or descended from immigrants—except, of course, Native Americans.
However, somehow many White Northern European Protestants have come to assume that only they are “true Americans,” and everyone else is an unfit interloper.
Imagining only people of Northern European heritage, as “real” Americans doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Between 3.8 to 7 million Native Americans lived in North America before the arrival of Columbus.
The ancestors of Black Americans were kidnapped, and forcibly kept here as slaves, beginning in 1640.
Their labor made millions for their captors.
Immigrants have toiled on U.S. soil from all over the world.
Between 3.8 to 7 million Native Americans lived in North America before the arrival of Columbus.
The ancestors of Black Americans were kidnapped, and forcibly kept here as slaves, beginning in 1640.
Their labor made millions for their captors.
Immigrants have toiled on U.S. soil from all over the world.
Chinese men built the railroads.
The ancestors of people of Hispanic descent (like Eva Longoria) raised cattle, and grew crops, on the Northern side of the Rio Grande long before the U.S. was a country.
Yet, somehow indigenous peoples, Black people, Southern European people, Jews, and Catholics are considered “non-natives?”
How does that work?
The ancestors of people of Hispanic descent (like Eva Longoria) raised cattle, and grew crops, on the Northern side of the Rio Grande long before the U.S. was a country.
Yet, somehow indigenous peoples, Black people, Southern European people, Jews, and Catholics are considered “non-natives?”
How does that work?
Front page of the Treasure Chest comic book story “The Shrine of Democracy.”
Instead of portraying Mount Rushmore as a shrine to nativism, this story portrayed the monument as a shrine to Democracy.
Today, Mount Rushmore is known as a monument to a system of government and to great presidents.
On June 14, 2023, a Naturalization ceremony was held in which more than 200 citizens from over 60 countries were welcomed.
The Mount Rushmore site has links for 21 associated Native American tribal nations, and proclaims that the Federal Government consults and coordinates with those tribal nations.
One wonders how Gutzon Borghum would have reacted to this turn around.
On June 14, 2023, a Naturalization ceremony was held in which more than 200 citizens from over 60 countries were welcomed.
The Mount Rushmore site has links for 21 associated Native American tribal nations, and proclaims that the Federal Government consults and coordinates with those tribal nations.
One wonders how Gutzon Borghum would have reacted to this turn around.
* Twelve years before Borgum worked on Mount Rushmore, he created mock-ups for Stone Mountain in Georgia. A 38-minute documentary Monument: the Untold Story of Stone Mountain (by the Atlantic History Museum), covers Borghum being fired from that project, as well as Stone Mountain’s history with the KKK. (You can watch the complete video HERE.)
