Great Salt Lake, Utah

This print from Currier & Ives of Great Salt Lake in Utah shows the extent of which modernisation occurred. Although the print does not have a date on it, it is clear that Utah is a prime example of the type of towns that were created through this process. As it is on the West Coast, Utah would have been one of the last states to be modernised, although the forest and mountainous surroundings demonstrate how some remnants of the simplistic past were there as reminders as to where they have come from; both literally (due to their movement West) and mentally (from how it was before the modernisation).

The sheer number of houses in the town compared to the small scattering that would have been there previously, demonstrates the reason for modernisation that took place across America. The reason for modernisation was to create a powerful country full of opportunity and many Americans flocked across the country following the modernisation, in order to give themselves more opportunities and a new lifestyle that provided work and wealth. This new America was the foundation of the power that it would contribute to the world.