Prairies are habitats and landscapes characterized by their expansive, open spaces that are generally flat and covered in grasses. According to National Geographic,

When people talk about the prairie, they are usually referring to the golden, wheat-covered land in the middle of North America. The Great Plains, in the United States and Canada, has some of the world's most valuable prairies, which grow some of the world’s most important crops (Rutledge, Kim et al. "Prairie." National Geographic, 22 May 2022).

The identification of prairies with North America, specifically with the middle portion of the United States, connects it with American national identity. This national identity also links with the movement of settlers in the early-/mid-1800s westward across the new territories to begin new lives for themselves and their families as part of Manifest Destiny. In this sense, prairies came to represent freedom, opportunity, and the achievement of the overall American Dream. Prairies were the sustenance for these settlers, providing resources they could develop through their perseverance and industriousness. In his article “The Prairie as Perennial Symbol,” Tom Scanlan highlights how prairies on the one hand are “celebrated as the heartland of American democratic vitality and productivity” while on the other hand they have also historically been seen as “barren and boring, a cultural desert” (Scanlan, Tom.