Patricia Nelson's The New Western West

There are many ways in which we can view the history of the American West. One view is the popular story of Cowboys and Indians. It is a grand story filled with adventure, excitement and gold. Another perspective is one of the Native Plains Indians and the rich histories that spanned thousands of years before white discovery and settlement. Elliot West’s book, Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers and the Rush to Colorado, offers a view into both of these worlds. West shows how the histories of both nations intertwine, relate and clash all while dealing with complex geological and environmental challenges. West argues that an understanding of the settling of the Great Plains must come from a deeper understanding, a more thorough

Patricia Nelson Limerick describes the frontier as being a place of where racial tension predominately exists. In her essay, “The Frontier as a Place of Ethnic and Religion Conflict,” Limerick says that the frontier wasn’t the place where everyone got to escape from their problems from previous locations before; instead she suggested that it was the place in which we all met. The frontier gave many the opportunities to find a better life from all over the world. But because this chance for a new life attracted millions of people from different countries across the seas, the United States experienced an influx of immigrants. Since the east was already preoccupied by settlers, the west was available to new settlement and that

The American frontier was a vast area of free land. The dividing line of the frontier was a boundary line that was continuously moving farther and farther west with each generation. It’s the frontier, and subsequently its boundaries, that determined the path of history more than other events. As the expansion of the west continued the attractions and conveniences of things were farther apart, yet the reward of moving westward reaped its benefits in the ways that each and every person had a chance to make their future and had the west as a blank canvas..

Frederick Jackson Turner wrote the book “The Significance of the Frontier on American History”. The book’s basis was about his idea that American people created their own lifestyle. Until this time, most people believed that the way that America was was because when people founded the country, they brought their ways of life from Europe. Turner turned the U.S. on it’s head when he expressed that how Americans lived was from their own trial and error. As America expanded toward the West, they did not have any knowledge about the land. They didn't know how to live on it or farm it so they learned what worked and what did not. They didn't use any methods from other countries. They explored the land on their own. For example, If a boat shipwrecked on a desolate island, the people would not know anything about the land and there would be no one there to teach them. They would begin a new way of life. They would have to pick teams to do daily tasks and they would have to write

One of the most famous arguments made in the world of environmental history was sparked by Frederick Jackson Turner in his essay, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”. In his essay that came to be known as the Frontier/ Turner Thesis, he claimed that modern American culture and innovations had been developed by the growth of America into the western frontier. The migration of Americans to the western frontier originated through their desire for adventure as well as fertile and cheap land that was open for the taking. The frontier promised possibilities of expanding new markets in an unclaimed portion of the country. There are, however, several critics of the thesis, such as George Pierson, who disagree with Turner as to the

In the 19th century the Westward Expansion had been the common theme of American History. Fredrick Jackson Turner commented that, on the western frontier the distinctive qualities were forged. He also added that the West was a “safety valve”. The ideal was to win the Independence so the Western part of the country could open up, allowing settlers to move in.

The west is a vast of lands west of the Mississippi river. Before white people came to the land, it was inhabited for centuries by tanned skinned Native Americans whose ways of living are far different from the foreign people. For centuries big colonial empires tried various ways to claim the west until it became a part of United States of America. However, many Natives sacrificed their lives to protect their land, yet in the end their arrows cannot match the power of the foreigner 's guns and cannons. The west is not only abundant in terms of resources, but also in folklore, history, and became the birth of the modern American culture. Furthermore, PBS provided a helpful links in order to understand and appreciate the stories about the stories about how the west became the frontier of United States. These links are "The People" and "Empire upon the Trails" which gave some interesting facts about the beginning of the West.

Many assumptions have been made about what the ‘West’ was really like, mostly suggesting that it was some amazing time period when guys might save a damsel in distress. “Don’t you think we spend too much time mythologizing the west? I mean look at how it was. Dirty, violent, & illiterate. It wasn’t an age for heroes, that’s for sure.” (Alexie 224) This quote explains exactly how people who were alive then might have described that time period. It refers to the stereotyping of the west, and how some people glorified it as a land of heroes, but it was not. Sherman Alexie highlighted all the stereotypes, made it clear who brought them about, and discussed how the Natives were represented in the eyes of the white man. The whites believed that the

John Quincy Adams, a president towards the time of the Westward Expansion, said that “If [one’s]actions inspire others dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, [one] [is] a leader.” Although constantly changing issues that faced the entire American public have always caused a constant fluctuation of the definition of being an ‘American’, the Western Expansion has always had one of the largest significances in the history of the United States. Some of the greatest leaders and Americans were those who ensured many members of the American public that the West was fit for settling. Their leadership even extended so much that it caused those settlers to picture the West the same way that other nations pictured America later in time: As

The source that is the most exemplary of my analysis of the west being on the periphery while dealing with central issues, is the film “Dead Man.” In, “Dead Man,” the main character named William Blake, portrayed by Johnny Depp, is an Easterner, from Cleveland, that goes out West to a fictional city of Machine. The town of Machine is a factory town, and by the standards of most of the books we read this semester, would be considered an industrialized or settled area. Blake moves out to this area believing that this town is a part of settled society. Once he arrives he finds that this cannot be further from the truth. While industrialization occurs and free contract labor is the norm in this city. Order does not exist in the manner that it does

The western represents a theme of conflict between the order of civilization and the chaotic nature of new frontiers. This theme seems to come from the conflicts that often dominate westerns and the idea of the west.

To begin with right away we can see the difference between the East and the West just by the setting. The East has a naturalistic/mythical culture, most of the novel takes place in the East, which is as dark and unusual “Then, far off in the distance, from the mountains on each side of us began a louder and a sharper howling, that of wolves, which affected both the horses and myself in the same way.”(12), Harker is also amazed at the “courtyard of a vast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no ray of light, and whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the sky”(13). In contrast, the West has a scientific/philosophical culture. The West is described as, splendid “western of splendid bridges over the Danube, which is here of noble width and depth, took us among the traditions of Turkish rule”(2). These quotes consider the scenic differences and add a deeper meaning to the

The West has many symbolic elements to represent it’s iconic culture. Many of the common themes of the West that pop into people’s mind are cowboys, the trails, the dry deserts and farming and so on. Although many of the stereotypical icons may be true, I seek more of an illustration of the West being a “green” culture. When I think of the West, I can only picture the trees surroundings and the shadows they cast over the roads, or the rivers and mountains that protect and look for the sacred lands. One of the biggest accomplishments the West provided was the resources opportunities for people to embrace the outside nature and appreciate the past ancestors and era that built the foundation of the land. Additionally, the West has fair climate

Over the years, many very intelligent people have debated on what exactly the “West” is and whether or not western civilization should be studied. Is it simply a direction, or is it a way of thinking or life? Why is the idea of western civilization idealized in countries such as the United States? The west as a direction depends on where you are in the world, because the world is round. So the direction of west is relative. Over the years where the west is has changed based on global issues. Deciding where the west was, was also based off of where the east was. Today the idea of the west is mostly associated with countries that are world powers or the developed world. This is the idea of the “West” as opposed to the idea of the “East” which is now referred to as third world countries. I agree with Keagan, American students should study Western Civilization because of the impact it has had on why we think about the world the way that we, as Americans, do, and also because of the historical impact and the way it has shaped the United States.

First, I agree that the Western civilization has a clear lineage that focuses on the majority of the following attributes: competition/innovation, science, property rights, personal freedoms, and a free-market economy. Ferguson (2014) points out that competition, property oriented government and science are some of the unique attributes that enabled the West rise to power. As a result of competition, the western people became more innovative and business-oriented, thus, making them aggressive in areas