How Did Frederick Jackson Turner Influence The Frontier

In 1893, at the 400th anniversary of the appearance of Columbus in the Americas celebrated in Chicago , Frederick Jackson Turner presented an academic paper entitled, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” In this essay, Turner proposes that, “The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward explain American development.” The group dynamic that Turner champions is the farmer. More directly it is white, male farmers. While the expansion of the west by white male farmers was a factor in the development of America, it is not the only explanation for this progression. Turner fails to incorporate all of the demographics present during this expansion which were essential to the evolution of America.

“The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado” Written by Elliott West. I chose to write about this book because of the large range of events and transitions that occurred throughout the American West that the author includes in the text. Elliot West highlights the struggles that many endured while trying to create better circumstances for not only themselves but also their families by moving to the west. He chronicles the adaptations that many white settlers arriving in the west faced in order to be able to make a living for themselves. But another reason why I found the book interesting was because of the way Elliot West provided perspective for each side of the struggle over the American West. He gives us the

Faragher, Buhle, Cziyron and Armitage ( 2010) note the westward development into the new territories of the United States usually took place in three stages; trade, settlement and statehood. The speed at which this expansion occurred reinforced America's sense of themselves as a pioneering people. This experience worked to create a belief that the United States was a nation of adventurous, optimistic, and democratic people (p. 357).

Frontiersmen have existed throughout America’s history. According to Turner’s hypothesis, they push forwards for civilization and have shaped America. The stories All the Pretty Horses, The Gift of Cochise, and The Martian are all works of frontier literature. Each in their own way show frontiersmen during different times in America’s history with characters that interact with their respective frontiers in different ways. Through these three books one can see how the core interactions between frontiersmen and the frontiers call out the qualities of frontiersmen stated in Turner’s frontier hypothesis.

29) Fredrick J Turner: He developed the “Frontier Thesis” was the settlement of the west. This was the most distinctive and important development in U.S. History.

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

Critics denounce Turner's thesis as being much too ignorant on "economic concerns of past industrial America." Turner was also criticized for removing the natives from his narrative and further ignores alternative motives. Furthermore, the notion of the frontier is also criticized as being environmentally deterministic as people did not being fresh based on ambitions, but were merely victims of their current surroundings. Supporters of Turner's thesis, defend Turner's ideas of the frontier as the opportunity to spawn individualism, democracy, and freedom.

Turner waited until the frontier had been completely gone because his main argument was that the frontier had been influencing Americans for the entire duration of its exploration and settlement. Turner had also argued that the frontier had been the “crucible” for America’s changes and developments (Turner 34). By describing the frontier as a crucible meant that its’ location was where the changes and developments being made transformed the immigrants into a new breed of American solely due to the frontier. However, the land itself did not directly influence the people of the frontier; the land was primarily just the location at which people made their individual

Faragher, John Mack. Re-reading Frederick Jackson Turner: “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”

After reading Turner’s Thesis, it is easy to understand the more important concept of moving the Frontier to the West. He states how we are influenced by the changes the America has to go through. He believes that the

How does Turner explain the recurring need for communication and transportation along the American frontier?

In the beginning the frontier was Atlantic coast. The frontier was Europe in some sort of real sense. While moving towards the west the frontier became more American. Form the frontier being advanced it meant a steady movement away from any influence from Europe, a constant growth of independence in American lines. The only way to study the frontier’s advance, the men who were growing up in the conditions, and the economic, and social results of it, is really the study of American part of our

history focuses on the conquest of new land through westward expansion and global imperialism. Starting with the roots of frontier and building up into a huge network of land and territory evokes a common and national goal among the American people during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Frontier and expansion of the great west allowed for the United States to gain power and work its way up to bigger and better: the world. With so much land to acquire and such a desire to conquer, the United States was able to build its coveted empire, but only with a certain cost. The damages and death brought about by westward expansion and imperialism greatly outweigh the benefits. The United States grew rapidly and was able to spread its culture like wildfire but the territories and nations that were to be civilized were damaged victims. Culture was destroyed and the United States’ reputation was tarnished during this time period. Growing discontent in the county continued to escalate throughout the twentieth century and our country wasn’t united and failed to share a national

"American intellect owes its striking characteristics" which include "strength combined with acuteness and inquisitiveness... that restless nervous energy; that dominant individualism, working for good and for evil...these are traits of the frontier." This excerpt expresses the mere sense of righteousness that the Frontier possessed, and in coming towards the 21st century gave that sense of righteousness towards the American culture. For example, being American is in comparison of being a child, and the Frontier can be initiated as being the father of the concept of being

The emergence of western history as an important field of scholarship started with Frederick Jackson Turner’s (1861-1932) famous essay “The Significance of the Frontier in American history.”[1] This thesis shaped both popular and scholarly views of the West for the next two generations. In his thesis, Turner argued that the West had to be taken seriously. He felt that up to his time there had not been enough research of what he in his essay call “the fundamental, dominating fact in the U.S. history”: the territorial expansion from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. The frontier past was, according to Turner, the best way to describe the distinctive American history and character.