The Pursuit Of The American Identity Essay

To what extent had the colonists developed a sense of their identity and unity as Americans by the eve of the Revolution?

The Frontier Thesis may play a heavy part in U.S. history, but there are implications for truly understanding the outlines of this thesis. Fredrick Jackson Tuner during a great meeting of American Historical Association on July 12th, 1893 in Chicago, a paper named “The Significance of the Frontier in American History.” This paper introduced an innovative way of astonishment to understanding the construction of America. Turner envisioned that the history of America was not focused one the prominence of the Frontier and the America established many trades and accomplishments from this voyage. Such as Tuner laid out the foundation of his thesis, he also didn’t account for the flaws that were overlooked from his discernment of the Frontier. (Tuner, pg. 1-9)

Throughout history society has to go through many changes that not only affect many of the people but also the areas around the transformation. The main point of Fredrick Jackson Turner’s thesis is what the real essence of America is, and how we’re all influenced by the many changes we have to go through. He believes that American history should not be focused on the extension of European enterprise. The society will have to realize that America will have to be emancipated because of the fact that we had a country with an unlimited amount of boundaries and have to come to realization that we have many closed-spaced limits. The views in the seminal essay share his thoughts on the idea of how the frontier shaped

As the 19th century closes, the west held the reputation of mythical proportion and defined the United States’ identity during the gilded age. Promises and dreams of having free land, your own freedom, and wealth for all people infatuate the nation and those who hear of the frontier; these myths created a “golden gilding “ which masks the actual turmoil and issues in the United States. In 1863, historian, Frederick Jackson Turner lectured, “‘The Significance of the Frontier in American History,’ in which he argued that on the western frontier the distinctive qualities of American culture were forged: individual freedom, political democracy, and economic mobility.” These tall tales created in the country a drive to push and inhabit the west

"The Frontier in American History" was one of the most famous essays by Frederick Turner in the nineteenth century. In this essay, Turner expressed his thoughts about how the frontier set up and created unique American characteristics. He explained the idea of American exceptionalism, which states that America is different than other nations in the world. The development of America included many significant events, and our nation 's identity was made up by many factors, not just only the frontier. Nowadays, the America defines itself as a large and powerful country in the world. We are all proud to be an American. Thus, the stress on a distinct national identity is appropriate within an increasingly diverse nation-state and an ever globalizing world.

Americans have not only defined themselves by their religious, ethnic and racial identity, but also by their individual freedom and common values. America has become a nation where its people can fight for what they believe in. Our founding fathers have formed America to be “the land of the free and the home of the brave”. Being apart of the American culture and living on the land founded by our leaders specifies the meaning of the American Identity.

Is the American Identity still alive? Has it died? The issue concerning the American identity is has it died. Many claim that new cultures, new races, and new traditions have degraded the American identity. Although some people that the American identity has been lost because of new cultures and traditions, the American identity is still alive because those factors have not changed any original American traditions or the way they are celebrated.

Showing the overwhelming American influence in the shaping of the frontier, this quote captures the general structure of the frontier, at the time, and one can easily bridge the likeness between the absence of the frontier line to the American aspects and dreams. Meaning, America motivates its citizens to spread and lay claim to the land because the American dream is to become successful and in the late 19th century, and before, land possession meant success. Attributing the expansion of the union and the suppressing of the frontier to the railroads and steamboats that allowed citizens to travel far westward, Turner explains that the western frontier no longer exists, and the frontier is scattered with no directionality as the settlements. “By 1880 the settled area had been pushed… and Montana and Idaho were receiving settlers,” (3 Turner). Turner credits the biggest effect of the frontier on American history as a central promotion for democracy, “…here and in Europe,” (6

American identity has been created by many events throughout the course of history. This country was founded on the clashing and mixing of many different cultures and lifestyles. One of the most important periods of time for this country was during the period of conflict between Americans and Native Americans over land rights. Americans had an idea of manifest destiny and that this land was theirs for the taking. The Americans were going to walk through anyone who opposed them in this quest for land. The treatment of the Indians during this time period was harsh, cruel, and violent to say the least. It is in this treatment that Americans came to view the Indians as a ?racialized other? and

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..

When foreigners think of America, they think of McDonald’s, the Statue of Liberty, Hollywood film stars, and the list goes on. In terms of Americans, people associate Texans with cowboy boats, Californians with surfboards, and New Yorkers with a snobbish grin on their face. It is true that all these things represent America in one way or another, but what exactly is American identity? Erikson’s analysis on American identity has drawn attention to four topics: Mom, adolescent, boss, and machine. He links all four topics together by using the myth of John Henry Hero. Goffman, on the other hand, develops dramaturgical analysis to understand human behaviors. He sees men as actors with different roles and these actors have to perform to

In Frederick Jackson’s Turner frontier thesis, he describes how important the frontier is to the development of America and how it allowed many to obtain a new life. He describes how Americans have managed to transform the wilderness little by little and making this new land their home, “Little by little he transforms the wilderness, but the outcome is not the old Europe, not simply the development of Germanic germs…The fact is that here is a new product that is American” . The frontier thesis is also used to describe the individuality of America and prove that it is an independent country that no longer has ties with other nations as well as making it clear that America is unique in its own way. Westward expansion offered many the opportunity to re-identify themselves and create a nation that offered a new form of American life.

Finally, the frontier thesis argues that the frontier is closing. As Turner states, “the frontier has gone, and with its going has closed the first period of American history” (Turner, n.p.). Without the frontier, traits that allowed America to thrive, such as democracy and independence, will dissipate.

The Significance of the American Frontier was a lecture arguing that the western frontier had forged the distinctive qualities of American culture: individual freedom, political democracy, and economic mobility.

American frontier is the border area of settlement of their descendants of American counterpart. The American civilization was established a long time ago, but even later the American West held a great attraction for some of the men. However, the frontier began when colonists settled on the east coast of the continent the 1600s.The values represented the American frontier that are important such as Self-Reliance and Rugged individualist, American macho, Inventiveness, and Can-do-spirit. Each value represents the American frontier. For a long time, the experience for the Native American became an important part of American frontier life. However, “American frontier was romanticized in popular motion pictures and network shows that included cowhand saints battling Indian scoundrels”. Little consideration was given to the terrible story of what truly happened to the Native Americans, otherwise called the American Indians. Today, most Americans are more careful of the darker side of the settling of the landmass, when a great many American Indians were killed, their territories taken, and quite a bit of their way of life was crushed. “There is a restored interest for Indian societies, and the Smithsonian now has an exhibition hall dedicated to Indian society in Washington, D.C”.The two heroes of the American frontier, Daniel Boone, and James P. Beckwourth represent the challenges they faced in the wilderness and the American values that were