The Wild West Of America

Many American’s dreamt of opportunity, salvation, and riches by expanding out to the American West. The region we refer to as the “American West” enveloped into the idea of freedom and became a catalyst for the minds of many Americans and immigrants throughout history to venture west. However, Historian John Mack Faragher observes that we often imagine the West as a place where Americans could become fully independent or “self-reliant individuals.” But, by the late nineteenth century, Westerners discovered that they were not self-sufficient and highly dependent on the federal government. The West found itself highly dependent on assistance from the federal government in the regulation of race relations, the management of natural resources,

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

This last week in Professor Acebedo-Gonzalez’s class we read Chapter 1 in The Wilding of America: Money, Mayhem and the New American Dream. In the beginning of Chapter 1, Charles Derber gives us a clear idea of what “wilding” is and the different types of wilding that exist today. According to the book, wilding is “self-interested or self-indulgent behavior that hurts others and weakens the social fabric” (Derber, p.11). Also described in the book are four types of wilding: expressive, instrumental, incipient, and petty wilding. Derber however, focuses on one and is concerned with one in particular: instrumental wilding. It’s the type of wilding in which is most connected with Americans and the American Dream, and no one realizes what effect it can have on each other (Derber, p.7). Throughout the chapter, Derber provides stories as examples for each type of wilding that supports the definitions. On page 7 he states, “A wilding epidemic tears at the social fabric and threatens to unravel society itself, ultimately reflecting the erosion of the

The American West is one of the most famous and important part of the American history. The American West or another name the American Frontier started off in the late-1700 and ended in mid-1940. Although that part of history ended, but the influence and the old west culture is still around today. So let get into the history of the American West, of what made the West what it is and how all the forces molded the West.

In the late 19th century, the American people began to go west. Americans began to pour into the West because of rapid population growth and affordable land (Importance of the West). They were also promised wide open land and to be free of Indians (Importance of the West). The West was in fact not free of Indians, and there were several wars that ensued in Arkansas, Montana, Washington, and California (Youngs).

According to the film critic, Phillip French, “The Western has always been about America rewriting and reinterpreting her own past,” if this is indeed the case, then the two most popular Westerns of the early 1990s reveal that many Americans had rejected the traditional interpretation of the Old West. The critically and commercially successful, Dances with Wolves and Unforgiven, repudiated the patriotic frontier myth that had characterised the Western when it was the preeminent genre in American cinema. Informed by new Western historiography, itself an expression of political concerns that had been moving into the American mainstream since the 1960s, the movies display a complex and nuanced understanding of the frontier experience. Dances with Wolves rejected the traditional narrative of the inherent superiority of the Anglo-American hero conquering both Native Americans and the wilderness, and also focused on the environmental destruction that accompanied the ideology of Manifest Destiny. Unforgiven would similarly reject the frontier myth, replacing the democratic, civilised frontier town, with a brutal regime in which white men’s property rights prevail over any sense of justice. The film is noted for its self-reflexive nature, with a writer documenting and embellishing the tales of the Old West before the viewer’s eyes. This self-reflexion indicates that Americans were re-evaluating the myths of the frontier, and seeing them for what they were, creations by the

Following the end of the United States’ Civil War, new territories had becomes states, notably what is now known as the West. The West, iconized by its Cowboys, gunfights, and horses in the years that followed the Civil War, made its way to the silver screen as one of the first genres of movies to be produced. The genre is popularized as a “Western” and is devoted to telling the

Texas is a state that is dearly loved by its inhabitants, and even some who do not live there. Despite how many people love it, there are a lot of people who dislike Texas and the pride Texans have for it. Texas fought for independence from a country much larger than itself, and then chose to become a part of the United States, while still reserving the right to secede. Many people do not take into accord the reasons why Texans are so proud.

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.

The Old West was settled in many different ways. People from all different backgrounds came in hopes of striking gold, finding rich soil to farm on and for a fresh start. While many found what they were looking for, some weren’t so lucky. However, these factors shaped the West as we know it

In the nineteenth century, Many Americans saw western expansionism as the nation 's manifest destiny. It is a belief expansionism that was proved to be right. Americans represented the American landscape and how amazing it was. The West is a land known of promise and opportunity. Adventures arise when expanding markets come into play. In 1833 William F. Cody created a great entertainment that the Wild West was a popular culture (Textbook pg.400)

Western, a genre of short stories that are set in the American west, primarily in the late of the 19th century (“Western” 598), and still being told until today by films, televisions, radio, and other art works. The major of moving to the west was because of the Homestead Act, 1862 (“U.S. Statues at Large” 392) which would give lands to people who stayed there for five years. This lead to a huge wave of immigrants moved to the West, and they had to face to many hardships and conflicts such as Indian attacks, tornadoes, blizzards, and illnesses.

The information was written after the actual events however are detailed with sources and legal documents cited and reference throughout the book. The information is very informative and gives detailed accounts of historical facts that support the subject. The intended audience would be Wild West historians or those just interested in Wild West history. The Author is well known for his writing and publishing of real life people who were instrumental in the Wild West.

The Wild West started near the time if the California Gold Rush and it lasted to nearly the end of the century. The Wild West came into existence because of the exploration beyond the Appalachian mountains, and this exploration allowed this small area of land to grow and expand within a short period of time and it started to also allow the population to grow.

Though it is known that the history of storytelling is quite ancient, stories still play a crucial part of our societies and cultures. Its influence is in almost every aspect of human life whether it be movies, books, music, news, religion, or art. Stories are what define us and our morals, our dreams, our prejudices, and our desires. Typically, oral stories are handed down generation to generation. It is not known who or when the first story was told, much less what the first story was (History).