His best known publication is his essay " The Significance of the Frontier in American History
The Significance of the Frontier in American History
"The Significance of the Frontier in American History" is a seminal essay by the American historian Frederick Jackson Turner which advanced the Frontier Thesis of American history. It was presented to a special meeting of the American Historical Association at the World's C…
What is Turner's Frontier Thesis?
The Frontier Thesis or Turner's Thesis (also American frontierism) is the argument advanced by historian Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893 that a settler colonial exceptionalism, under the guise of American democracy, was formed by appropriation of the rugged American frontier.
Who is Frederick Jackson Turner and what was his thesis?
Frederick Jackson Turner. Turner was only 32 years old when he presented his historic thesis, 'The Significance of the Frontier in American History' to a group of fellow historians in Chicago in 1893. Although Turner's thesis was largely overlooked initially, it soon became a center of scholarship and controversy.
What is the significance of the frontier in American history?
The key idea of this thesis is that the unsettled land played a critical role in the development of the American nation and democracy. In “ The Significance of the Frontier in American History ”, Turner presented his interpretation of the American state formation.
What is Turner’s interpretation of American history?
Turner first detailed his own interpretation of American history in his justly famous paper, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History,” delivered at a meeting of historians in Chicago in 1893 and published many times thereafter.
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Why was Turner's frontier thesis important?
The Frontier thesis was formulated 1893, when American historian Frederick Jackson Turner theorized that the availability of unsettled land throughout much of American history was the most important factor determining national development.
What has been the Significance of the frontier in American History?
American social development has been continually beginning over again on the frontier. This perennial rebirth, this fluidity of American life, this expansion westward with its new opportunities, its continuous touch with the simplicity of primitive society, furnish the forces dominating American character.
What were 3 significant effects of the frontier in American History?
What were 3 significant effects of the frontier in American History? They were beliefs in individualism, political democracy, and economic mobility.
What does Frederick Jackson Turner believe was the Significance of the frontier in American History What might be the implications of the closing of the frontier quizlet?
The historian Frederick Jackson Turner believed that the enduring presence of the frontier was responsible for making Americans individualistic, materialistic, practical, democratic, and energetic. In 1893 he declared that the closing of the frontier had ended the first stage of America's history.
What did Turner say was the most important effect of the frontier?
But the most important effect of the frontier has been in the promotion of democracy here and in Europe. As has been indicated, the frontier is productive of individualism.
What is the biggest error in the Turner Thesis?
According to most historians today, Turner got nearly everything wrong. His thesis ignored the dispossession of Native Americans and the environmental changes, often for the worse, brought by settlers as they moved west. Further, it paid little attention to the extensive role of the US government in settling the West.
How did the Turner Thesis make Americans more democratic?
Turner argued that the frontier had made the United States unique. Due to hardship, residents were forced to become resourceful and self-reliant. They developed strength and "rugged individualism," which in turn fostered the development of democracy. Turner paid no attention to women or the plight of Native Americans.
What was the main argument of the frontier thesis quizlet?
The Frontier Thesis or Turner Thesis, is the argument advanced by historian Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893 that American democracy was formed by the American frontier. He stressed the process—the moving frontier line—and the impact it had on pioneers going through the process.
How did the frontier shaped America?
According to Turner, it was the frontier that shaped American institutions, society, and culture. The experience of the frontier, the westward march of pioneers from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast, distinguishes Americans from Europeans, and gives the American nation its exceptional character.
What is the Significance of the Frontier in American History quizlet?
Frontier provided safety valve for the pressures of American life; that is, a place of escape for those who could not or would not fit into the structure of civilization.
Which is more significant to American history the frontier of the cities?
The frontier is more significant to American history than the cities because the frontier had symbolized "land" mainly being unclaimed land, where people could go and settle on it. People could go and prosper on this land and make something out of nothing.
How important was the concept of the frontier to America's political and diplomatic development?
The argument by Frederick Jackson Turner that the frontier experience helped make American socity more democratic; emphasized cheap, unsettled land and the absence of a landed aristocracy., The argument by Frederick Jackson Turner that the frontier experience helped make American society more democratic; emphasized ...
Which is more significant to American history the frontier of the cities?
The frontier is more significant to American history than the cities because the frontier had symbolized "land" mainly being unclaimed land, where people could go and settle on it. People could go and prosper on this land and make something out of nothing.
How important was the concept of the frontier to America's political and diplomatic development?
The argument by Frederick Jackson Turner that the frontier experience helped make American socity more democratic; emphasized cheap, unsettled land and the absence of a landed aristocracy., The argument by Frederick Jackson Turner that the frontier experience helped make American society more democratic; emphasized ...
What is the Frontier Thesis quizlet?
The Frontier Thesis or Turner Thesis, is the argument advanced by historian Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893 that American democracy was formed by the American frontier. He stressed the process—the moving frontier line—and the impact it had on pioneers going through the process.
Where is the American frontier?
Richard W. Slatta, in his view of the frontier, writes that "historians sometimes define the American West as lands west of the 98th meridian or 98° west longitude," and that other definitions of the region "include all lands west of the Mississippi or Missouri rivers."
What was the most important aspect of the frontier to Turner?
Furthermore, there is a need to escape the confines of the State. The most important aspect of the frontier to Turner is its effect on democracy. The frontier transformed Jeffersonian democracy into Jacksonian democracy.
Why was Turner's thesis so popular?
It explained why the American people and American government were so different from their European counterparts. It was popular among New Dealers—Franklin Roosevelt and his top aides thought in terms of finding new frontiers. FDR, in celebrating the third anniversary of Social Security in 1938, advised, "There is still today a frontier that remains unconquered—an America unreclaimed. This is the great, the nation-wide frontier of insecurity, of human want and fear. This is the frontier—the America—we have set ourselves to reclaim." Historians adopted it, especially in studies of the west, but also in other areas, such as the influential work of Alfred D. Chandler Jr. (1918–2007) in business history.
What is the frontier thesis?
The frontier thesis or Turner thesis (also American frontierism ), is the argument advanced by historian Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893 that American democracy was formed by the American frontier. He stressed the process—the moving frontier line—and the impact it had on pioneers going through the process. He also stressed results, especially that American democracy was the primary result, along with egalitarianism, a lack of interest in high culture, and violence. "American democracy was born of no theorist's dream; it was not carried in the Susan Constant to Virginia, nor in the Mayflower to Plymouth. It came out of the American forest, and it gained new strength each time it touched a new frontier," said Turner.
What was the importance of the frontier in shaping American character?
Turner's emphasis on the importance of the frontier in shaping American character influenced the interpretation found in thousands of scholarly histories. By the time Turner died in 1932, 60% of the leading history departments in the U.S. were teaching courses in frontier history along Turnerian lines.
How does Turner start the essay?
Turner begins the essay by calling to attention the fact that the western frontier line, which had defined the entirety of American history up to the 1880s, had ended. He elaborates by stating,
Why did historians start criticizing the frontier thesis?
Other historians, who wanted to focus scholarship on minorities, especially Native Americans and Hispanics, started in the 1970s to criticize the frontier thesis because it did not attempt to explain the evolution of those groups.
How did the American frontier establish liberty?
In the thesis, the American frontier established liberty by releasing Americans from European mindsets and eroding old, dysfunctional customs. The frontier had no need for standing armies, established churches, aristocrats or nobles. There was no landed gentry who controlled most of the land and charged heavy rents and fees.
What did Turner say about the frontier?
Turner declared that this seemingly unimportant event represented a critical turning point in American history. Turner wrote, 'Now four centuries from the discovery of America, at the end of a hundred years of life under the Constitution, the frontier has gone, and with its going has closed the first period of American history'. Turner argued that the existence of the ever-shifting frontier was a major influence that has profoundly shaped the American character and history.
What did Turner think of the ever shifting frontier?
Turner argued that the existence of the ever-shifting frontier was a major influence that has profoundly shaped the American character and history. Turner wondered what would happen to American culture and history once the frontier ceased to exist.
What would happen to American culture and history once the frontier ceased to exist?
Would Americans maintain the 'dominant individualism' of frontier life? Would they retain the 'strength combined with acuteness and acquisitiveness?' Turner was concerned that once the frontier was officially removed, the next generations of Americans would be left with no territories to settle and no boundaries to overcome.
What was the impact of the frontier on the American people?
According to Turner, American history up until 1890 had been unique. In Europe, boundaries were fortified divisions separating large populations. In America, there was not a large enough population beyond the frontier to prevent migration. People who moved west had to fight Native Americans, learn to forage for food in the wilderness, and create tools and household implements from what they could find. The environment of the frontier was so strong that it created a tradition of self-sufficiency that is distinctly American and promoted a composite American nationality. People from many countries moved west, resulting in a melting pot of cultures and a multicultural American identity.
What did the frontier promote?
The frontier promoted a composite American nationality. People from many countries emigrated and moved west, resulting in a melting pot of cultures. Turner suggests that these people became 'fused into a mixed race.' Although Turner knew that there were pockets of the nation that were wholly German or English, he recognized them as a part of the emerging multicultural American identity.
What was the American frontier environment?
The environment of the American frontier was so strong that it replaced European tradition, and from it arose the tradition of self-sufficiency that Turner says is distinctly American. The frontier promoted a composite American nationality.
What are the stages of frontier settlement?
Turner discusses three stages or waves of frontier settlement in his thesis. The first wave he refers to as the pioneers. These are the settlers who simply found a piece of land to live on. Pioneers might own a few animals and have a family but did not necessarily own the land. For survival, they relied on their own ingenuity, farming, and hunting. Eventually, these first wave settlers might feel too closed in by neighbors and want to move on to do it all over again.
Frederick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis 1893
From the 1851 exhibition in London through 1938, the World's Fair was an installation where advances in science and technology from around the world were shown to the public, while later fairs focused more on cultural issues. The fairs were highly influential, giving the public glimpses of new technologies such as the telephone.
Turner's Frontier Thesis Summary
Turner viewed the frontier as the essential element in defining the American character. His work began by noting that the bulletin of the Superintendent of the Census for 1890 had recently stated that there was no longer a frontier line and closed by saying that after 400 years of frontier activity, the first period of American history had ended.
Impact of Turner's Frontier Thesis Main Points
The impact of Turner's Frontier Thesis was consequential. Not just academics and historians latched on to the ideas, but politicians and many other American thinkers used Turner's interpretations.
Criticism of Turner's Frontier Thesis
Although some earlier historians appealed directly to the myth of Germanic peoples, during WWII, Turner's theory was criticized as being too similar to the "Blood and Soil" ideas of Adolf Hitler. Others asked why former Spanish colonies and indigenous populations did not go through the same transformations of thought.
Turner's Frontier Thesis - Key Takeaways
It was first delivered in a speech to the American Historical Society at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893.
What was Andrew Jackson known for?from ipl.org
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What did Theodore Roosevelt do to help the American people?from ipl.org
A feeling which would eventually lead him to become a co-architect of The American Antiquities Act of 1906. The American Antiquities Act of 1906 was an Act written for the preservation of American “antiquities,” passed by the U.S. Congress, and signed by President Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. It gave the president power to protect our cultural heritage
What did Thomas Paine do before he moved to America?from ipl.org
Before immigrating to America in 1774, Paine worked as an excise man, collecting taxes. Before being fired from his job, in 1772 he published a pamphlet aiding his fellow excise men. After being fired from his job, he declared bankruptcy and, with Benjamin Franklin, immigrated to America. Arriving in Philadelphia in 1774, Paine became a journalist and wrote for Pennsylvania Magazine.
What is the peculiarity of American institutions?from americanyawp.com
The peculiarity of American institutions is, the fact that they have been compelled to adapt themselves to the changes of an expanding people—to the changes involved in crossing a continent, in winning a wilderness, and in developing at each area of this progress out of the primitive economic and political conditions of the frontier into the complexity of city life. Said Calhoun in 1817, “We are great, and rapidly—I was about to say fearfully—growing!” So saying, he touched the distinguishing feature of American life. All peoples show development; the germ theory of politics has been sufficiently emphasized. In the case of most nations, however, the development has occurred in a limited area; and if the nation has expanded, it has met other growing peoples whom it has conquered. But in the case of the United States we have a different phenomenon. Limiting our attention to the Atlantic coast, we have the familiar phenomenon of the evolution of institutions in a limited area, such as the rise of representative government; the differentiation of simple colonial governments into complex organs; the progress from primitive industrial society, without division of labor, up to manufacturing civilization. But we have in addition to this a recurrence of the process of evolution in each western area reached in the process of expansion. Thus American development has exhibited not merely advance along a single line, but a return to primitive conditions on a continually advancing frontier line, and a new development for that area. American social development has been continually beginning over again on the frontier. This perennial rebirth, this fluidity of American life, this expansion westward with its new opportunities, its continuous touch with the simplicity of primitive society, furnish the forces dominating American character. The true point of view in the history of this nation is not the Atlantic coast, it is the Great West. …
Why was the Panic of 1893 important?from ipl.org
It was also a time of high unemployment rates and depression. It was significant because the economy was failing and people were starting to worry. It also relates to the Devil in the White City because the fair opened in 1893 and it was not getting enough attendees due to the country’s financial downfall and the decrease of money in households. Frederick Jackson Turner: Frederick Turner was born in 1861 and died in 1932. He was a historian that believed in “The Significance of the Frontier in American History.” He was significant because after giving one of his speeches, that a well known scholar said it was, “the single most influential
What was the worst economic downturn in history?from ipl.org
The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history, which lasted from 1929 to 1939. It began after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Spending began to drop, and it caused declines in employment and some companies began to lay off workers. By 1933, the Great Depression reached its lowest point and millions of Americans were unemployed. The 1920s consisted of dramatic social and political change.
What is the frontier thesis?
Frederick Jackson Turner, (born November 14, 1861, Portage, Wisconsin, U.S.—died March 14, 1932, San Marino, California), American historian best known for the “ frontier thesis.” The single most influential interpretation of the American past, it proposed that the distinctiveness of the United States was attributable to its long history of “westering.” Despite the fame of this monocausal interpretation, as the teacher and mentor of dozens of young historians, Turner insisted on a multicausal model of history, with a recognition of the interaction of politics, economics, culture, and geography. Turner’s penetrating analyses of American history and culture were powerfully influential and changed the direction of much American historical writing.
What did Turner say about the pioneers?
Whereas in his 1893 essay he celebrated the pioneers for the spirit of individualism that spurred migration westward, 25 years later Turner castigated “these slashers of the forest, these self-sufficing pioneers, rais ing the corn and livestock for their own need, living scattered and apart.”.
What did Turner call the end of the frontier era?
The end of the frontier era of continental expansion, Turner reasoned, had thrown the nation “back upon itself .”. Writing that “imperious will and force” had to be replaced by social reorganization, he called for an expanded system of educational opportunity that would supplant the geographic mobility of the frontier.
Who was Turner's successor at Harvard?
At these two institutions he helped build two of the great university history departments of the 20th century and trained many distinguished historians, including Carl Becker, Merle Curti, Herbert Bolton, and Frederick Merk, who became Turner’s successor at Harvard.
When was the first paper by Turner published?
Turner first detailed his own interpretation of American history in his justly famous paper, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History,” delivered at a meeting of historians in Chicago in 1893 and published many times thereafter.
Overview
The Frontier Thesis or Turner's Thesis (also American frontierism) is the argument advanced by historian Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893 that a settler colonial exceptionalism, under the guise of American democracy, was formed by appropriation of the rugged American frontier. He stressed the process of "winning a wilderness" to extend the frontier line further for U.S. colonization, and the impact this had on pioneer culture and character. In essence, Indigenous land possesses an …
Summary
Turner begins the essay by calling to attention the fact that the western frontier line, which had defined the entirety of American history up to the 1880s, had ended. He elaborates by stating,
Behind institutions, behind constitutional forms and modifications, lie the vital forces that call these organs into life and shape them to meet changing conditions. The peculiarity of American institutions is, the fact that they have been compelled to adapt themselves to the changes of an …
Intellectual context
The Frontier Thesis came about at a time when the Germanic germ theory of history was popular. Proponents of the germ theory believed that political habits are determined by innate racial attributes. Americans inherited such traits as adaptability and self-reliance from the Germanic peoples of Europe. According to the theory, the Germanic race appeared and evolved in the ancient Teutonic forests, endowed with a great capacity for politics and government. Their germ…
Evolution
Turner set up an evolutionary model (he had studied evolution with a leading geologist, Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin), using the time dimension of American history, and the geographical space of the land that became the United States. The first settlers who arrived on the east coast in the 17th century acted and thought like Europeans. They adapted to the new physical, economic and political environment in certain ways—the cumulative effect of these adaptations was Americani…
Closed frontier
Turner saw the land frontier was ending, since the U.S. Census of 1890 had officially stated that the American frontier had broken up.
By 1890, settlement in the American West had reached sufficient population density that the frontier line had disappeared; in 1890 the Census Bureau released a bulletin declaring the closing of the frontier, stating: "Up to and including 1880 the country had a frontier of settlement, but at p…
Comparative frontiers
Historians, geographers, and social scientists have studied frontier-like conditions in other countries, with an eye on the Turnerian model. South Africa, Canada, Russia, Brazil, Argentina and Australia—and even ancient Rome—had long frontiers that were also settled by pioneers. However these other frontier societies operated in a very difficult political and economic environment that made democracy and individualism much less likely to appear and it was muc…
Impact and influence
Turner's thesis quickly became popular among intellectuals. It explained why the American people and American government were so different from their European counterparts. It was popular among New Dealers—Franklin D. Roosevelt and his top aides thought in terms of finding new frontiers. FDR, in celebrating the third anniversary of Social Security in 1938, advised, "There is still today a frontier that remains unconquered—an America unreclaimed. This is the great, the n…
Early anti-Turnerian thought
Though Turner’s work was massively popular in its time and for decades after, it received significant intellectual pushback in the midst of World War II. This quote from Turner’s The Frontier in American History is arguably the most famous statement of his work and, to later historians, the most controversial:
American democracy was born of no theorist's dream; it was not carried in the Susan Constant t…