the closing of the frontier frederick jackson turner

Also mindful of the mitigating influence of a frontier-in terms of easing pressure from increased immigration and population expansion in the eastern and midwestern United States-he encouraged new outlets for further population growth, whether as lands for further American settlement or to accommodate more immigrants. 0000120585 00000 n "[47] The frontier metaphor thus maintained its rhetorical ties to American social progress. WebIn 1890, the U.S. Census revealed that the frontier (defined as fewer than two people per square mile) was closed. Jensen, Richard. [1] Turner's text follows in a long line of thought within the framework of Manifest Destiny established decades earlier. He stressed in this thesis that American democracy was the primary result, along with egalitarianism, of a lack of interest in bourgeois or high culture, and violence. He stresses how the availability of very large amounts of nearly free farm land built agriculture, pulled ambitious families to the western frontier, and created an ethos of unlimited opportunity. Many of Turners best essays were collected in The Frontier in American History (1920) and The Significance of Sections in American History (1932), for which he was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1933. Turner sets up the East and the West as opposing forces; as the West strives for freedom, the East seeks to control it. Adams, his mentor at Johns Hopkins, had argued that all significant American institutions derived from German and English antecedents. He elaborates by stating. %(]YK" PXQ^VNmlao{Fs! 0000002878 00000 n In the summer of 1893, at the Chicago Worlds Columbian Exposition, Frederick Jackson Turner a minor academic in the new discipline of social science, presented his now-famous paper on the closing of the American frontier. "[22], Historians, geographers, and social scientists have studied frontier-like conditions in other countries, with an eye on the Turnerian model. Therefore, Andrew Jacksons brand of popular democracy was a triumph of the frontier. Etulain, Richard W. and Gerald D. Nash, eds. Turner referred to the Germanic germ theory by name in his essay, claiming that too exclusive attention has been paid by institutional students to the Germanic origins.[9] Turner believed that historians should focus on the settlers struggle with the frontier as the catalyst for the creation of American character, not racial or hereditary traits. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The increase in large, metal barbed wire fences on ranches and farms closed the open range cattle business and ended the long drive. Such an increased investment in overseas markets in turn strengthened Americans interest in foreign affairs. [23] 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 much more difficult to throw off a powerful royalty, standing armies, established churches and an aristocracy that owned most of the land. Founded in 1969, The Western Historical Quarterly, the official journal of the Western History Association, presents original scholarly articles dealing with the North American West - the westward movement from the Atlantic to the Pacific, twentieth-century regional studies, the Spanish borderlands, Native American history, and developments in western Canada, northern Mexico, Alaska, and Hawaii. Later "FrontiersOld, New, and Final. Westward Expansion, 1840-1900, Chapter 18: Industrialization and the Rise of Big Business, 1870-1900, Chapter 19: The Growing Pains of Urbanization, 1870-1900, Chapter 20: Politics in the Gilded Age, 1870-1900, Chapter 21: Leading the Way: The Progressive Movement, 1890-1920, Chapter 23: Americans and the Great War, 1914-1919, Chapter 24: The Jazz Age: Redefining the Nation, 1919-1929, Chapter 25: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? Frederick Jackson Turner (November 14, 1861 March 14, 1932) was an American historian during the early 20th century, based at the University of Wisconsin until 1910, and then Harvard University. He was known primarily for his frontier thesis. He trained many PhDs who became well-known historians. The Turner Thesis was also critiqued by Patricia Nelson Limerick in her 1987 book, The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West. Secretary of State William Seward, who held that position from 1861 through 1869, sought to extend American political and commercial influence in both Asia and Latin America. Wilderness Medical Society: the first dozen years. Web-- Condition and ulterior destiny of the Indian tribes (December 8, 1829) / Andrew Jackson. [12], Turner and Roosevelt diverged on the exact aspect of frontier life that shaped the contemporary American. Thus the advance of the frontier has meant a steady The Western Historical Quarterly is published for the Western Historical Association by Utah State University, and the Department of History, Utah State University. [31], Many believed that the end of the frontier represented the beginning of a new stage in American life and that the United States must expand overseas. 0000118706 00000 n He won wide acclaim among historians and intellectuals. . 0000056277 00000 n Despite such widespread isolationist impulses and the sheer inability to maintain a strong international position, the United States moved ahead sporadically with a modest foreign policy agenda in the three decades following the Civil War. WebIt was the frontier of Europe in a very real sense. Portuguese Exploration and Spanish Conquest, Religious Upheavals in the Developing Atlantic World, New Worlds in the Americas: Labor, Commerce, and the Columbian Exchange, Colonial Rivalries: Dutch and French Colonial Ambitions, The Glorious Revolution and the English Empire, An Empire of Slavery and the Consumer Revolution, Confronting the National Debt: The Aftermath of the French and Indian War, The Stamp Act and the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, The Destruction of the Tea and the Coercive Acts, Disaffection: The First Continental Congress and American Identity, Britain's Law-and-Order Strategy and Its Consequences, Common Sense: From Monarchy to an American Republic, The Constitutional Convention and Federal Constitution, Competing Visions: Federalists and Democratic-Republicans, On the Move: The Transportation Revolution, A New Political Style: From John Quincy Adams to Andrew Jackson, The Nullification Crisis and the Bank War, Free Soil or Slave? In the United States, several newspaper editors openly questioned the purchase and labeled it Sewards Folly (Figure 22.3). While the United States slowly pushed outward and sought to absorb the borderlands (and the indigenous cultures that lived there), the country was also changing how it functioned. Cushing T.A. ", Limerick, Patricia Nelson. [16], Successive generations moved further inland, shifting the lines of settlement and wilderness, but preserving the essential tension between the two. Turner moved to the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, where he remained as senior research associate until his death. We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content. Micheaux promoted the West as a place where blacks could experience less institutionalized forms of racism and earn economic success through hard work and perseverance. Most notably, in 1867, Seward obtained the Alaskan Territory from Russia for a purchase price of $7.2 million. Moving westward, the frontier became more and more American. 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. Whether reformers and missionaries worked with native communities in the borderlands such as New Mexico; in the inner cities, like the Salvation Army; or overseas, their approaches had much in common. 0000119689 00000 n There was no longer an unbroken frontier line in the United States, although frontier conditions lasted in certain parts of the American West until 1920. As was the case elsewhere in the American borderlands, Alaskas industrial development wreaked havoc on the regions indigenous and Russian cultures. As the century came to a close, however, a variety of factors, from the closing of the American frontier to the countrys increased industrial production, led the United States to look beyond its borders. [40] This quote from Turners 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 to Virginia, nor in the Mayflower to Plymouth. advance of American settlement westward" - was the central story of American 0000121679 00000 n Web" 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. This is the great, the nation-wide frontier of insecurity, of human want and fear. According to Turner, American progress has repeatedly undergone a cyclical process on the frontier line as society has needed to redevelop with its movement westward. The American frontier began when the British colonialists settled in North America in the 17th century and ended with the admission of New Mexico and Arizona in They adapted to the new physical, economic and political environment in certain waysthe cumulative effect of these adaptations was Americanization. Release Date: October 14, 2007 [eBook #22994] Language: English. 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, raising the corn and livestock for their own need, living scattered and apart. For Turner the national problem was no longer how to cut and burn away the vast screen of the dense and daunting forest but how to save and wisely use the remaining timber. At the end of his career, he stressed the vital role that regionalism would play in counteracting the atomization brought about by the frontier experience. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). In broad terms, the further west, the more American the community. Harris N.S. The Great Depression, 1929-1932, Chapter 26: Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal 1932-1941, Chapter 27: Fighting the Good Fight in World War II, 1941-1945, Chapter 28: Post-War Prosperity and Cold War Fears, 1945-1960, Chapter 29: Contesting Futures: America in the 1960s, Chapter 30: Political Storms at Home and Abroad, 1968-1980, Chapter 31: From Cold War to Culture Wars, 1980-2000, Chapter 32: The Challenges of the Twenty-First Century. Historian and ethnologist Hubert Howe Bancroft articulated the latest iteration of the Germanic germ theory just three years before Turners paper in 1893. WebAnd 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. WebGalena, South Dakota, in the Black Hills, 1890 frontier of the seventeenth century; the Alleghanies that of the eighteenth; the Mississippi that of the first quarter of the Editors of such magazines as Century, Outlook, and Harpers supported an imperialistic stance as the democratic responsibility of the United States. As mentioned in the chapter opening, Turner announced his Frontier Thesis-that American democracy was largely formed by the American frontier-at the Chicago Worlds Colombian Exposition. Specifically, the thesis underscores the pervasive racism and disregard for the indigenous communities, cultures, and individuals in the American borderlands and beyond. Religious institutions from the eastern seaboard, in particular, battled for possession of the West. Since he saw the ability to move further into Imperialism and Progressivism were compatible in the minds of many reformers who thought the Progressive impulses for democracy at home translated overseas as well. He noted that for nearly three centuries the dominant fact in American life has been expansion. He continued: American energy will continually demand a wider field for its exercise.. The settlement of the West by white people - :mx?6zj 'm=H*.\U{j;] ~ H8Fk?<6,H'iM*m*m/pY8!_9s1-F{mM{V WebWith his announcement of the "closing" of the frontier, moreover, Turner implied that the nation would be forced to undergo a painful transition, from a perception of America as a Corrections? Her letter campaign back to the head of the Mission Board provided a vivid picture of life in China and exhorted the Southern Baptist women to give more generously of their money and their time. Alternatively, the United States would settle for the rights to Canada. By 1898, on the eve of the Spanish-American War, American exports had reached a height of $1.3 billion annually. Thus the advance of the frontier has meant a steady Several Protestant faiths formed missionary societies in the years after the Civil War, seeking to expand their reach, particularly in Asia. [2], Australian historian Brett Bowden has explored how the concept of "frontier" has been very widely used in both the scholarly and the popular literature to denote challenging new forces. ", Cronon, William. Otten E. Wilderness medicine quo vadis? WebWhich of the following is NOT part of Frederick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis? Indeed, his influence was felt in American classrooms until the 1970s and 80s. By the end of this section, you will be able to: During the time of Reconstruction, the U.S. government showed no significant initiative in foreign affairs. (1993), Ford, Lacy K. "Frontier democracy: The Turner thesis revisited. Disneyland's Frontierland of the mid to late 20th century reflected the myth of rugged individualism that celebrated what was perceived to be the American heritage. [11], Roosevelt was not entirely unfounded in saying that he and Turner agreed; both Turner and Roosevelt agreed that the frontier had shaped what would become distinctly American institutions and the mysterious entity they each called national character. They also agreed that studying the history of the West was necessary to face the challenges to democracy in the late 1890s. On the tide of the Father of Waters, North and South met and mingled into a nation. Their germs were, directly and by way of England, carried to the New World where they were allowed to germinate in the North American forests. In 1942, in "The Frontier and American Institutions: A Criticism of the Turner Thesis," Professor George Wilson Pierson debated the validity of the Turner thesis, stating that many factors influenced American culture besides the looming frontier. This seminal event influenced Frederick Jackson Turners frontier thesis and by the turn of the 20 th century, the wilderness frontierindividualistic and ruggedcame to define the essence of the American spirit. 0000001845 00000 n The farther West Americans pushed (the farther into the Frontier they went) the more unique of an American identity developed. thesis" or "frontier thesis," as his argument quickly became known, shaped both The essay had a major impact on historiography for decades, with serious criticism emerging in the 1940s. The frontier, they argued, shaped uniquely American institutions such as revivals, camp meetings, and itinerant preaching. Japan fascinated my heart and fancy four years ago, but now I honestly believe I love China the best, and actually, which is stranger still, like the Chinese best. 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. Up to our own day John Perry Barlow, along with Mitch Kapor, promoted the idea of cyberspace (the realm of telecommunication) as an "electronic frontier" beyond the borders of any physically based government, in which freedom and self-determination could be fully realized. "the existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the WebFind many great new & used options and get the best deals for The Frontier In American History by Frederick Turner: Franklin Library 1977 (LE) at the best online prices at eBay! [18][19][20][21], 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 present the unsettled area has been so broken into by isolated bodies of settlement that there can hardly be said to be a frontier line. [38], A 2020 study in Econometrica found empirical support for the frontier thesis, showing that frontier experience had a causal impact on individualism.[39]. "Frontier culture: The roots and persistence of rugged individualism in the United States. His essays were collected in The Frontier in American History (1920) and Significance of Sections in American History (1932, Pulitzer Prize). It has become familiar to millions through a diverse publishing program that includes scholarly works in all academic disciplines, bibles, music, school and college textbooks, business books, dictionaries and reference books, and academic journals. She fought against foot binding, a cultural tradition where girls feet were tightly bound to keep them from growing, and shared her personal food and money when those around her were suffering. -- Georgia's destiny / E. Merton Coulter. In the words of historian William Appleman Williams, it rolled through the universities and into popular literature like a tidal wave. While todays professional historians tend to reject such sweeping theories, emphasizing instead a variety of factors in their interpretations of the past, Turners frontier thesis remains the most popular explanation of American development among the literate public. Although there was no more room for these forces to proceed domestically, they would continue to find an outlet on the international stage. "Frederick Jackson Turner Overlooked the Ladies. 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. Free shipping for many products! In 1893, Frederick Jackson Turner argued that settlement of the west had ended the frontier era in the United States. WebIn The Significance of the Frontier in American History (1893) he asserted that the American character had been shaped by frontier life and the end of the frontier era. It currently publishes more than 6,000 new publications a year, has offices in around fifty countries, and employs more than 5,500 people worldwide. European characteristics fell by the wayside and the old country's institutions (e.g., established churches, established aristocracies, standing armies, intrusive government, and highly unequal land distribution) were increasingly out of place. The Frontier, both the physical land and the ideological idea of it, Turner said, had infused American society with a unique blend of European refinement and untamed coarseness. He began his teaching career at the University of Wisconsin in 1889. Countries in Europe were building their empires through global power and trade, and the United States did not want to be left behind. 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. The Frontier In American History by Frederick Turner: Franklin Library 1977 (LE) Frederick Jackson Turner. WebPerhaps the most influential essay by an American historian, Frederick Jackson Turners address to the American Historical Association on The Significance of the Frontier in American History defined for many Americans the relationship between the frontier and American culture and contemplated what might follow the closing of the frontier. It had also continually renewed American ideas of Though Turners view would win over the Germanic germ theorys version of Western history, the theory persisted for decades after Turners thesis enraptured the American Historical Association. In 1893 a young historian addressed the American Historical Association, which was meeting at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Frederick Jackson Turner presented his thesis, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History." He began by quoting from the Census of 1890: For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions While the navy had introduced the first all-steel, triple-hulled steam engine vessels seven years earlier, they had only thirteen of them in operation by 1890. [24] Each nation had quite different frontier experiences. States." Whether oversees or in the urban slums, they benefitted from the same passions but expressed the same paternalism. WebThe Closing of the Frontier. Additionally, as late as 1890, with the U.S. Navy significantly reduced in size, a majority of vessels were classified as Old Navy, meaning a mixture of iron hulled and wholly wooden ships. [35] However his ideas presented in his graduate seminars at Wisconsin and Harvard influenced many areas of historiography. Though Roosevelt would later accept Turners historiography on the West, calling Turners work a correction or supplementation of his own, the two certainly contradict. WebFrom Frederick Jackson Turner, The Frontier in American History (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1920), pp. Marvin K. Mikesell, "Comparative Studies in Frontier History," in Richard Hofstadter and Seymour Martin Lipset, eds., Alexander Petrov, "Russian History Re-Examined, Ten Years After The Dissolution Of The Soviet Union", published in Russian Moscow 2001, English translation London 2004, Gerald D. Nash, "The frontier thesis: A historical perspective,", Ann Fabian, "The ragged edge of history: Intellectuals and the American West,", Richard R. John, " Turner, Beard, Chandler: Progressive Historians,", William Appleman Williams, "The Frontier Thesis and American Foreign Policy,", Ray Allen Billington, "Why Some Historians Rarely Write History: A Case Study of Frederick Jackson Turner,", John B. Boles, "Turner, the frontier, and the study of religion in America,", Dan Moosd, "Reclaiming the Frontier: Oscar Micheaux as Black Turnerian,", Richard W. Slatta, "Taking Our Myths Seriously.". While Turner provided the idea for an empire, Mahan provided the more practical guide. His deep, melodious voice commanded attention whether he was addressing a teachers group, an audience of alumni, or a branch of the Chautauqua movement. 0000122616 00000 n Turner taught at the University of Wisconsin until 1910, when he accepted an appointment to a distinguished chair of history at Harvard University. Sewards purchase added an enormous territory to the country-nearly 600,000 square miles-and also gave the United States access to the rich mineral resources of the region, including the gold that trigged the Klondike Gold Rush at the close of the century. To Roosevelt, the journey westward was one of nonstop encounters with the hostile races and cultures of the New World, forcing the early colonists to defend themselves as they pressed forward. As the 19th century came to a close, the image WebBy that reasoning, the closing of the frontier would make the US an industrial nation like those of Europe. The Significance of the Frontier in American History, Samuel Bazzi, Martin Fiszbein, and Mesay Gebresilasse. entitled "The Significance of the Frontier in American History." 0000001391 00000 n Frederick Jackson Turner 239. It was popular among New DealersFranklin D. Roosevelt and his top aides[27] thought in terms of finding new frontiers. HV PSgrBr5AwT? Moving westward, the frontier became more and more American. [50][51] Scholars analyzing the Internet have often cited Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier model. He argued that the tide of intelligence had always moved from east to west. But her primary goal was to evangelize her Christian beliefs to the people in China. She began in 1873 when she joined her sister in China as a missionary, teaching in a school for Chinese women. In the end, Turners view would win out among historians, which Roosevelt would accept. They argue that, "Frontier imagery motivates Fermilab physicists, and a rhetoric remarkably similar to that of Turner helped them secure support for their research." Every generation moved further west and became more American, more democratic, and more intolerant of hierarchy. Following five more years of political wrangling, the United States annexed Hawaii in 1898, during the Spanish-American War. The frontier line, which separates civilization from wilderness, is the most rapid and effective Americanization on the continent; it takes the European from across the Atlantic and shapes him into something new. [52][53][54] Of special concern is the question whether the electronic frontier will broadly replicate the stages of development of the American land frontier. 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 the appropriation of the rugged American frontier. In the discussion of its extent, its westward movement, etc., it can not, therefore, any longer have a place in the census reports. by . Although neither negotiation ended in the desired result, they both expressed Fishs intent to cautiously build an American empire without creating any unnecessary military entanglements in the wake of the Civil War. WebIn The Significance of the Frontier in American History (1893) he asserted that the American character had been shaped by frontier life and the end of the frontier era. While certainly not all reformers espoused a racist view of intelligence and civilization, many of these reformers believed that the Anglo-Saxon race was mentally superior to others and owed the presumed less evolved populations their stewardship and social uplift-a service the British writer Rudyard Kipling termed the white mans burden..
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