The Frontier Thesis in History of America Free Essay Example

What is the frontier thesis? What function does Turner argue the frontier has played in American history?

The frontier thesis is the argument advanced by historian Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893 that expresses how the concept of the frontier, as the meeting point in between savagery and civilization, influenced the American culture by promoting individualistic democracy. He discusses that growth to the American West altered individuals’s views by themselves culture.

Trace the procedure which turner recognizes as “Americanization.” How does that procedure continue? What are the steps and stages along the way?

“Americanization” is the development of a distinct developed American culture out of primitiveness and savagery.

Initially, the disintegration of savagery occurs when a trader enters the land of the “Indian and the hunter,” then the pastoral stage takes place and fails, causing manufacturing organization with the city and factory system.

Turner is often identified as a “progressive” historian, implying that he views history as the unavoidable proves from mayhem to enhancement, with the underlying assumption that change is typically for the better.

What “progressive” assessments of history appear in Turner’s thesis? Does he recognize any dangers to that process?

Turner expresses the progressive concept that with the frontier’s presence, the procedure of Americanization is inevitable and perpetual which individualism will continue to grow. He also discusses, however, that with completion of the frontier’s presence, the first period of American history had actually come to a close, which was a majorly controversial statement.

Believe about America in the 1890s. What are the significant social modifications forming individuals’ lives throughout this era? How does Turner’s thesis show these modifications, try to understand them, or sound a warning require methods in which America might be losing its method as an outcome of the modifications?

During the 1890s, industrialization, immigration, unionization, and calls for reform in many areas swept the nation.

Turner’s thesis echoed these changes in the nation by discussing the evolution of the “savage” to the “civilized” American. He warns Americans that the future would be cloudy, and maybe even doomed, with the frontier’s collapse.

What makes it possible for Turner to argue that the land on the other side of the frontier is empty despite Native American and Spanish settlement in the region?

In spite of Native American and Spanish settlement, it could be argued that since there was no industrial prosperity in the frontier, the land was “empty.” Even though the land was populated, the lack of urbanization in the region made it possible for Turner to argue the emptiness of the land.

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