The 1890 census had shown that a frontier line, a point beyond which the population density was less than In the negotiations, Fish also suggested adding the Dominican Republic as a territorial possession with a path towards statehood, as well as discussing the construction of a transoceanic canal with Columbia. 0000003351 00000 n
Up to our own day [28] FDR, in celebrating the third anniversary of Social Security in 1938, advised, "There is still today a frontier that remains unconqueredan America unreclaimed. The farther West Americans pushed (the farther into the Frontier they went) the more unique of an American identity developed. They also became more violent, more individualistic, more distrustful of authority, less artistic, less scientific, and more dependent on ad-hoc organizations they formed themselves. 1-4,22-23,29-31,32,37-38. longer. " The process of westward expansion had transformed a desolate and savage
WebFrederick Jackson Turner, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" 1893 This brief official statement marks the closing of a great historic movement. In these writings Turner promoted new methods in historical research, including the techniques of the newly founded social sciences, and urged his colleagues to study new topics such as immigration, urbanization, economic development, and social and cultural history. [12], Turner and Roosevelt diverged on the exact aspect of frontier life that shaped the contemporary American. Omissions? "The frontier trail: rethinking Turner and reimagining the American West." Though Roosevelt would later accept Turners historiography on the West, calling Turners work a correction or supplementation of his own, the two certainly contradict. This comparison, Petrov suggests, shows that it is far from inevitable that an expanding settlement of wild land would produce the American type of cultural and political institutions. [41], This assertions racial overtones concerned historians as Adolf Hitler and the Blood and soil ideology, stoking racial and destructive enthusiasm, rose to power in Germany. 0000119689 00000 n
States." ", Hofstadter, Richard. Request Permissions. "[45] Mathiopoulos notes that he "cultivated this resurrection of frontier ideology as a motto of progress ('getting America moving') throughout his term of office. Jensen, Richard. WebIn 1890, the U.S. Census revealed that the frontier (defined as fewer than two people per square mile) was closed. 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. 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. 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. In Australia, "mateship" and working together was valued more than individualism. Web11 William Coleman, "Science and Symbol in the Turner Frontier Hypothesis," American Historical Review, LXXII (October 1966), 23. land into modem civilization. He won wide acclaim among historians and intellectuals. 0000102667 00000 n
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment. While Turner provided the idea for an empire, Mahan provided the more practical guide. Following five more years of political wrangling, the United States annexed Hawaii in 1898, during the Spanish-American War. To the contrary, Siberia - the Russian Frontier Land - became emblematic of the oppression of Czarist Absolute Monarchy. The essay summarizes Turner's views on how the idea of the American frontier shaped the American character in terms of democracy and violence. 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. 0000001707 00000 n
As a result of these growing economic pressures, American exports to other nations skyrocketed in the years following the Civil War, from $234 million in 1865 to $605 million in 1875. democracy and individualism and had, therefore, shaped not just the West but the
", Limerick, Patricia Nelson. By 1898, on the eve of the Spanish-American War, American exports had reached a height of $1.3 billion annually. WebWhich of the following is NOT part of Frederick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis? By the time Turner died in 1932, 60% of the leading history departments in the U.S. were teaching courses in frontier history along Turnerian lines.[4]. In 1893 a young historian addressed the American Historical Association, which was meeting at the Columbian Exposition in Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. In his speech, Turner maintained that the frontierthat region just beyond or at the edge of a settled areawashed away all European influences and created a distinctive American character. rF"e7I(xE\Z9Ni,S!`$='*f82bS8}UdK2n+IIdFkhZoll-: 0000020789 00000 n
[38], A 2020 study in Econometrica found empirical support for the frontier thesis, showing that frontier experience had a causal impact on individualism.[39]. Whereas Turner saw the development of American character occur just behind the frontier line, as the colonists tamed and tilled the land, Roosevelt saw it form in battles just beyond the frontier line. Below is the article summary. They highlighted the lack of Americans to populate the vast region and lamented the challenges in attempting to govern the native peoples in that territory. 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. 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. Western expansion and the goal of Manifest Destiny still held the countrys attention, and American missionaries proselytized as far abroad as China, India, the Korean Peninsula, and Africa, but reconstruction efforts took up most of the nations resources. ", Faragher, John Mack. 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. [3], Turner's emphasis on the importance of the frontier in shaping American character influenced the interpretation found in thousands of scholarly histories. Arthur Unobskey Professor of American History, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticutt. He also pushed through the annexation of the Midway Islands in the Pacific Ocean, which subsequently opened a more stable route to Asian markets. As of 1865, the U.S. State Department had barely sixty employees and no ambassadors representing American interests abroad. Next: The Spanish-American War and Overseas Empire, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, Explain the evolution of American interest in foreign affairs from the end of the Civil War through the early 1890s, Identify the contributions of Frederick Jackson Turner and Alfred Thayer Mahan to the conscious creation of an American empire. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frederick-Jackson-Turner, Wisconsin Life - Frederick Jackson Turner and the History of the American West, Weber State University - Biography of Frederick Jackson Turner, National Humanities Center - The Significance of the Frontier in American History 1893, Frederick Jackson Turner - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). "What the Mediterranean Sea was to the Greeks, breaking the
He traced the social evolution of frontier life as it continually developed across the continent from the primitive conditions experienced by the explorer, trapper, and trader, through maturing agricultural stages, finally reaching the complexity of city and factory. "[47] The frontier metaphor thus maintained its rhetorical ties to American social progress. Several Protestant faiths formed missionary societies in the years after the Civil War, seeking to expand their reach, particularly in Asia. He was an early leader of the American Historical Association, serving as its president in 1910 and on the editorial board of the associations American Historical Review from 1910 to 1915. [6] Americans inherited such traits as adaptability and self-reliance from the Germanic peoples of Europe. As a new industrial United States began to emerge in the 1870s, economic interests began to lead the country toward a more expansionist foreign policy. South Africa, Canada, Russia, Brazil, Argentina and Australiaand even ancient Romehad long frontiers that were also settled by pioneers. I do so love the East and eastern life! HV PSgrBr5AwT? Up to our own day American history has been in a large [25] Alexander Petrov noted that Russia had its own Frontier and Russians moved over centuries across Siberia all the way from the Urals to the Pacific, struggling with nature in many physical ways similar to the American move across North America - without developing the social and political characteristics noted by Turner. WebThe West of the War of 1812, the West of Clay, and Benton and Harrison, and Andrew Jackson, shut off by the Middle States and the mountains from the coast sections, had a solidarity of its own with national tendencies. Thus the advance of the frontier has meant a steady Please enter a term before submitting your search. 1981 Oxford University Press Limerick pushes for a continuation of study within the historical and social atmosphere of the American West, which she believes did not end in 1890, but rather continues on to this very day. Western Historical Quarterly Specifically, the thesis underscores the pervasive racism and disregard for the indigenous communities, cultures, and individuals in the American borderlands and beyond. He cites British attempts to stifle western emigration during the colonial era and as an example of eastern control. What the world needed now, he argued, was a highly organized provincial life to serve as a check upon mob psychology on a national scale, and to furnish that variety which is essential to vital growth and originality. Turner never ceased to treat history as contemporary knowledge, seeking to explore the ways that the nation might rechannel its expansionist impulses into the development of community life. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. Her letters appeared frequently in religious publications, and it was her suggestion-that the week before Christmas be established as a time to donate to foreign missions-that led to the annual Christmas giving tradition. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. In The Frontier in American History, 1. "On Modernizing Frederick Jackson Turner,", This page was last edited on 6 January 2023, at 16:57. By 1890, through a series of reciprocal trade agreements, Hawaiians exported nearly all of their sugar production to the United States, tariff-free. In frequent conversations with President Lincoln, among others, Seward openly spoke of his desire to obtain British Columbia, the Hawaiian Islands, portions of the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and other territories. Later he focused on sectionalism as a force in U.S. development. 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. Turner sets up the East and the West as opposing forces; as the West strives for freedom, the East seeks to control it. WebBy that reasoning, the closing of the frontier would make the US an industrial nation like those of Europe. 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: Turner saw the closing of the Frontier as an end to an era of expansionism and development of Americans character. Countries in Europe were building their empires through global power and trade, and the United States did not want to be left behind. 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. 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 Turners successor at Harvard. Source: Frederick Jackson Turner, The Frontier in American History, 1919. -- Speech before the Senate (April 9, 1830) / Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen. Indeed, his influence was felt in American classrooms until the 1970s and 80s. 0000101861 00000 n
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Limerick asserts the notion of a "New Western History" in which the American West is treated as a place and not a process of finite expansion. Social reformers of the early Progressive Era also performed work abroad that mirrored the missionaries. Turner's ideal of frontier had no need for standing armies, established churches, aristocrats or nobles; there was no landed gentry who controlled the land or charged heavy rents and fees. 0000099235 00000 n
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Limerick points out that Kennedy assumed that "the campaigns of the Old Frontier had been successful, and morally justified. Behind institutions, behind constitutional forms and modifications, lie the vital forces that call these organs into life and shape them to meet changing conditions. When Queen Liliuokalani tapped into a strong anti-American resentment among native Hawaiians over the economic and political power of exploitative American sugar companies between 1891 and 1893, worried businessmen worked with the American minister to Hawaii, John Stevens, to stage a quick, armed revolt to counter her efforts and seize the islands as an American protectorate (Figure 22.6). Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). WebExplains frederick jackson turner's claim that the frontier made the united states unique. [2], In the thesis, the American frontier established liberty from European mindsets and eroding old, dysfunctional customs. 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. WebFind many great new & used options and get the best deals for MARY AUSTIN AND THE AMERICAN WEST By Susan Goodman & Carl Dawson - Hardcover NEW at the best online prices at eBay! The question is whether their frontiers were powerful enough to overcome conservative central forces based in the metropolis. 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. 0000121679 00000 n
Second, he suggested establishing a network of naval bases to fuel this expanding fleet. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. Updates? The content on this site is intended for healthcare professionals. Turner moved to the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, where he remained as senior research associate until his death. Awarded a doctorate in 1891, Turner was one of the first historians professionally trained in the United States rather than in Europe. Alternatively, the United States would settle for the rights to Canada. "FrontiersOld, New, and Final. WebAmerica's imperial expansion in the twentieth century.2 One idea is Frederick Jackson Turner's concept that America's unique and true democracy was the product of an expanding frontier." While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. [3] By contrast, medievalist Nora Berend asked: "What good is a concept not very clearly formulated a hundred years agoTurners frontier was an elastic term that had no sharp definitionand severely criticised ever since?"[4]. Everything in American history up to the 1880s somehow relates the western frontier, including slavery. . In the 1980s a new approach to the Western U.S. appeared which was much more negative. WebThe first is by transcending the region-frontier divide. Therefore, Andrew Jacksons brand of popular democracy was a triumph of the frontier. The other idea is the thesis of Brooks Adams that America's unique and true democracy could be preserved only by a foreign policy of expansion. Turners thesis was enormously influential at the time but has subsequently been widely criticized by historians. 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. The individualism fostered by the frontiers wilderness created a national spirit complementary to democracy, as the wilderness defies control. (quoted from "Where Historians Disagree: The 'Frontier' and the West"
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A treaty with Nicaragua set the early course for the future construction of a canal across Central America. thesis" or "frontier thesis," as his argument quickly became known, shaped both
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. 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. You will then receive an email that contains a secure link for resetting your password, If the address matches a valid account an email will be sent to __email__ with instructions for resetting your password. A year after the Oklahoma Land Rush, the director of the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the frontier was closed. 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. Frederick Jackson Turner 239. 0000019771 00000 n
", John Mack Faragher, "The frontier trail: rethinking Turner and reimagining the American West." [16], Adrienne Kolb and Lillian Hoddeson argue that during the heyday of Kennedy's "New Frontier," the physicists who built Fermilab explicitly sought to recapture the excitement of the old frontier. [36] Moos (2002) shows that the 1910s to 1940s black filmmaker and novelist Oscar Micheaux incorporated Turner's frontier thesis into his work. 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. 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.
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