the closing of the frontier frederick jackson turnerthe closing of the frontier frederick jackson turner

Turner concluded that the demands for a vigorous foreign policy, for an interoceanic canal, for a revival of our power upon our seas, and for the extension of American influence to outlying islands and adjoining countries are indications that the forces [of expansion] will continue. Such policies would permit Americans to find new markets. WebIt was the frontier of Europe in a very real sense. Faragher, John Mack ed. In 1899, in an effort to mitigate other foreign interests and still protect their own, the United States joined Great Britain and Germany in a three-party protectorate over the islands, which assured American access to the strategic ports located there. It would be a nation in which people were not particularly individualistic Businesses were not the only ones seeking to expand. 0000003351 00000 n Details for: The removal of the Cherokee Nation : manifest destiny [2], In the thesis, the American frontier established liberty from European mindsets and eroding old, dysfunctional customs. 0000120585 00000 n Quinn R.H. Rodway G.W. 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. delivered at a meeting of the American Historical Association in 1893. "On Modernizing Frederick Jackson Turner,", This page was last edited on 6 January 2023, at 16:57. [36] Moos (2002) shows that the 1910s to 1940s black filmmaker and novelist Oscar Micheaux incorporated Turner's frontier thesis into his work. chapter 9 history In the history of religion, for example, Boles (1993) notes that William Warren Sweet at the University of Chicago Divinity School as well as Peter G. Mode (in 1930), argued that churches adapted to the characteristics of the frontier, creating new denominations such as the Mormons, the Church of Christ, the Disciples of Christ, and the Cumberland Presbyterians. Therefore, Andrew Jacksons brand of popular democracy was a triumph of the frontier. In The Frontier in American History, 1. An example of this concern is in George Wilson Piersons influential essay on the frontier. 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. 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. 0000056817 00000 n pHH=B5BBEFp32(rsM$5$QPftJ@"dtLR5J&(d2E e /deaNU&@P+**}JLTkrMdkFEp3_aM,DAj%$'.&Am 70EQxauku^RgOym]e6}i u;9yx:Qr\p. Other factors need to be taken into consideration, such as the great difference between British society from which settlers went across the Atlantic and the Russian society which sent its own pioneers across the Urals. Frederick Jackson Turner Sewards previous acquisition of the Midway Islands served this purpose by providing an essential naval coaling station, which was vital, as the limited reach of steamships and their dependence on coal made naval coaling stations imperative for increasing the navys geographic reach. 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. Frederick Jackson Turner declared that the American frontier In the United States, several newspaper editors openly questioned the purchase and labeled it Sewards Folly (Figure 22.3). Turner Heeding Mahans advice, the government moved quickly, passing the Naval Act of 1890, which set production levels for a new, modern fleet. Turner should be counted among the progressive historians, though, with the political temperament of a small-town Midwesterner, his progressivism was rather timid. 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. John Thompson (Author) Visit Amazon's John Thompson Page. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. [16], Successive generations moved further inland, shifting the lines of settlement and wilderness, but preserving the essential tension between the two. 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. Frederick Jackson Turner, The Significance of the Frontier (1893) [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. He taught at the University of Wisconsin and at Harvard University. 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. Moving westward, the frontier became more and more American. "The American West: A New Interpretive History" (2000), deals with events, not historiography; concise edition is. Foreword Auerbach P.S. 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. 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. Turner taught at the University of Wisconsin until 1910, when he accepted an appointment to a distinguished chair of history at Harvard University. American emigration west is not spurred by government incentives, but rather some expansive power inherent within them that seeks to dominate nature. WebThe first is by transcending the region-frontier divide. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wem.2023.04.008. Frontier land was practically free for the taking according to Turner. :mx?6zj 'm=H*.\U{j;] ~ H8Fk?<6,H'iM*m*m/pY8!_9s1-F{mM{V States." Arthur Unobskey Professor of American History, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticutt. The test tube and the microscope are needed rather than ax and rifle, he wrote; in place of old frontiers of wilderness, there are new frontiers of unwon fields of science. Pioneer ideals were to be maintained by American universities through the training of new leaders who would strive to reconcile popular government and culture with the huge industrial society of the modern world.. 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. Lottie remained in China through famines, the Boxer Rebellion, and other hardships. [37], Slatta (2001) argues that the widespread popularization of Turner's frontier thesis influenced popular histories, motion pictures, and novels, which characterize the West in terms of individualism, frontier violence, and rough justice. His essays were collected in The Frontier in American History (1920) and Significance of Sections in American History (1932, Pulitzer Prize). Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. 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. The Closing of the American Wilderness Such an increased investment in overseas markets in turn strengthened Americans interest in foreign affairs. 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). Whether oversees or in the urban slums, they benefitted from the same passions but expressed the same paternalism. Poor health forced his early retirement from Harvard in 1924. in Alan Brinkley, American History: A Survey, Chapter 16), http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/instruct/isern/103/turner.htm. 0000033612 00000 n Adams, his mentor at Johns Hopkins, had argued that all significant American institutions derived from German and English antecedents. The racial warfare theory was an emerging belief in the late nineteenth century advocated by Theodore Roosevelt in The Winning of the West. 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. Free shipping for many products! On the eve of the Civil War, the country lacked the means to establish a strong position in international diplomacy. We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content. That is exactly what happened. WebBy that reasoning, the closing of the frontier would make the US an industrial nation like those of Europe. Hb```a``7e`c`db@ !V(G/un0}:gn_p0 Rebelling against this view, Turner argued instead that Europeans had been transformed by the process of settling the American continent and that what was unique about the United States was its frontier history. He pursued these goals through a variety of actions. Wilderness Medical Society: the first dozen years. Deeply influenced by his Wisconsin childhood, Turner rejected the doctrine that U.S. institutions could be traced mainly to European origins, and he demonstrated his theories in a series of essays. 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 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. The initial work of businesses, missionaries, and reformers set the stage by the early 1890s for advocates of an expanded foreign policy and a vision of an American empire. For the full article, see, https://www.britannica.com/summary/Frederick-Jackson-Turner. [32] However, Turner's work, in contrast to Roosevelt's work The Winning of the West, places greater emphasis on the development of American republicanism than on territorial conquest. In 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. According to Turner, what separated Americans from Europeans was the constant availability of new land to the west. The Turner thesis shaped the writing of American history for a Though Roosevelt would later accept Turners historiography on the West, calling Turners work a correction or supplementation of his own, the two certainly contradict. Second, he suggested establishing a network of naval bases to fuel this expanding fleet. His writing, too, bore the stamp of oratory; indeed, he reworked his lectures into articles that appeared in the nations most influential popular and scholarly journals. thesis" or "frontier thesis," as his argument quickly became known, shaped both democracy and individualism and had, therefore, shaped not just the West but the [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. Milton Stanley Livingston, the lab's associate director, said in 1968, "The frontier of high energy and the infinitesimally small is a challenge to the mind of man. Turner elaborated on the theme in his advanced history lectures and in a series of essays published over the next 25 years, published along with his initial paper as The Frontier in American History. (Ironically, Turner passed up an opportunity to attend Buffalo Bills Wild West show so that he could complete The Significance of the Frontier in American History on the morning that he presented it.) [1] Turner's text follows in a long line of thought within the framework of Manifest Destiny established decades earlier. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. It was Corrections? Turners thesis was enormously influential at the time but has subsequently been widely criticized by historians. (1993), Brett Bowden "FrontiersOld, New, and Final,", Nora Berend, Medievalists and the Notion of the Frontier., Riley, Glenda. 2023 Wilderness Medical Society. Please enter a term before submitting your search. The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward, explain American development. Jackson Turner Turner saw the closing of the Frontier as an end to an era of expansionism and development of Americans character. Religious institutions from the eastern seaboard, in particular, battled for possession of the West. 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). WebFrom Frederick Jackson Turner, The Frontier in American History (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1920), pp. 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. In his 1890 work, The Influence of Seapower upon History, he suggested three strategies that would assist the United States in both constructing and maintaining an empire. it served as a "safety valve" for those in the east. Frederick Jackson Turner, Significance of the Frontier [3], Turner's emphasis on the importance of the frontier in shaping American character influenced the interpretation found in thousands of scholarly histories. In these so-called Alabama claims, a U.S. senator charged that the Confederacy won a number of crucial battles with the help of one British cruiser and demanded $2 billion in British reparations. . 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 Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. ", Carpenter, Ronald H. "Frederick Jackson Turner and the rhetorical impact of the frontier thesis. The Sierra Club, the Audubon Society, and the National Park System were established to counter the demise of the frontier. "FrontiersOld, New, and Final. Since he saw the ability to move further into Sewards successor as Secretary of State, Hamilton Fish, held the position from 1869 through 1877. 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. 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. 0000020789 00000 n WebJackson Turner Main (1917-2003) was a professor, historian and author who researched and wrote about the colonial American social order before, during and after the American Revolution.He was the grandson of Frederick Jackson Turner author of the influential Frontier Thesis.Main worked most of his adult life as a professor and author of American 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. In broad terms, the further west, the more American the community. Turner sets up the East and the West as opposing forces; as the West strives for freedom, the East seeks to control it. [14][15] The first settlers who arrived on the east coast in the 17th century acted and thought like Europeans. Volume XLI, Sept 19, 1975, p. 2. Glenda Riley has argued that Turner's thesis ignored women. 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." statement marks the closing of a great historic movement. ", Cronon, William. [5], The Frontier Thesis came about at a time when the Germanic germ theory of history was popular. HV PSgrBr5AwT? Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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 Explore the controversy associated with Turners Frontier Thesis at U.S. History Scene. Later he focused on sectionalism as a force in U.S. development. 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. By 1890, through a series of reciprocal trade agreements, Hawaiians exported nearly all of their sugar production to the United States, tariff-free. He won wide acclaim among historians and intellectuals. "The frontier trail: rethinking Turner and reimagining the American West." Below is the article summary. Their good intentions and willingness to work in difficult conditions shone through in the letters and articles they wrote from the field. 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. 0000117724 00000 n [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. : @: nation as a whole. "Turnerians all: the dream of a helpful history in an intelligible world. He asked why the Turnerian American character was limited to the Thirteen Colonies that went on to form the United States, why the frontier did not produce that same character among pre-Columbian Native Americans and Spaniards in the New World. Frederick Jackson Turner For example, the Dutch Boers in South Africa were defeated in war by Britain. (1993), Ford, Lacy K. "Frontier democracy: The Turner thesis revisited. [50][51] Scholars analyzing the Internet have often cited Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier model.