To what extent does F.J Turner(TM)s Frontier Thesis(TM) present the landscape and the frontier environment as being central factors in explaining the development of the dominant American cultural values and id

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Emma Morbin

To what extent does F.J Turner’s Frontier Thesis’ present the landscape and the frontier environment as being central factors in explaining the development of the dominant American cultural values and identity? Discuss.

America has always been as much an idea as a geographic place. The exact nature of that idea has varied from person to person and group to group, but the central tenant has been freedom.  Freedom from the constraints of the old world, bound up in religious, political, social and economic repression, versus the apparent lack of boundaries, the initial absence of all these constraints, and the opportunity to be born again – to be anything you wanted to be based on your ability, good fortune, and hard work.  America, the frontier, was a place to experiment – and the literal pushing forward of the frontier westwards was replicated in pushing boundaries of all kinds, from social and political structures to art and literature.  Material success is highly valued, and success generally is not seen as something to be demurely downplayed, but as a worthy aim to be pursued in its own right.

Such an overwhelmingly optimistic idealisation of what being on the frontier meant – able to adapt to whatever newcomer wanted it to mean – and specifically welcoming of newcomers, could not help but have a profound affect on cultural values and identity, reinforced in popular art form through the western story and later films. Equally, the downside of the settlers pursuing their ambition in their landgrab at the expense of the indigenous population through physical strength and a belief in their own superiority is replicated in the individualistic attitude of pursuing personal goals regardless of the consequences upon others.

Turner’s thesis encapsulates this very idea throughout, with reference early on, to a bulletin of the superintendent of the census report for 1890 agreeing that “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” this was the ‘closing of a great historic movement’ as prior to this point the British had dominant power, they had established a permanent colony, economic growth on the east coast - however they were not as widespread as other colonies due to economic focus. An effectively managed eastern sea front gave naval power, shipping, and protection of the settlement A result of this imposition of law in the east meant people fled punishment by heading west.. Spanish colonies settled in the west coast and the south, influencing Cajun music, food, and places such as California which became known for glory, god and gold with widespread exploitation due to the mining industry. A catalyst for moving west was the ‘get rich quick’ mentality of the Californian gold rush . The French were widespread in both Canada and the US,  easily able to settle, able to go fishing, trapping, gather timber, and masses of water from the great lakes. However in 1783 Britain was defeated in the war of independence; president Jefferson then (1803) bought the 803,0000 sq miles of Louisiana from the French, doubling the size of the America nation and removing France as a significant force. It was then that America began to form its own cultural identity.

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In order for the nation to develop, a transport infrastructure would be needed. Jefferson launched a two year long detailed survey, managed and organised by the American government to investigate these new ideas. However the expedition had other ideas and sought further expansion and exploitation of land, and the westward movement was given an added push, with the west seen as exciting new land with all hopes and prospects lying there.

As Turner observed ‘In the case of most nations development has occurred in a limited area, and if a nation has expanded, it has met other growing peoples whom ...

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