Frederick Jackson Turner Case

Frederick Jackson Turner devoted much of his time to study the Western frontier and its effects on Americans. This particular quotation by Turner was written just after the close of the frontier in 1890. The exact document the quotation derived from was "The Significance of the Frontier in America", which was an essay reacting to this closing of the frontier. "To study the settlement of the frontier is to study the really American part of our history," (Frederick Jackson Turner) is an accurate portrayal of the effects that the frontier had on American society, and is shown through promoting individualism, fostering social and political democracy, and causing Americans to be inventive and practical-minded.

Settlement of the frontier had promoted a life of independence and individualism. In the beginning of settlement, Americans began moving to the lands on their own. There were no government systems set up in the frontier, and they prepared themselves to be on their own. An abundance of resources was present and was to be discovered in the frontier, and these settlers had to learn on their own how to manage without the help of a structured government. Settling the frontier worried Turner. Turner believed that after the frontier's land had been completely settled, there was no "safety net" or "fresh start" available anymore. Overall, a short period of independence was had because there was no government presence in the frontier, and it took some time before states began realizing that whoever controlled the most land physically also controlled the land politically.

Not only did the frontier promote independence, but it also fostered social and political democracy as well. As previously mentioned, the established states on the coast used the new lands from the frontier to become manipulative in the political field. New York could argue that the west was the one in need of special services; therefore it was necessary to help the growing society as soon as possible. The "old" states of America wanted to all settle the land because, again, those who controlled more land out in the west could control more in the political spectrum. However, life in the frontier was an adjustment. In the beginning, the land was owned by nomadic Native American tribes, who lived off the land. Industrialization was booming in all other parts of America, and it was a long process to try to bring the West "up to speed" with the advancements the other states already had. Because the settlers were from all parts of the country, there was such a diverse grouping of beliefs and classes who all equally settled the land (mainly from farmers, cowboys, and miners), and this caused the social and political democracy to be accepted because there was no supreme belief or race until the government stepped up and cracked down on what was to be allowed in these new states.

Settlers of the Western