The Frontier Thesis (Essay Sample)

The Frontier thesis was developed in 1893 by American historian Frederick Jackson Turner, who hypothesized that the prevalence of uninhabited land during a significant portion of American history was the most crucial element influencing national formation (Owram, 2013). As class divisions disappeared, frontier experiences and new opportunities compelled institutions to adapt, society to develop, and society to become more democratic. The end consequence was a distinctively American society that was different from the European societies from which it descended. Between the two world wars, historians like A.R.M. Lower and Frank Underhill as well as sociologist S.D. Clark found the frontier thesis to be compelling evidence for Canada's unique North American identity.
The significance of the frontier in American history was the topic of Frederick Jackson Turner's thesis presentation. He started up by quoting from the 1890 Census: "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." Turner felt that the American frontier had given it a special character. Residents had to become resourceful and independent as a result of poverty. They gained toughness and "rugged individualism," which aided in the growth of democracy. Turner did not pay any attention to the situation of Native Americans or women. Turner was reflecting the ideas of his generation in numerous ways (Schultz et al., 2010). The frontier was typically viewed by Americans as a primitive wilderness where people might live close to nature and be cleansed of the pollution of society. Many believed that the West served as a social safety valve where the destitute might begin a fresh life without becoming victims of urban issues in big cities.
Turner's thesis refuted the "germ hypothesis" of American history, which at the time was widely accepted and held that the political and social characteristics of Americans were directly descended from European ancestors. Turner argued that instead, during the process of settling North America, Europeans underwent a transformation that resulted in a distinct American mentality and culture that was very distinct from European predecessors( Janin, and Carlson, 2020).Turner outlined the various stages of settlement, which were dominated by the taming of the frontier from exploration through urban development, while arguing that the experience of westward movement across the American continent was what gave rise to the independence.