The Significance of the Frontier in American History

Frederick Jackson Turner

Main Point #1:

America’s Western frontier, at all points during its colonization, placed many hardships on the people who would settle in it. These obstacles and the settlers’ spirit to overcome them built the American identity.

 The westward expansion was founded largely by individuals who sought fortune and freedom. Their search for personal satisfaction and the distances in which this was done drove them to distrust an intrusive and stratified government, thus reinforcing the concept of self-governance.

 It is the Western Frontier which shaped the American Dream- the idea of unlimited opportunity and financial security.

“The frontier is the line of most rapid and effective Americanization.

“…to the frontier the American intellect owes its striking characteristics. That coarseness and strength combined with acuteness and inquisitiveness; that practical, inventive turn of mind, quick to find expedients; that masterful grasp of material things, lacking in the artistic but powerful to effect great ends; that restless, nervous energy; that dominant individualism, working for good and for evil, and withal that buoyancy and exuberance which comes with freedom, these are traits of the frontier, or traits called out elsewhere because of the existence of the frontier. Main Point #2:

The Frontier transformed America from a land of British colonists to a country encompassing dozens of nationalities- the proverbial “Melting Pot.”

 Hordes of newly arrived immigrants, many escaping the financial and social obscurity of Europe, ventured westwards where, if they overcame the environment, financial success and equality were virtually guaranteed.

 Every step westwards was a step away from an old and stagnated Europe. America presented any brave and willing soul with the opportunities of an untouched land.

“The Scotch-Irish and the Palatine Germans furnished the dominant element in the stock of the colonial frontier. With these peoples were also the freed indentured servants, or redemptioners, who at the expiration of their time of service passed to the frontier… In the crucible of the frontier the immigrants were Americanized, liberated, and fused into a mixed race, English in neither nationality nor characteristic.”

“[The Atlantic Coast] was the frontier of Europe in a very real sense. Moving Westward, the frontier became more and more American. Thus the advance of the frontier has meant a steady growth of independence on American lines.

Main Point #3:

The uneven expansion of the West forced the transition from frontier to settled area to repeat itself many times over. Each time this process was repeated, democratic ideals and economic opportunities found new strongholds.

“This perennial rebirth, this fluidity of opportunities, its continuous touch with the simplicity of primitive society, furnishes the forces dominating American character.”

“The growth of nationalism and the evolution of American political institutions were dependent on the advance of the frontier…” Main Point #4:

The frontier and the individualism it fostered placed considerable gaps between the American people and the federal government.

 The mass exodus westwards placed long distances between the new territories and the political hegemony of the Eastern United States. Settlers were less likely to accept legislation from the federal government, and because the distances involved were so great, Congress and the President lost control of the westward expansion.

 As each new community strove for self-sufficiency and governance, less attention was paid to the political situation in Washington. This lack of critical oversight encouraged incompetent leadership.

“Individualism in America has allowed a laxity in regard to governmental affairs which has rendered possible the spoils system and all the manifest evils that follow from the lack of a highly developed civil spirit.”

Main Point #5:

The continental frontier drove early American history. Now that it’s gone, a new chapter in American history opens.

“The legislation which most developed the powers of the national government, and played the largest part in its activity, was conditioned on the frontier.” “…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.”