How Did The Frontier Shaped American Culture

Turner's interpretation of the frontier played a decisive role in shaping american identity. The crucial element Turner argue that transformed the europeans to americans was the process of settling the frontier.He theorized that the frontier was a process that transformed Europeans into a new people, the Americans.Although there were people that disagreed with the thesis stating that many factors influenced american culture besides the looming frontier. The significance of the frontier was that as pioneers moved into the frontier zone they were changed by the encounter. Many historians proposed that modern america was an outgrowth of european civilization in a new land. Turner opposed this popular view by arguing that the geographical frontier

was the most important factor in shaping new american way of thinking. As frontier moved west american settlers continually faced new challenges learning about environment, distributing land, dealing with indigenous people and establishing new societies. Essentially his main idea was that society was forged by the skills acquired once crossing the frontier and settlement in new land rather than the influence of societies they have left behind.

This is just as Turner believed that the trials and endeavors of american frontiersmen influenced and contributed to american outlooks, character, society. Turner argued that the west was responsible for key characteristics of american culture; beliefs in individualism, political democracy, and economic mobility. The american character was forged in the wilderness as successive waves of civilization spread westward. The further west you get the more advanced america became; culturally, socially and economically. The west would be where you could send excess population, where you could try new ideas and movements and create new markets. America was special in some way the idea of american exceptionalism was in his thesis, which also led to the old west being

revered.

In 1890, the U.S. Census Bureau stated that all land in the United States had been claimed. Turner declared that this seemingly unimportant event represented a critical turning point in American history. With the frontier being gone it proposed a closing of an epoch.Once the frontier was officially removed, the next generations of Americans would be left with no territories to settle and no boundaries to overcome. He delivered essay in 1893 at the american historical association conference. Most historians traditionally thought of america's important institutions deriving from english and european sources. But turner rejected this orthodox thinking and he said that the crucial element transforming europeans to americans was the process of settling the continent. For Turner the key factor in shaping america’s identity was the frontier conditions the pioneers faced as they moved to the west. The frontier became the catalyst for the development of a distinctly american national character. There are many themes such as evolution to explain how europeans evolved into americans. American exceptionalism was a big factor as it was the belief that the country;s citizens have a unique character unlike that of any other nation.

The demarcation line was being moved farther and farther west with each generation.

The frontier, and its demarcation line, determined the path of history more than other events revered as significant.

Turner describes how centers of attraction was a big enticement for westward expansion' Salt was an attraction because it was needed to preserve food for storage and so that people could more easily travel. Mines and better soil were attractions that provided wealth and/or food. Army posts became necessary centers of attraction for protection. With all the wide-open space that was available, it was natural that people would move west to claim the land and the benefits it reaped.The frontier was a vast area of free land so it was opt for

opportunity.

Turner discusses three stages or waves of frontier settlement in his thesis. The first wave he refers to as the pioneers. These are the settlers who simply found a piece of land to live on. Pioneers might own a few animals and have a family but did not necessarily own the land. For survival, they relied on their own ingenuity, farming, and hunting. Eventually, these first wave settlers might feel too closed in by neighbors and want to move on to do it all over again.The pioneers passed the homestead on to new emigrants, who Turner refers to as the second wave of settlers. The emigrants 'put glass in the windows and bridges over streams.' They wanted to make improvements and were more likely to stay put. This group wanted to create villages with schools, roads, and courthouses.Turner's third wave of settlers were the men of capital, the capitalists. These were the men who used the foundations of the previous settlers to create great cities and giant enterprises. Turner explained that with each expansion or migration of the frontier, this process was repeated and, thus, became generational.

In America, there was no large population beyond the frontier other than a few native tribes who were not numerous enough to prevent the migration west. On the American frontier, on the other hand, people who moved west were forced to adapt. They had to fight Native Americans, learn to forage for food in the wilderness, and create tools and household implements from what they could find. The environment of the American frontier was so strong that it replaced European tradition, and from it arose the tradition of self-sufficiency that Turner says is distinctly American.The frontier promoted a composite American nationality. People from many countries emigrated and moved west, resulting in a melting pot of cultures. Turner suggests that these people became 'fused into a mixed race.'