Frontier's Influence On American Identity
The Frontier’s Influence on the American Identity An important era in the history of American development reached its ending, but left its society anything but the same. The westward movement of the frontier in the seventeenth and eighteenth century created such ethical values for America, and has always been an inspiration for our country, and others, to expand. We were determined and industrious people, constantly driven by our wanting for free land and opportunity. The pioneers were people willing to face hardship for the sake of opportunity, hoping to find something better over the western horizon. The daily life of the settlers on the frontier was constantly filled with difficulties, and each of the frontier’s barriers the colonists came across challenged their discipline, their morals and values, and had an important role in the shaping of …show more content…
1). The European frontier on the Atlantic coast in the seventeenth century experienced a rapid shift westward till the early 1880s. Turner states that the frontier is continuously changing between settled and free land, and this constant cycle began in savagery. His work goes on to explain that different barriers, such as the indigenous people, had a great enough impact on the settlers that European life was no longer present. Turner believes that the frontier has always had values different from those of the East and the Old World, and that the American race was no longer known as a European one, but as something entirely different. The frontier is the creator of America, and Americans are the creators of their own history. To truly comprehend this history, you must first understand the frontier and how it helped shape the America we know
Tony Horwitz's A Voyage Long And Strange
1577 Words | 7 PagesAs the goal of the writer was to educate, the book achieved success in both ways as the reader is left much more informed about early America than when they began reading the novel. The book covers the its main topics in three sections, Discovery, Conquest and Settlement. Each section includes information from various geographical regions in America with information pertaining to one of the specific sections above. Each section gave a comprehensive look at the main topic in a way that was easy to understand as well as
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237 Words | 1 PagesI disagree with Cronon’s notion that people’s idea of wilderness was historically powerful. Undoubtedly, the wilderness notion played a role in forming American identity. Cronon states the consequences of this role when he writes “Thus in the myth of the vanishing frontier lay the seeds of wilderness preservation in the United States, for if wild land had been so crucial in the making of the nation”(Pg 76). But these consequences aren’t particularly profound. Even though the wilderness notion resulted in establishing national parks and preservations, it did not prevent the further development of industry, consumption of forests and mining of natural resources.
Dbq Turner's Frontier Thesis
692 Words | 3 PagesFrontier needs and ideas were conditioned for American nationalistic system to legislate internal improvements in tariff and land. Frontier conditions worked against sectionalism both economically and socially. Promotion of democracy was its vital effect as was individualism. “Professor Herbert L.Osgood, in an able article, has pointed out that the frontier conditions prevalent in the colonies are important factors in the explanation of the American Revolution, where individual liberty was sometimes confused with absence of all effective government. ”(Source 1).
Cynthia Van Zandt Analysis
682 Words | 3 PagesThroughout the seventeenth century, conflict between Europeans and Native Americans was rampant and constant. As more and more Europeans migrated to America, violence became increasingly consistent. This seemingly institutionalized pattern of conflict begs a question: Was conflict between Europeans and Native Americans inevitable? Kevin Kenny and Cynthia J. Van Zandt take opposing sides on the issue. Kevin Kenny asserts that William Penn’s vision for cordial relations with local Native Americans was destined for failure due to European colonists’ demands for privately owned land.
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Summary Of Manifest Destiny And American Territorial Expansion
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The Impact Of Westward Expansion On Native Americans
847 Words | 4 PagesNative Americans flourished in North America, but over time white settlers came and started invading their territory. Native Americans were constantly being thrown and pushed off their land. Sorrowfully this continued as the Americans looked for new opportunities and land in the West. When the whites came to the west, it changed the Native American’s lives forever. The Native Americans had to adapt to the whites, which was difficult for them.
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696 Words | 3 PagesHistorians who practice historiography agree that the writings from the beginning of what is now known as the United States of America can be translated various ways. In James H. Merrell’s “The Indians’ New World,” the initial encounters and relationships between various Native American tribes and Europeans and their African American slaves are explained; based on Merrell’s argument that after the arrival of Europeans to North America in 1492, not only would the Europeans’ lives drastically change, but a new world would be created for the Native Americans’ as their communities and lifestyles slowly intertwined for better or worse. Examples of these changes include: “deadly bacteria, material riches, and [invading] alien people.” (Merrell 53)
Late Nineteenth Century: Contrast To The American West
842 Words | 4 PagesThe contrasts between the American West and East in the nineteenth century range from a new start to the adventure of the living in the Wild West. The east had become overcrowded and did not allow much opportunity for people of lesser wealth. “In 1893, the historian Frederick Jackson Turner gave a celebrated lecture, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History,” in which he argued that on the western frontier the distinctive qualities of American culture were forged: individual freedom, political democracy, and economic mobility. The West, he added, acted as a “safety
Summary Of The Transcontinentals And The Making Of Modern America By Richard White
559 Words | 3 PagesHe argues that many factors especially corporate and political influences where the reason behind this inappropriate time and manner in which the transcontinentals were built. He states, “The war gave free rein to men willing to take command, to imagine great things, to innovate, to experiment, and to lose all hold on reality” (White, 3) I believe that this statement is a perfect example of his main argument and point. White’s argument is that due to political and corporate gains that many stood to benefit from the
The Trans-Mississippi West
784 Words | 4 PagesDuring the “Gilded Age” period of American history, development of the Trans-Mississippi west was crucial to fulfilling the American dream of manifest destiny and creating an identity which was distinctly American. Since the west is often associated with rugged pioneers and frontiersmen, there is an overarching idea of hardy American individualism. However, although these settlers were brave and helped to make America into what it is today, they heavily relied on federal support. It would not have been possible for white Americans to settle the Trans-Mississippi west without the US government removing Native Americans from their lands and placing them on reservations, offering land grants and incentives for people to move out west, and the
Native American Values: Respect Is Still Important Today
448 Words | 2 PagesRespect is a big part of our lives still. Although the presence of many of the virtuous Native American values is very meager today, this one still exists as a miniscule glimmer across our lives. One must have respect for others to first have respect for themselves. You make a choice of how people will see you: as a incorrigible person, or as a respectful person. People will usually treat you accordingly.
Frontier Myth In American Culture
1594 Words | 7 PagesA view of Americans as a special, exceptional people because Americans had progressively taken over the West and conquered primitive societies was firmly established in the minds of Americans by frontier myth. One of problems is that the frontier myth is a story, and “all stories are partial; that is, in creating narrative coherence, they leave things out, and emphasize other things”. They are not necessarily false, but neither are they history. As the society evolved, the concept of the frontier is consequently redefined as a space of social and cultural interaction and replaced by the terms “contact zone” by Mary Louise Pratt in her 1992 book Imperial Eyes. Contact zones are “social spaces where disparate cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other.”
Crevecoeur's Impact On The American Identity
1756 Words | 8 PagesDe Crevecoeur explains these individuals stating, “The Americans were once scattered all over Europe; here they are incorporated into one of the finest systems of population which has ever appeared” (Horwitz 27). De Crevecoeur believes that the frontier played a big role in the formation of the American identity because of the melting pot of different races, ethnicities, beliefs and cultures that was Americans then and are today. John Wannuaucon Quinney was a Native American and leader who highly supported Native American tribes. Quinney was very vocal about the negative impact the frontier played on the formation of American identity.
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