created "the AMERICAn"
Summary
The article began by citing one of the most famous historical authors, Frederick Jackson Turner, who claims that the "American" was a new man who held unique institutions and characteristics that are not present in the Old World. The author of the article, Ray Allen Billington, argues that the development of these unique traits was a result of the abundance of free land and "an ever-receding frontier." The author then gives a brief summary about Frederick Jackson Turner's life. Turner grew up in Portage, Wisconsin in 1861 from pioneer parents. With other pioneers, Turner spend his youth trapping beavers, hunting Indians, and cleared land out for settlement. Turner attended the University of Wisconsin, where he discovered his interest in democracy and applying scientific techniques to social problems. After attending the University of Wisconsin, he attended John Hopkins University to continue his studies, where he found professors who stubbornly claimed the environment, or so-called "frontier" had no role in the evolution of American institutions. As Turner left the University, he continued to ponder over why Americans were so different from Europeans. When he returned to the University of Wisconsin to teach, he published two landmark publications: (1) The Significance of History and (2) Problems in American History, which attempted to explain the unique features and elements of American development. All these works were culminated into his well-known frontier thesis, published as the Significance of the Frontier in American History (to access a summary and review on this publication, click here and scroll down to be re-directed). One of his main points was that Europeans or Easterners came to the frontier with their customs. However, the nature of the frontier and its wilderness was incomparable with European and Eastern customs; complex political institutions were unnecessary for in a small settlement, old economic practices were obsolete in such an isolated community that focused on the individual, and social customs were declared unimportant as prestige in the West depended on skill with tools rather than "hereditary glories." Thus, as each successive generation slowly began to adapt, slowly, the Western population as a whole became a new type of population-- the American.
Connection to the Thesis
This artifact connects to the thesis statement because it portrays the huge impact that the American frontier (the physical frontier) had on American society. Without the frontier, the United States would indeed be a very different society, as thee would be no distinct American. The frontier and it's conditions essentially fostered some sort of "evolution". The European population, very rigid in social status and traditional, immigrated to a new environment, one that the majority of the settlers were unprepared for or unaccustomed to. Those who knew how to survive in the wilderness and had characteristics that were compatible with that of the West thrived and survived. Those who were unable to survive in the West due to their lack of preparedness were plagued by disease, starvation, or Indian attacks, and eventually died. To a certain extend, this is very similar to Charles Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection-- survival of the fittest. Thus, as each generation passed by, more settlers with "pioneer" features survived and dominated, and settlers with "aristocratic" or European tendencies died out. This adaption to the West became the American.
The article began by citing one of the most famous historical authors, Frederick Jackson Turner, who claims that the "American" was a new man who held unique institutions and characteristics that are not present in the Old World. The author of the article, Ray Allen Billington, argues that the development of these unique traits was a result of the abundance of free land and "an ever-receding frontier." The author then gives a brief summary about Frederick Jackson Turner's life. Turner grew up in Portage, Wisconsin in 1861 from pioneer parents. With other pioneers, Turner spend his youth trapping beavers, hunting Indians, and cleared land out for settlement. Turner attended the University of Wisconsin, where he discovered his interest in democracy and applying scientific techniques to social problems. After attending the University of Wisconsin, he attended John Hopkins University to continue his studies, where he found professors who stubbornly claimed the environment, or so-called "frontier" had no role in the evolution of American institutions. As Turner left the University, he continued to ponder over why Americans were so different from Europeans. When he returned to the University of Wisconsin to teach, he published two landmark publications: (1) The Significance of History and (2) Problems in American History, which attempted to explain the unique features and elements of American development. All these works were culminated into his well-known frontier thesis, published as the Significance of the Frontier in American History (to access a summary and review on this publication, click here and scroll down to be re-directed). One of his main points was that Europeans or Easterners came to the frontier with their customs. However, the nature of the frontier and its wilderness was incomparable with European and Eastern customs; complex political institutions were unnecessary for in a small settlement, old economic practices were obsolete in such an isolated community that focused on the individual, and social customs were declared unimportant as prestige in the West depended on skill with tools rather than "hereditary glories." Thus, as each successive generation slowly began to adapt, slowly, the Western population as a whole became a new type of population-- the American.
Connection to the Thesis
This artifact connects to the thesis statement because it portrays the huge impact that the American frontier (the physical frontier) had on American society. Without the frontier, the United States would indeed be a very different society, as thee would be no distinct American. The frontier and it's conditions essentially fostered some sort of "evolution". The European population, very rigid in social status and traditional, immigrated to a new environment, one that the majority of the settlers were unprepared for or unaccustomed to. Those who knew how to survive in the wilderness and had characteristics that were compatible with that of the West thrived and survived. Those who were unable to survive in the West due to their lack of preparedness were plagued by disease, starvation, or Indian attacks, and eventually died. To a certain extend, this is very similar to Charles Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection-- survival of the fittest. Thus, as each generation passed by, more settlers with "pioneer" features survived and dominated, and settlers with "aristocratic" or European tendencies died out. This adaption to the West became the American.