Shaping The American Character

More than a hundred years after it was first articulated, Frederick Jackson Turner's "frontier thesis" remains one of the key interpretations of American history. Turner argued that the European heritage of Americans was less important in understanding the country they had made than their own experience in settling a continent. It was the circumstances of life on the frontierin fact a succession of frontiers that moved inexorably westwardthat were a determining influence on American character and institutions. Turner read this paper propounding his thesis at the meeting of the American Historical Association in Chicago, July 12, 1893, as part of the World's Columbian Exposition. It was timely, he suggested, because the Census of 1890 had announced the closing of the frontier in the United States and thus the end of an important stage of American development.

To find out more information about Rowman & Littlefield titles please visit us at www.rowmanlittlefield.com.

A critique of American ideas. The first half of the book deals with how America became the nation that it is; the second half suggests how it could become the nation that it should be. "Every Christian interested in the welfare of his or her country should read this excellent volume." (Robert G. Clouse, Department of History, Indiana State University)

2014 Reprint of 1894 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition. The "Frontier Thesis" or "Turner Thesis," is the argument advanced by historian Frederick Jackson Turner in 1894 that American democracy was formed by the American Frontier. He stressed the process-the moving frontier line-and the impact it had on pioneers going through the process. He also stressed consequences of a ostensibly limitless frontier and that American democracy and egalitarianism were the principle results. In Turner's thesis the American frontier established liberty by releasing Americans from European mindsets and eroding old, dysfunctional customs. The frontier had no need for standing armies, established churches, aristocrats or nobles, nor for landed gentry who controlled most of the land and charged heavy rents. Frontier land was free for the taking. Turner first announced his thesis in a paper entitled "The Significance of the Frontier in American History," delivered to the American Historical Association in 1893 in Chicago. He won very wide acclaim among historians and intellectuals. Turner's emphasis on the importance of the frontier in shaping American character influenced the interpretation found in thousands of scholarly histories. By the time Turner died in 1932, 60% of the leading history departments in the U.S. were teaching courses in frontier history along Turnerian lines.

The Frontier in American History is a collection of works related to the history of American colonization of Wild West. Turner expresses his views on how the idea of the frontier shaped the American being and characteristics. He writes how the frontier drove American history and why America is what it is today. Turner reflects on the past to illustrate his point by noting human fascination with the frontier and how expansion to the American West changed people's views on their culture. _x000D_ Contents:_x000D_ The Significance of the Frontier in American History_x000D_ The First Official Frontier of the Massachusetts Bay_x000D_ The Old West_x000D_ The Middle West_x000D_ The Ohio Valley in American History_x000D_ The Significance of the Mississippi Valley in American History_x000D_ The Problem of the West_x000D_ Dominant Forces in Western Life_x000D_ Contributions of the West to American Democracy_x000D_ Pioneer Ideals and the State University_x000D_ The West and American Ideals_x000D_ Social Forces in American History_x000D_ Middle Western Pioneer Democracy

Volume one examines how an immense diversity of ethnic and religious groups ultimately created a set of distinct regional societies. Volume two emphasizes the flux, uncertainty, and unpredictablilty of the expansion into continental America, showing how a multitude of individuals confronted complex and problematic issues.