The Frontier In American History

At this time, my paper will be split into an evolutionary model, I will use the primary argument (Turner) and then trace how subsequent authors have agreed (Webb), disagreed (Limerick, White), tweaked (Billington) and broadened (Susman) the original thesis. I currently have two supporting books (Nichols and Taylor) and a variety of supporting periodicals. I have already read three of the books, and I feel that they should fit into the preceeding categories, however, once I get through all of them I will be able to make the final determination regarding my five main books.

Part I – The Original Thesis

Turner, Frederick Jackson. The Frontier in American History. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1920.
This book includes Turner's landmark
speech which laid the groundwork for future historical scholarship regarding national identity in regards to the frontier. Also known as the Turner thesis or Frontier Thesis, Turner contended that America’s political, social, and economic evolution could only be understood in relation to the frontier process. Each successive generation moved further West, changing their values and morals to relate to the surrounding environment – ultimately defining the idea of an “American” identity. Originally given as a paper at the meeting of the American Historical Association in Chicago, July 12, 1893, it wasn’t until 1920 that it was included in a compilation of Turner’s essays.

Part II – “Old West” The Classic Statements

Billington, Ray Allen.
America's Frontier Heritage. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico, 1974.
By re-examining Turner's thesis Billington contends that, although diminished, the frontier experience remains a major contributing factor in national identity. Billington advocates for Turner’s thesis, but uses a revisionist view, weighing both pros and cons, to show that the original thesis is too simplified; that there are many interacting forces which help to define American culture.

Webb, Walter Prescott. The Great Frontier. Cambridge: The Riverside Press, 1952. CB 245.W4
Split into twelve (12) chapters, Webb examined the “interaction of the Great Frontier and the Metropolis” (xiv), focusing primarily on the frontier. Webb viewed the American frontier as a multi-century experience which, through land and capitol, shaped American identity and influenced all of Western civilization. Webb believed that the American frontier was not at the edge, but in the middle, transient and temporal. Webb used a variety of reference materials, covering political, social and economic in support of his thesis.

Part III – New West

Limerick, Patricia Nelson. The Legacy of Conquest : The Unbroken Past of the American West. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.,
1987.

A revisionist critique of Turner's frontier thesis noting the perceived inconsistencies and ethnocentrism in regards to the absence of non-white non-male contributions to the frontier. Limerick acknowledges the attractiveness of Turner's thesis, but also proposes an alternative interpretation of the West and the emergence of a new urban/industrial, diverse, frontier thesis.

Susman, Warren I. Culture as History: The Transformation of American Society in the Twentieth Century. New York: Pantheon Books, 1973.

In a compilation of fourteen essays, Susman examines the culture of America from a twentieth - century standpoint. Susman examines the debatable impact the frontier had on developing twentieth-century culture, claiming that Turner's thesis has become useless as have many succeeding theses. Susman believed that American culture has evolved over time and that Mickey Mouse may be a main contributor to current cultural aspects.

White, Richard. It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own: A New History of the American West. Oklahoma: Oklahoma University Press, 1991.

In an effort to depart from the traditional Turnerian/Frontier Thesis interpretation of the American West, the word frontier is never used. The book uses a human/environmental interaction within a geographic lens in an attempt to provide a more inclusive, broader, narrative of the American West as a comprehensive history of all peoples, rather than the story of the expanding frontier of the United States. A nice aspect of the book are the included maps, pictures, and figures provided in an effort to tell the whole story.

Part IV – Combining Old and New

Nichols, Roger L., ed.
American Frontier and Western Issues: A Historiographical Review. New York: Greenwood Press, 1986.
Includes thirteen essays on the progress and movements in regard to the American Frontier. The introduction examines problems within the field of frontier historiography. The essays include useful bibliographies, methodologies and discussions on the effectiveness of research.

Taylor, George Rogers, ed. The Turner Thesis: Concerning the Role of the Frontier American History. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1972 (1949).
Part of the Problems in American Civilization Series, this book is a collection of eight essays, by major frontier scholars, debating Turner's thesis and its impact on twentieth-century America. Topics include nationalism, imperialism, democracy, and class.

***
SUPPORTING PERIODICALS
Clemente, Hebe. “National Identity and the Frontier.” American Studies International 18:3/4 (Spring/Summer 1980), 36-44. Clemente believes that the “myth” of the Frontier helped push the ideal of the frontier, therefore attracting those who fit within the frontier category. The paper is split into three separate cases: the United States, Brazil and Argentina, giving a comparative look at how the frontier experience contributes to the formation of a national
identity.

Horn, Miriam. "How the West Was Really Won." U.S. News & World Report, May 21, 1990: 56-65.
A general look at the development of Western history. New historians and their new theories are contrasted with Turner's thesis, but Horn claims that Turner was right that the frontier was the “root of American character”.

Riley, Glenda. "Airbrushing Western History." Journal of the West, 1992: 3-5.
A short essay that claims the notion of frontier is useful and important in understanding our history and ourselves. Riley believes that adding the missing stories of the frontier would be more productive than eliminating the use of frontier theory.

Wunder, John R. 1994. "What's Old About the New Western History: Race and Gender Part I." Pacific Northwest Quarterly 85 (2): 50-58.
While "New Western History" attempts to be more inclusive than older historical approaches, especially Turner's, Wunder claims that it is only in a temporary phase, that the new histories are still exclusionary, and many of them use old models and methodologies.