Westward Expansion Summary

Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier, by Ray Allen Billington, with the collaboration of James Blaine Hedges (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company,
1949, Fourth Edition, 1974, 840 pp., maps, tables, bibliography, index.)

As the preface to the first edition states, Westward Expansion attempts to follow the pattern that Frederick Jackson Turner might have used had he ever compressed his researches on the American frontier within one volume. Dr. Billington makes no pretense of original scholarship except in limited instances. Instead a synthesis of the voluminous writings inspired by Turner's original essays is presented. In that respect, the book is highly successful. Dr. Billington masterfully weaves these
monographs, essays, texts, and learned journals, into a readable yet pedantic overview of the history of the American
West.
Subsequent editions incorporate and appraise the newer viewpoints on the frontier advanced from the date of original publication in 1949 through 1981, the year of Dr.
Billington's death. The fifth and final edition was published in 1982. Textual revisions from the fourth to the fifth edition were slight. Certain changes were made to rid the text of sexism, as masculine nouns and pronouns gave way to neutral words. Thus,
"frontiersmen" became "pioneers" or "Westerners." All editions share an outstanding bibliography. The fourth edition bibliography is nearly 150 pages long. As in previous editions, Dr. Billington followed the practice of briefly summarizing each new entry, suggesting its significance in the historiography of the frontier. The book also provides a variety of maps and charts to aptly exemplify points. Dr. Billington was a professor of history and senior research associate of the
Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, at Northwestern University when the book was written. He has been described as a disciple of Frederick Jackson Turner, of Harvard
University, who first formulated the "frontier hypothesis." The first chapter of Westward
Expansion is revealingly entitled "The Frontier Hypothesis." The thesis of the book is that no one force did more to "Americanize" the nation's people and institutions than the repeated rebirth of civilization along the western edge of settlement during the three centuries required to occupy the continent. Bowing perhaps to recent scholarship, Dr. Billington concedes that the westward moving area of free land alone does not explain American development. The persistence of inherited European traits, the continuous impact of changing world conditions, and the influence of varying racial groups were equally important forces in shaping the nation's distinctive civilization.
Still, the continuous rebirth of society in the western wilderness, provided Americans unique characteristics not shared by the rest of the world.
Thus, the most Dr. Billington concedes is a modification of Turner, not a refutation. According to Dr. Billington, the frontier was a vast westward moving zone, contiguous to the populated portions of the country, peopled by a variety of self-aggrandizing individuals intent on exploiting the natural resources of their respective zone. The expanding west was an area of seemingly unlimited resources and opportunities where people could improve their lot through trapping, trading, ranching, mining, speculating, and farming, to name but a few of the opportunities available. The frontier appealed to the restless, the adventurous, to people who were willing to gamble against nature for the chance of wealth and improvement. Frontiersmen were inventive, wasteful, mobile, and nationalistic. They believed in democracy and scorned tradition. These psychological "types" interacted with the physical environment to create a unique social environment that existed in the newer settlements. This social environment allowed for a flexible rise in social standing of the individual, just as the low man-land ratio allowed
for the accumulation of wealth. The key feature of the new environment was the stimulus provided to upward mobility. Anyone could succeed if only they applied themselves.
Further, the wide dispersal of land ownership, the absence of a prior leadership structure and the need to solve unique local problems contributed naturally to the formation and growth of democratic values and attitudes.
Self rule was the norm under such circumstances militating against control by the few. These attitudes inevitably spread eastward, affecting the entire country. Generally speaking, the book was well received during its time. The two book reviews attached, one published in the New York Times and authored by Dr. Allan
Nevins, professor of American history at Columbia University, and the other published in the Saturday Review of Literature and authored by Dr. John Hicks, professor of history at the University of California, attest to its favorable reception. For the most part I agree with the conclusions and statements of both reviews although I view the book as more detached than Dr. Nevins does and am not as excited by Dr. Billington's style as Dr. Hicks appears. For example, when discussing the impact of technology on the arid Great Plains,
Dr. Billington sets forth in a typically prosaic manner: "Similar improvements speeded planting. The spring-tooth harrow, perfected by a
Michigan mechanic in 1869, proved more usable on prairie soils than disk and spike-tooth implements, for its flexible teeth bounced over obstacles and automatically dislodged
debris." Overall, the book has many outstanding features. It is filled with interesting facts and is an excellent reference work. The numerous maps and charts provide useful information that cogently illustrate the intended meaning. The bibliography is exceptional.
In other respects the book falters. For example, the book conveys an unmistakable romantic quality, a quality I suspect was not always evident in the day to day lives of most settlers. In that regard, it has probably served to perpetuate many of the myths that Dr.
Billington argues were created by unique western social and environmental conditions.
Also, with the exception of Indians, the book has little to say regarding the role played by women, children, and minorities. Women in particular are paid little homage. When they are mentioned, they are referred to by married name only, with fashion their main concern, and otherwise are generally depicted as a burden to the men. Even so, the overall quality of the book is superlative and as a reference work the book should and has withstood the test of time.