Essay 1

The Controversial Frontier

        In 1893, Frederick Jackson Turner wrote an essay on the impact of the frontier on American development.  His essay was appropriately written at the end of the frontier phenomenon and describes how the superfluous amount of land, continual depression, and American civilization moving towards the Pacific Ocean explains the growth of America.  However, one of his critics, Hofstadter, wrote another essay, which was a revision of Turner’s.  Hofstadter’s revision of Turner’s thesis coincides more with my own ideas about why America developed as it did and is more satisfying to me.    
        Turner’s main proposal of his essay was that the frontier was a large source of American individualism and democracy.  This statement is hard to believe because there are many frontier movements that occurred in other countries where individualism and democracy did not result.  Hofstadter explains, for example, frontier movements in Seignorial French Canada, the South American frontier, and in the Siberian frontier did not produce the same behavior (529).  Also, Turner explains his definition of frontier as being “elastic”, meaning it can be used in various contexts (519).  When Turner uses a word with an ambiguous definition in such a bold statement as the one previously mentioned, it is difficult to accept it as true because there are different ways of interpreting the word frontier.  Hofstadter also describes the tautology present in Turner’s essay.  Hofstadter explains that Turner defines American society “the development of American society is explained by a form of society” (529).  These interpretations are misleading and have given me little faith in the rest of Turner’s arguments.  
        
        Cloutman 2
        During the time of the frontier, there were needs for people who knew crafts such as fur trading, mining, cattle raising, and fishing that are not as prevalent today.  These people were attracted to the land and animals that were flourishing on the other side of the frontier border.  Turner believes that the different areas of the frontier produced diverse contributions to the American character.  This is understandable but considering the other events that were occurring at the time, it is more likely the frontier did not have as much of an impact as Turner makes one believe.  For example, at the time of the frontier, America was a melting pot for immigrants from all over the world, it was struggling through the period of the civil war and slavery, flourishing from the capitalism of agriculture, and was unique because of the American federal system.  These events and many others made more of an impact on the American character than the frontier.  
        Hofstadter describes in his essay that between 1820 and 1930, 37.5 million people came to America (530).  Turner explains that these people were lead here by the prospects of the frontier and the availability of land.  He also says that the frontier caused a “composite nationality” and that the immigrants were “Americanized, liberated, and fused into a mixed race” (523).  Hofstadter refutes these ideas by explaining that the “United States was a frontier” and a major outlet for Western European countries (530).  Immigrants did not come to the United States simply for the frontier, but rather to escape the oppression and poverty that existed in their countries.  During this time period, African Americans were not considered to be a part of the American population, and people who lived and were born in America looked down upon arriving immigrants.  
        
        Cloutman 3
        Although I do believe the frontier had something to do with the development of America and that it played a significant role in our history, I do not believe it was the only reason for the growth of the country.  The fate of a country cannot be purely based on one factor.  Many internal and external events result in the development of a growing, wealthy country such as the United States.   Hofstadter’s essay is a more realistic look on the topic and represents my ideas better than Turner’s essay.
















Cloutman 4
Works Cited
Hofstadter, Richard.  “The Thesis Disputed.”  Creating America:  Reading and Writing 
Arguments.  3rd Ed.  Eds. Joyce Mosen and Ann Watters.  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002.  527-31.
Turner, Frederick Jackson.  “The Significance of the Frontier in American History.”  Creating America:  Reading and Writing Arguments.  3rd Ed.  Eds. Joyce Mosen and Ann Watters.  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002.  518-26.