paper #1				
Inward Expansion: “The American Dream”
             Along with the concept of Manifest Destiny came the innovation needed to promote western expansion. Many Americans wanted the so-called “free land” in the unsettled western frontier. With the curiosity, creativity, energy, and determination of the Americans, it was just a matter of time until the “free land” would disappear as Turner claimed(518); as a result Americans would have to find substitutions for their expansive behavior. This switched their expansive behavior from focusing outwards, as seen in the expansion of the frontier, inwardly.  The inward expansion in which Americans felt to be necessary was the improving of their own individual lives and in doing so taking necessary precautions in the reassurance of their survival. By the improvement of their own lives, the nation was led into a reconstruction phase, one in which Americans felt suitable for the nation to thrive.     
            
            The western expansion was now at a close, and with it brought a large increase in the nation’s population. Americans everywhere realized that certain adjustments were going to have to be taken care of in order for the nation to thrive in the way Americans hoped it would. One first step in inward expansion was providing food for the nation. This was a key factor that had to be dealt with instantly. Before the advance of the western frontier, we were dependant on England in terms of subsidence. Now that Americans had a vast area of land surrounding them, they needed to start using the rich lands and minerals that were abundant. By using the resources around them, they began to step away from relying on England for supplies, therefore developing national pride. To keep from relying on other nations, Americans needed to broaden the field of science. Increasing their knowledge of science could help by creating improvements, which would benefit Americans and increase nourishment throughout the nation. Science, when expanded properly, enhanced supplements that made the growing stages of produce more efficient. Food also became safer to eat with the creation of preservatives. However food shortage wasn’t the only concern that Americans were going to have to expand on. In order to receive food, funds needed to be appropriated and employment opportunities would need to flourish. 
            Some Americans, after the western expansion, were earning their living by farming, but many of  the others were waiting for opportunities to spring up. With this in mind the industrialization period came to pass. Americans needed many job openings for the large growth in population and what better way to provide jobs than through the vast field of industry. One aspect of industry that needed to be expanded on was the area of technology. With technology growing, industries could work more efficiently and costs would become lower, these changes would bring more money to the Americans but also point the nation in the right direction. Now that the Americans were expanding the workforce and making the cost of living more ideal and comfortable, their were still problems that needed expansion and improvement, so that Americans everywhere would some day live the so-called “American Dream”. 
            
            With the vast expansion of industries and the jobs that they provided, there came a push for equality and law and order. Americans were trying to expand inwards for once in life and focus on how to make their lives better but also create a nation that could become a role model for all other nations. While people were trying to put their lives in order and trying to take advantage of what the nation could offer, problems of equality arose. Americans needed to create a type of political system which would bring law and order to the land and oversee that equality was being preserved. While the industries were bringing in jobs, many people were subjected to poor working conditions and also treated unequally in accordance to race and gender. These problems were inevitable and needed to be dealt with. Without Americans trying to expand the system of  law and order over the nation, Turner advocated that the nation would become a land of “savagery”(519), the way it was before the frontier was expanded upon. Americans everywhere would have attitudes directed angrily towards one another and as a result violence would become widespread throughout the nation. Americans didn’t want this notion to be anticipated as the way the nation was to be perceived, and also didn’t want their families to be accustomed to this violence, as a way of life.
            As the expansion of the western frontier came to an end, Americans realized that they needed to expand inwardly. Every American wanted to have success in life and live up to the “American Dream”. While the frontier was coming to a close, Turner concluded that many of the inhabitants there were looked at as “civilized”(519). Americans displayed how civilized they had become, by improving their own lives and trying to make the nation a good example to all other nations. Providing themselves with a system of law and order, jobs, food, and a sense of equality, they were focusing inwardly and trying to improve the areas needed for a good nation to thrive. This certain psychological change in their expansive behavior was expected by Turner, but was also inevitable, for Americans wanted the most suitable life for their families. This meant, a nice place to live, decent income, an enjoyable job, and also the feeling that their families were safe from harm; in other words the American Dream. Eventually this inward focus would lead Americans to look outwards once again, to places like oceanic and space expansion, but security and the feeling of finally being settled had to sink in before any further expansion could have  taken place. 
             
            
 Works cited 
Turner, Frederick Jackson.  “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”.  Creating America: Reading and writing Arguments.  3rd ed.  Eds. Joyce Moser and Ann Waters.  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002.  518-27.