Frederick Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis

We live in a world where everything is constantly changing. Everything that we see, feel, hear, taste and smell at one moment are not the same things as they were before. As the saying goes, a person can never walk at the same river twice. With this thought, it is not surprising to heart that the American population is becoming aware of the unbounded possibilities and unlimited capabilities available to them. The question is, is this the unprecedented reality? It is in reading between these lines that Frederick Jackson Turner’s thesis holds a valuable and essential influence in society.

The overlying point of Turner’s frontier thesis hinges upon the understanding that it has shaped and greatly influenced the growth, development and the essence of what the American character is all about. But more importantly, the Turner frontier thesis has also paved the way in influencing the essential fundamentals of the institutions that are present in the American society. Therefore, what he is actually insinuating is the movement of the American values and characteristics from that which is highly European or eastern in nature to that of being highly American or western in nature.

Turner is convinced that the American history should not be perceived as a simple extension of European enterprise.[1] This led to the innovation and in comprehending the reality that American society has gone through and still will still go through changes. Turner’s frontier thesis states that there is the closing of the “frontier”. In other words, he is arguing that the American society will have to sooner or later be emancipated by realizing the illusion of having a country with limitless boundaries to the reality that America has closed-spaced limits.

            In essence, the significance of the Turner frontier thesis relies in the fact that it is not a lopsided analysis and explanation of the transition that the American Society has done and may continue to do. This thesis’ encompassing perception of bringing together the importance of the interdependence of historical facts and the relationships that are made between societies gives a practical manner of viewing society in terms of economic, politics, religion and culture as one.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bogue, Alan G. Frederick Jackson Turner; Strange Roads Going Down. Norman, Oklahoma:     University of Oklahoma Press. 1998.

[1] Alan G. Bogue, Frederick Jackson Turner; Strange Roads Going Down, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998), p. xiii.