Resources about The Frontier in Early American Literature
1. Kidd, Michael W. “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” The Frontier In American History. Summer 1996.Ch 1 http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/TURNER/
The theme of the American Frontier in the time period I’m studying is about the great historic movement. This is the colonization of the Great West when new settlers were moving westward to take up free land, so to speak. At that time, the only known people on this continent were the Native American Indians who were affected by this era. The white people came to take over the land that we now call the United States. The settler took up land for plantation, which led to the industrial development. This time period also led to some Indian wars and peace. In summation, the frontier led to the formation of a new government for America. The main purpose of this website is the significance to dialogue the history of America. It gives information researchers the true insight into how our history came about. The literary text of this website is the hypertext edition of the writer origal writer, Frederick J. Turner. Turner’s original publication was in 1921. Due to some typographical errors and spelling variation, this online text has some slight difference to the original work of the writer. The original copy has been preserved. The criteria used to define frontier is based on the original writer’s research that includes the citations. A footnote is used to further inform the reader where the sources came from. This resource was helpful to me because of its content. It helped me read about history I’ve overlooked in the past. It was also written in early 1920, and the language is easy to read. The website is credible because of it truthfulness in stating that a few changes in spelling were made and that the original work is in archive. And the whole text is located on the website with a dot edu URL.
2. Schultz, Stanley K. and William P. Tishler. “Which Old West and Whose?” University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents. 2004. 8 June 2007 < http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/weblect/lec03/03_04.htm >.
This website is based on American History. This essay focuses on the American Frontier, looking to Turner’s “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” for its discussion. Up to the nineteenth century, according to Turner, American history had been made up of “people setting their eyes westward,” “escaping or leaving behind the settled institutions of society, plunging into the forests, or later into the grasslands of the Great Plains.” Turner makes an important observation about the frontier. “The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward, explain American development. American social development has been continually beginning over again on the frontier.” Turner defines the frontier as “the outer wave of expansion, the meeting point between savagery and civilization.” People were leaving settled territories and going into unexplored areas with no established government or institutions. People left civilization behind and found new ways to coexist peacefully. Turner believed that the most important effect of the frontier was the promotion of democracy. The frontier was “productive of individualism.” Everyone started on the same level. People were “self-reliant rugged individuals ready, willing, eager to breath a new life into tired, old social institutions.” The frontier was a time of innovators acting in response to geography, “free land breeding free people.” This essay was extremely informative and provided a detailed history of the American Frontier. Turner’s look at the frontier is not only informative, but also beautifully written. The frontier relates to Transcendentalism in its exploration of and interest in nature.
This is an educational website sponsored by the University of Wisconsin.
3. Reuben, Paul P. “The Frontier in American Literature.” PAL: Perspectives in American Literature-A Research and Referrence Guide-An Ongoing Project. 2 June 2007.
The website gives the Frederick Jackson Turner Thesis on the Frontier, basically stating that the West, “not the proslavery South or the antislavery North, was the most important among American sections, and that the novel attitudes and institutions produced by the frontier, especially through its encouragement of democracy, had been more significant than the imported European heritage in shaping American society.” While the website lists Turner’s views of the Frontier, and its importance to American development, his views exhibit a cultural disconnect with minorities and women, totally avoiding the bleaker aspects of westward expansion and capitalism. I’ve found Mr. Reuben’s websites to be very helpful, and since he cites all of his sources on every chapter, his credibility doesn’t need to be questioned.
4. "THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FRONTIER IN AMERICAN HISTORY." Virginia.Edu. University of Virginia. 23 June 2007 <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/TURNER/chapter1.html>.
The main purpose of this website is to provide information on the frontier in American history. The website defines the era around 1865. To check if a specific author or text fits into this era look and see if it was around that year. This recourse was helpful in reading and interpreting the author, texts, and themes because it give a little information on each one. The website is credible because it is apart of a reputable association, the University of Virginia.
5. West, Elliott. "Frontier." Encyclopedia of the American Foreighn Relations. 22 June 2007 < http://www.americanforeignrelations.com/Fl-Ga/Frontier.html >.
The website's purpose is to provide articles about different subjects during American history and present-time relations. The author of the "Frontier" article is a distinguished professor of History at the University of Arkansas. The frontier marked the existence of freedom and opportunity for the history of America; a boundary that expanded from throughout the land resulting in present-day America as a result of a quest for farmland, as well as opportunities. The frontier is said to be defined as a line dividing one civilization from another, however, has been a significant characteristic of the interaction, exchange, and understanding of cultures, resulting in America and her people.
The author of the page mentions Frederick Turner's essay, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History," and in the essay, Turner discusses the importance of the frontier on American history and development. -DR
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