Turner’s Thesis – Lecture Points

Frederick Jackson Turner’s “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”

“The Significance of the Frontier in American History,” or the Frontier Thesis as it is more popularly
referred to as, was originally presented as a paper to the American Historical Association at the Chicago
World’s Fair of 1893. The timing of the paper is essential to understanding the core of Turner’s
argument. Citing the Census of 1890, Turner is writing to announce the end of the frontier, and
consequently, according to Turner, the end of the most crucial instrument in creating a sense of a unique
American identity. “The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance
of American settlement westward, explain American development,” he asserts. According to Turner,
America is unique in that it expanded industrially while simultaneously expanding agriculturally in
areas further west - America experienced a "perennial rebirth" through its various waves of
advancement. Turner's thesis became the paradigm for explaining American historical development
for over fifty· years.

The dominant theme in Turner’s thesis is that of social evolution. Turner believes that civilization has
an orderly evolutionary cycle that starts in the savage state, moves to pastoralism, and ends with cities
and industry. Europeans had long been trapped in the suffocating confines of the final stage, which
had caused corruption and staleness both in Europe and in the eastern United States, where European
traditions had continued to reign. However, the availability of free, undeveloped land in the West had
enabled Americans to go through a kind of rebirthing process. Individualism was king on the frontier.
Men were able to start anew, almost at the savage stage, but what separated these men from the Native
Americans was that they brought the best of the European practices with them. Those European
characteristics and institutions that were sullied were quickly rooted out for they had no place on
the even playing field of the West, which enabled pure, unadulterated democracy to
blossom into fruition.

Wilderness to Turner is an entity that is commendable only in its role in furthering man’s development.
Wilderness is swell, but it is even better during and after the conquering process. It is the challenges
that wilderness throws the frontiersman’s way that allow the frontiersmen to shed the over
embellished skin of European civilization, and to step forward a new, improved, self-reliant, and
rugged individual ready to turn the western wilderness into a superior Mecca of democracy. Despite
the wilderness’s key role in this process, man’s duty, according to Turner, is still to subdue and
improve wilderness with the onslaught of culture and society. Until 1890, there was always
more wilderness available beyond the frontier line in which for further generations to undergo the
rebirthing process and to ensure that the United States did not begin to brew in the morose of decayed
civilization, a predicament that had despoiled the nations of Europe.

Important to the environmental historian is Turner’s idea of geographic sectionalism that he only
slightly introduces in “The Significance of the Frontier in American History,” but goes into more depth
about in his later writings. Turner believes that state lines are artificial constructs, and that regions are
really divided by natural boundary lines, such as mountains. This sectionalism had a great deal of
influence on the development of the frontier. Turner’s assertion is significant because he is rather ahead
of his time in acknowledging the fact that different environmental conditions led to diverse experiences
amongst different groups of pioneers. The particular environmental situation to which these
individuals were subjected directly affected their economic and social development.

Turner’s thesis has many holes in it. Firstly, his rendition of the western story revolves solely around
white, Anglo men. Women and minorities are not a part of his pretty picture. Secondly, his story only

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accounts for those that chose an agrarian occupation, ignoring other industries such as mining.
Thirdly, he ignores the fact that Eastern corporations, particularly railroad companies, had a large
hand in making the western expansion process possible. However, despite these shortcomings the
Frontier thesis and its message provided the United States with an origin myth that they could cling
to in an uneasy time during which countries were feverishly clawing for any piece of exceptionality
that would provide them with a superior sense of nationalism. According to Henry Nash Smith,
despite the fact that Turner’s thesis confounds common sense and is full of contradictions and falsities,
the powerful impact that it had on the American imagination and collective identity gives it intellectual
credence. Of course it was not viewed as myth by individuals at the time, and is still pulsing through
the American conscious, though weakened, today. Aside from allowing for the birth of American
exceptionalism, Turner’s theory also heavily influenced the historical profession, and was
considered the account of Western History for many generations. Historians are still working under its
shadow, even though many have been fighting for decades to dissolve its potency.

Why was the Turner Thesis subsequently abandoned by historians?

Fredrick Jackson Turner’s thesis of the American frontier defined the study of the American West
during the 20th century. In 1893, Turner argued that “American history has been in a large degree the
history of the colonization of the Great West. The existence of an area of free land, its continuous
recession, and the advance of American settlement westward explain American development.” (The
Frontier in American History, Turner, p. 1.) Jackson believed that westward expansion allowed America
to move away from the influence of Europe and gain “independence on American lines.” (Turner, p.
4.) The conquest of the frontier forced Americans to become smart, resourceful, and democratic. By
focusing his analysis on people in the periphery, Turner de-emphasized the importance of everyone
else. Additionally, many people who lived on the “frontier” were not part of his thesis because they
did not fit his model of the democratizing American. The closing of the frontier in 1890 by the
Superintendent of the census prompted Turner’s thesis.

Despite its faults, his thesis proved powerful because it succinctly summed up the concerns of Turner
and his contemporaries. More importantly, it created an appealing grand narrative for American
history. Many Americans were concerned that American freedom would be diminished by the end of
colonization of the West. Not only did his thesis give voice to these Americans’ concerns, but it also
represented how Americans wanted to see themselves. Unfortunately, the history of the American West
became the history of westward expansion and the history of the region of the American West was
disregarded. The grand tapestry of western history was essentially ignored. During the mid-twentieth
century, most people lost interest in the history of the American West.

While appealing, the Turner thesis stultified scholarship on the West. In 1984, colonial historian James
Henretta even stated, “[f]or, in our role as scholars, we must recognize that the subject of westward
expansion in itself longer engages the attention of many perhaps most, historians of the United States.”
(Legacy of Conquest, Patricia Limerick, p. 21.) Turner’s thesis had effectively shaped popular opinion
and historical scholarship of the American West, but the thesis slowed continued academic interest in
the field.

Reassessment of Western History

In the last half of the twentieth century, a new wave of western historians rebelled against the Turner
thesis and defined themselves by their opposition to it. Historians began to approach the field from
different perspectives and investigated the lives of Women, miners, Chicanos, Indians, Asians, and
African Americans. Additionally, historians studied regions that would not have been relevant to

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Turner. In 1987, Patricia Limerick tried to redefine the study of the American West for a new generation
of western scholars. In Legacy of Conquest, she attempted to synthesize the scholarship on the West to
that point and provide a new approach for re-examining the West. First, she asked historians to think
of the America West as a place and not as a movement. Second, she emphasized that the history of the
American West was defined by conquest; “[c]onquest forms the historical bedrock of the whole nation,
and the American West is a preeminent case study in conquest and its consequences.” (Limerick, p. 22.)

Finally, she asked historians to eliminate the stereotypes from Western history and try to understand
the complex relations between the people of the West. Even before Limerick’s manifesto, scholars were
re-evaluating the west and its people, and its pace has only quickened. Whether or not scholars agree
with Limerick, they have explored new depths of Western American history. While these new works
are not easy to categorize, they do fit into some loose categories: gender (Relations of Rescue by Peggy
Pascoe), ethnicity (The Roots of Dependency by Richard White, and Lewis and Clark Among the Indians by
James P. Rhonda), immigration (Impossible Subjects by Ming Ngai), and environmental (Nature’s
Metropolis by William Cronon, Rivers of Empire by Donald Worster) history. These are just a few of
the topics that have been examined by American West scholars. This paper will examine how these
new histories of the American West resemble or diverge from Limerick’s outline.

Defining America or a Threat to America's Moral Standing

Peggy Pascoe’s Relations of Rescue described the creation and operation of Rescue Homes in Salt Lake
City, the Sioux Reservation, Denver and San Francisco by missionary women for abused, neglected and
exploited women. By focusing on the missionaries and the tenants of these homes, Pascoe depicted not
just relations between women, but provided examples of how missionaries responded to issues which
they believed were unique in the West. Issues that not only challenged the Victorian moral authority
but threatened America’s moral standing. Unlike Turner, the missionary women did not believe that
the West was an engine for democracy; instead, they envisioned a place where immoral practice such
as polygamy, prostitution, premarital pregnancy, and religious superstition thrived and threatened
women’s moral authority. Instead of attempting to portray a prototypical frontier or missionary
woman, Pascoe reveals complicated women who defy easy categorization. Instead of re-enforcing
stereotypes that women civilized (a dubious term at best) the American West, she instead focused on
three aspects of the search for female moral authority: “its benefits and liabilities for women’s
empowerment; its relationship to systems of social control; and its implication for intercultural relations
among women.” (Pascoe, p. xvii.) Pascoe used a study of intercultural relations between women to
better understand each of the sub-cultures (missionaries, unmarried mothers, Chinese prostitutes,
Mormon women, and Sioux women) and their relations with governmental authorities and men.

Unlike Limerick, Pascoe did not find it necessary to define the west or the frontier. She did not have to
because the Protestant missionaries in her story defined it for her. While Turner may have believed that
the West was no longer the frontier in 1890, the missionaries certainly would have disagreed. In fact,
the rescue missions were placed in the communities that the Victorian Protestant missionary judged to
be the least “civilized” parts of America (Lakota Territory, San Francisco’s Chinatown, rough and
tumble Denver and Salt Lake City.) Instead of being a story of conquest by Victorian or western
morality, it was a story of how that morality was often challenged and its terms were negotiated by
culturally different communities. Pascoe’s primary goal in this work was not only to eliminate
stereotypes but to challenge the notion that white women civilized the west. While conquest may be a
component of other histories, no one group in Pascoe’s story successfully dominated any other.

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Changing the Narrative of Native Americans in the West

Two books were written before Legacy was published, Lewis and Clark Among the Indians (James
Rhonda) and The Roots of Dependency (Richard White) both provide a window into the world of
Native Americans. Both books took new approaches to Native American histories. Rhonda’s book
looked at the familiar Lewis and Clark expedition but from an entirely different angle. Rhonda
described the interactions between the expedition and the various Native American tribes they
encountered. White’s book also sought to describe the interactions between the United States and the
Choctaws, Pawnees, and Navajos, but he sought to explain why the economies of these tribes broke
down after contact. Each of these books covers new ground by addressing the impact of these
interactions between the United States and the Native Americans.

Whether or not Rhonda’s work is an example of the New Western History is debatable, but he sought
to eliminate racial stereotypes of Native Americans and describe the first governmental attempt to
conquer the western landscape by traversing it. Rhonda described the interactions between the
expedition and the various Indians who encountered it. While Rhonda’s book may resemble a classic
Lewis and Clark history, it provides a much more nuanced examination of the limitations and
effectiveness of the diplomatic aspects of the Lewis and Clark expedition. He took a great of time to
describe each of the interactions with the Indian tribes in detail. Rhonda recognized that the interactions
between the expedition and the various tribes were nuanced and complex. Rhonda’s work clarified that
Native Americans had differing views of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Any stereotypes the reader
may have regarding the Native Americans with would have shattered. Additionally, Rhonda described
how the expedition persevered despite its clumsy attempts at diplomacy.

Instead of describing the initial interactions of the United States government with the Choctaws,
Pawnees, and Navajos, White explained how the self-sufficient economies of these people were
destroyed. White described how the United States government turned these successful native people
into wards of the American state. His story explained how the United States conquered these tribes
without firing a shot. The consequence of this conquest was the creation of weak, dependent nations
that could not survive without handouts from the federal government. Like Rhonda, White also sought
to shatter long-standing stereotypes and myths regarding Native Americans. White verified that each
of these tribes had self-sufficient economies which permitted prosperous lifestyles for their people
before the devastating interactions with the United States government occurred. The United States in
each case fundamentally altered the tribes’ economies and environments. These alterations threatened
the survival of the tribes. In some cases, the United States sought to trade with these tribes in an effort
put the tribes in debt. After the tribes were in debt, the United States then forced the tribes to sell their
land. In other situations, the government damaged the tribes’ economies even when they sought to
help them.

Even though White book was published a few years before Legacy, The Roots of Dependency certainly
satisfies some of Limerick’s stated goals. Conquest and its consequences are at the heart of White’s
story. White details the problems these societies developed after they became dependant on American
trade goods and handouts. White also dissuaded anyone from believing that the Native American
economies were inefficient. The Choctaws, Pawnees, and Navajos economies were successful. The
Choctaws and Pawnees had thriving economies and their food supplies were more than sufficient.
While the Navajos were not as successful as the other two tribes, their story was remarkable because
they learned how to survive in some of the most inhospitable lands in the American West. These stories
exploded the myths that the Native Americans subsistence economies were somehow insufficient.

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The Impact of Immigrants to the West

The American West was both a borderland and a destination for a multitude of immigrants. Native
Americans, Spaniards, Mexicans, Anglos, and Asians have all immigrated into the American West. The
American West has seen waves of immigration. These immigrants have constantly changed the
complexion of its people. Starting with the Native Americans who first moved into the region and the
most recent tide of undocumented Mexican immigrants, the West has always been a place where
immigrants seeking their fortunes. The California gold rush brought in a number of immigrants who
did not fit their American ideal. When non-whites started immigrating to California, the United States
was faced with a new problem, the introduction of people who could not become citizens. Chinese
immigrants troubled the Anglo majority because they could not be easily assimilated into American
society. Additionally, many Americans were perplexed by their substantially different appearances,
clothing, religions, and cultures. Anglos became concerned that the new immigrants differed too much
from them. In 1924, after 150 years of unregulated immigration, the United States Congress passed the
Johnson-Reed Act, the most restrictionist immigration law in US history. The Johnson-Reed Act was
specifically designed to keep the most undesirable races out of America, but immigrants continued to
arrive in America without documents. Ming Ngai’s Impossible Subjects addresses this new class of
immigrants: illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants began to flow into the United States soon after the
passage of the Johnson-Reed Act.

While illegal immigration is not an issue isolated to the history of the American West, the immigrants
moved predominantly into California, Texas and the American Southwest. Like Anglo settlers who
were attracted to the West for the potential for new life in the nineteenth century, illegal immigrants
continued to move in during the twentieth. The illegal immigrants were welcomed, despite their status,
because California’s large commercial farms needed inexpensive labor to harvest their crops.
Impossible Subjects describes four groups of illegal immigrants (Filipinos, Japanese, Chinese and
Mexican braceros) who were created by the United States immigration policy. Ngai specifically
examines the role that the government played in defining, controlling and disciplining these groups for
their allegedly illegal misconduct.

Impossible Subjects is not a book on the American West, but it is a book that is very much about the
American West. While Ngai’s story primarily takes place in the American West she does not appear to
have any interest in defining the West because her story has national implications. The American West
is relevant to her study only because it was where most of the illegal immigrants described in her story
lived and worked. Additionally, it is not a story of conquest and its consequences, but it introduced the
American public and scholars to members of the American society that are silent. Limerick even stated
that while “Indians, Hispanics, Asians, blacks, Anglos, businesspeople, workers, politicians,
bureaucrats, natives and newcomers” all shared the same region, they still needed to be introduced to
one another. In addition to being a sophisticated policy debate on immigration law, Ngai’s work
introduced Americans to these people. (Limerick, p. 349.)

The Rise of Western Environmental History

Environmental history has become an increasingly important component of the history of the American
West. Originally, the American West was seen as an untamed wilderness, but over time that description
has changed. Two conceptually different, but nonetheless important books on environmental history
discussed the American West and its importance in America. Nature’s Metropolis by William Cronon
and Rivers of Empire by Donald Worster each explored the environment and the economy of the
American West. Cronon examined the formation of Chicago and the importance of its commodities
market for the development of the American West. Alternatively, Worster focuses on the creation of an

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extensive network of government subsidized dams in the early twentieth century. Rivers of Empire
describes that despite the aridity of the natural landscape the American West became home to massive
commercial farms and enormous swaths of urban sprawl.

In Nature’s Metropolis, Cronon, used the central place theory to analyze the economic and ecological
development of Chicago. Johann Heinrich von Thunen developed the central place theory to explain
the development of cities. Essentially, geographically different economic zones form in concentric
circles the farther you went from the city. These different zones form because of the time it takes to get
the different types of goods to market. Closest to the city and then moving away you would have the
following zones: first, intensive agriculture, second, extensive agriculture, third, livestock raising,
fourth, trading, hunting and Indian trade and finally, you would have the wilderness. While the
landscape of the Mid-West was more complicated than this, Cronon posits that the “city and country
are inextricably connected and that market relations profoundly mediate between them.” (Cronon, p.
52.) By emphasizing the connection between the city of Chicago and the rural lands that surrounded it,
Cronon was able to explain how the land, including the West, developed. Cronon argued that the
development of Chicago had a profound influence on the development and appearance of the Great
West. Essentially Cronon used the creation of the Chicago commodities and trading markets to explain
how different parts of the Mid-West and West produced different types of resources and fundamentally
altered their ecology.

According to Donald Worster’s Rivers of Empire, economics played an equally important role in the
economic and environmental development of the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Slope states. Worster
argued that the United States wanted to continue creating family farms for Americans in the West.
Unfortunately, the aridity of the west made that impossible. The land in the West simply could not be
farmed without water. Instead of adapting to the natural environment, the United States government
embarked on the largest dam building project in human history. The government built thousands of
dams to irrigate millions of acres of land. Unfortunately, the cost of these numerous irrigation projects
was enormous. The federal government passed the cost on to the buyers of the land which prevented
family farmers from buying it. Therefore, instead of family farms, massive commercial farms were
created. The only people who could afford to buy the land were wealthy citizens. The massive irrigation
also permitted the creation of cities which never would have been possible without it. Worster argues
that the ensuing ecological damage to the West has been extraordinary. The natural environment
throughout the region was dramatically altered. The west is now the home of oversized commercial
farms, artificial reservoirs which stretch for hundreds of miles, rivers that run only on command and
sprawling cities which depend on irrigation.

Both Cronon and Worster described how commercial interests shaped the landscape and ecology of
the American West, but their approaches were very different. Still, each work fits comfortably into the
new western history. Both Cronon and Worster see the West as a place and not as a movement of
westward expansion. Cronon re-orders the typical understanding of the sequence of westward
expansion. Instead of describing the steady growth of rural communities which transformed into cities,
he argued that cities and rural areas formed at the same time. Often the cities developed first and that
only after markets were created could land be converted profitable into farms. This development fits
westward development much more closely than paradigms that emphasized the creation of family
farms. Worster defines the West by its aridity. While these definitions differ from Limerick’s, they
reflect new approaches. Conquest plays a critical role in each of these books. Instead of conquering
people, the authors describe efforts to conquer western lands. In Cronon, westerners forever altered the
landscape of the west. Agricultural activities dominated the zones closest to Chicago, cattle production
took over lands previously occupied by the buffalo, and even the wilderness was changed by people

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to satisfy the markets in Chicago. The extensive damming of the West’s rivers described by Worster
required the United States government to conquer, control and discipline nature. While this conquest
was somewhat illusory, the United States government was committed to reshaping the West and
ecology to fit its vision.

Conclusion

Each of these books demonstrates that the Turner thesis no longer holds a predominant position in the
scholarship of the American West. The history of the American West has been revitalized by its demise.
While westward expansion plays an important role in the history of the United States, it did not define
the west. Turner’s thesis was fundamentally undermined because it did not provide an accurate
description of how the West was peopled. The nineteenth century of the west is not composed primarily
of family farmers. Instead, it is a story of a region peopled by a diverse group of people: Native
Americans, Asians, Chicanos, Anglos, African Americans, women, merchants, immigrants, prostitutes,
swindlers, doctors, lawyers, farmers are just a few of the characters who inhabit western history.

Suggested Readings

 Frederick Jackson Turner, The Frontier in American History

 Patricia Limerick, Legacy of Conquest

 Peggy Pascoe, Relations of Rescue

 Richard White, The Roots of Dependency

 Nature's Metropolis, William Cronon

 Rivers of Empire, Donald Worster