The Significance of the Frontier in American History

“The peculiarity of American institutions is, the fact that they have been compelled to adapt themselves to the changes of an expanding people—to the changes involved in crossing a continent, in winning a wilderness, and in developing at each area of this progress out of the primitive economic and political conditions of the frontier into the complexity of city life.”

This excerpt encapsulates Turner’s argument that adapting to the frontier rather than ossifying distinguished American institutions as flexible and democratic. The journey described from wilderness to complex city life embodies Turner’s view of frontier settlement propelling continual development and reflects a sense of American exceptionalism.

“This perennial rebirth, this fluidity of American life, this expansion westward with its new opportunities, its continuous touch with the simplicity of primitive society, furnish the forces dominating American character.”

This quote poetically describes the frontier continually remaking society and generating American traits of adaptability. Turner’s positive framing of “primitive” conditions inspiring democratic spirit reveals the imperialist logic underlying his eloquent frontier paean. The nationalist and heroic tone of this passage is representative of the essay and partly helps to explain its warm reception by a wide popular audience.

“The wilderness masters the colonist. It finds him a European in dress, industries, tools, modes of travel, and thought. It takes him from the railroad car and puts him in the birch canoe. It strips off the garments of civilization and arrays him in the hunting shirt and the moccasin.”

This vivid description encapsulates Turner’s argument about the frontier environment imprinting self-reliance and adaptability on Americans. The contrast between European garb and rugged pioneer clothing symbolizes the wilderness stripping settlers of European customs and reshaping them into rugged individualists, a quintessential American trait in Turner’s portrayal. Turner’s image reverses the traditional narrative where the colonist masters the wilderness; in his depiction, the colonist is shaped by necessary adaptation to their new environment.

“The advance of the frontier has meant a steady movement away from the influence of Europe, a steady growth of independence on American lines.”

Turner ties westward settlement to developing a distinctly American identity as it distanced the nation from its European colonial roots. This quote exemplifies his narrative of the frontier as enabling divergence from European hierarchy into “exceptional” American democracy and individualism.

“In this advance, the frontier is the outer edge of the wave—the meeting point between savagery and civilization.”

The racist framing of Indigenous peoples as “savages” in contrast to encroaching white “civilization” reveals the prejudicial assumptions embedded in Turner’s frontier narrative of advancing “progress.” By likening the frontier to a “wave,” Turner imbues the westward movement with a natural, even elemental momentum, suggesting an inevitable, overwhelming force in action. This metaphor positions the settlers as carried along by a civilizing impetus that removes blame and perpetuates a Eurocentric perspective on the unfolding of American history.

“The United States lies like a huge page in the history of society.”

This vivid metaphor emphasizes Turner’s exceptionalist view of America as embodying societal progress, with westward expansion the defining narrative traced across the continental “page.” This metaphor also reflects a sense of determinism in the unfolding of American history, akin to the turning pages of a prewritten book, which aligns with Turner’s view of the frontier as an inevitable and formative force. The notion of a “huge page” could be interpreted as Turner’s acknowledgment of the vast, yet singular, narrative of American expansion, showcasing a monolithic understanding of history that may overlook the diverse experiences and perspectives entwined within the nation’s evolution.

“The first frontier had to meet its Indian question, its question of the disposition of the public domain, of the means of intercourse with older settlements, of the extension of political organization, of religious and educational activity.”

This quote enumerates key issues Turner argues had to be addressed as the frontier expanded westward from the Atlantic colonies. He presents these challenges like land use, relations with Indigenous peoples, and adequate governance as recurring frontier phenomena.

“Thus civilization in America has followed the arteries made by geology, pouring an ever richer tide through them, until at last the slender paths’ of aboriginal intercourse have been broadened and interwoven into the complex mazes of modern commercial lines.”

In this quote, Turner uses geographic imagery and organic metaphors to argue that frontier expansion follows inherently determined paths. He suggests inevitability through nature metaphors, framing the displacement of Indigenous peoples as the inevitable “tide” of progress, and the process of displacement as a natural continuation.

“In the crucible of the frontier the immigrants were Americanized, liberated, and fused into a mixed race. English in neither nationality nor characteristics.”

Turner argues frontier conditions fundamentally transformed diverse immigrants into a new distinctly American people. This quote encapsulates his view of the frontier experience forging an egalitarian, ruggedly individualist national character. It is notable that he sees the diversity of immigrants as a positive force, although his phrase “mixed race” can be taken to mean the relative diversity of multiple white European cultures as compared to an Anglo-centric culture.

“But when American history comes to be rightly viewed it will be seen that the slavery question is an incident.”

Turner’s minimization of slavery as an “incident” reflects a deeply problematic understatement of a foundational issue that shaped the United States socially, economically, and politically. This phrase exemplifies a prevailing attempt to sideline or downplay the brutal realities and enduring legacies of slavery, as part of the systemic injustices perpetuated against Black individuals and communities. This reflects the vested interest of those who created intellectual discourse. Turner’s assertion that a “right” future view of history will vindicate the author is intellectually corrupt and underscores to the reader the importance of interrogating whose perspectives are centered and whose are marginalized in historical narratives.

“The jealousy and the fears of the East were powerless in the face of the demands of the frontiersman.”

This line encapsulates the sectional divides Turner outlines, positioning the rapacious frontiersman as an unstoppable force demanding new lands and overriding Eastern objections. It exemplifies his portrayal of expansion as an inevitable struggle between dynamic pioneers and cautious elites.

“It is safe to say that the legislation with regard to land, tariff, and internal improvements—the American system of the nationalizing Whig party—was conditioned on frontier ideas and needs.”

Turner argues that frontier needs shaped critical national policies on land distribution, transportation infrastructure, and trade regulations. This quote encapsulates his thesis that the need to satisfy frontier demands drove federal legislation, promoting national unification.

“The most important effect of the frontier has been in the promotion of democracy here and in Europe.”

This directly states Turner’s thesis on the frontier as the key factor expanding democracy, which he viewed as America’s most exceptional contribution. Implying that European democracy is the result of the American frontier centers the US as a model, exemplifying Turner’s nationalistic exceptionalism.