jan 1, 1893 - Frederick Turner, The Significance of the Frontier in American History.

Description:

Analysis of the cultural dimension of the West.
Turner had a specific definition for what the frontier was:
First, it was not a border, it was a "colonisation line separating civilisation from unoccupied land" (means Indian were not taken into account).
The Frontier had an impact on American culture -> Turner says that the Frontier created American culture. He had 2 types of arguments:

- A cultural argument: Frontier = Specific American value = equality. The frontier is a state of nature in which the only thing that matters is to survive. According to Turner, this meant that on the frontier, settlers were all facing the same challenge of survival. In that context, cultural/social/sexual differences did not matter that much. All the European past that settlers carried with them disapeared on the frontier, they became Americans because they faced the same thing. The Frontier = "the Ultimate Melting Pot".

- A social argument: Frontier = American dream. The frontier was by definition the land for opportunities. Turner explains that the frontier acted just as a social program because it constantly provided a second chance to European immigrants. (poor Americans had an option that poor Europeans did not have, they had this opportunity to go Westworld, on the Frontier.
Turner said that the closing of the Frontier was a very bad news for the US. -> American lost this country of opportunities, they would become like Europeans.

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