Activities

1. Analyzing an Interpretation

Frederick Jackson Turner, in The Frontier in American History, put forth a thesis which has met with army of advocates, such as Woodrow Wilson -- and a host of critics. From the passage below you may get a of his theory. In writing about the influences that formed Western democracy, he states:

Most important of all has been the fact that an area of free land has continually lain on the western border of the settled area of the United States. Whenever social conditions tended to crystallize in the East, whenever capital tended to press on labor or political restraints to impede the freedom of the mass, there was this gate of escape to the free conditions of the frontier. These free lands promoted individualism, economic equality, freedom to rise, democracy. Men would not accept inferior wages and a permanent position of social subordination when this promised land of freedom and equality was theirs for the taking. Who would rest content under oppressive legislative conditions when by a slight effort he might reach a land wherein to become a coworker in the building of free cities and free states on the lines of his own ideal? In a word, the free lands meant free opportunities. Their existence has differentiated the American democracy from the democracies which have preceded it, because ever, as democracy in the East took the form of highly specialized and complicated industrial society, in the West it kept in touch with primitive conditions, and by action and reaction these two forces have shaped our history.

After reading the quotation from Turner's book, please answer the following:

  1. Explain, in your own words, the heart of what is stated in the above paragraph.
  2. From what you have studied in history, have free lands meant opportunities?
  3. Explain to what degree our immigration movement was based upon a desire for land.
  4. In what ways was free land conducive to the democratic spirit?
  5. Explain how wages can be kept down once free land is no longer available.
  6. Do you agree or disagree with the Turner thesis? Why?

2. Historical Documents -- Real or Fake

From their reading on the last quarter of the 19th century -- the period about which Turner wrote -- each student will write a letter, pretending that they live in the American West of that time. The letter should de- scribe what life was like, including contemporary references such as the President, political debates, and current events. Half of the students will write letters as if they actually lived during that period. The other half will purposely include mistakes in their letters, indicating that they could not possibly have been written in that time period.

Collect the letters, mix them up, and read some to the class. They will have to determine whether they are real or fake, and why.

3. Writing an Essay on Individualism

Frederick Turner thought that individualism -- the feeling that each person was responsible for her or his own future -- was an admirable characteristic. Below are two views on individualism -- one written before the closing of the frontier, in l840, by Henry David Thoreau, and the other several decades after the frontier no longer existed, at the beginning of the Great Depression of the 1930s, by Horace Kallen.

After reading both excerpts, choose the one you most agree with and write two paragraphs: A) why you agree with one and B) why you disagree with the other.

Henry David Thoreau I heartily accept the motto -- That government is best which governs least -- and I , should like to see it acted up to more readily Government never of itself furthered any enterprise, it does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American People has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more if the government had not sometimes got in its way.

Horace Kallen Within three years the application of this "rugged individualism" increased the number of unemployed by millions, brought starvation to the doors of the American masses and caused the failure of nearly three thousand banks. "Rugged Individualism" prevented the public "dole" but thrust millions of self-respecting citizens upon private charity It prevented the spending of public money on public works as a remedy for unemployment, but sought to endure against more bank failures by appropriating a colossal sum of money to be distributed to banks as they needed it.

4. Using Folk Songs

For many city dwellers, the life of frontier has been glamorized in our movies and on television. However, for many, was lonely and isolated. The cowboy become known as the epitome of the frontier spirit, a rough -ridin', straight-shooting American hero. But the actual 1ife of cowboy was not easy. He was by himself the endless plains, spending eight to hours a day in the saddle. Below are words to a song popular with cowboys during the closing days of the frontier:

I'm a poor lonesome cowboy
I'm a poor lonesome cowboy
I'm a poor lonesome cowboy
And a long way from home.

I ain't got no father
To buy the clothes I wear.
I ain't got no mother
To mend the clothes I wear.
I ain't got no brother
To drive the steers with me.
I ain't got no sweetheart
To sit and talk with me.
I m a poor lonesome cowboy.

After reading the song, please answer the following questions:

  1. Why do you think this song was popular with the cowboys?
  2. What other groups experienced, during this period, the same type of loneliness.
  3. What are some of the characteristics developed by the frontier cowboy?
  4. How do these American characteristics differ from today's average American?
  5. Why did people move westward, away from the comforts of city living?
  6. Do we still have frontiers today in this world? Explain.

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