Explaining the West

Historiography, Turner, and American Exceptionalism

HIST 102 — United States History Since 1877
Chapter 18, Lecture 3

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

What Is Historiography?

History is not only about what happened.
History is about how we interpret what happened.

📖 Definition

Historiography refers to:

The study of historical interpretation
How historians frame questions
What they emphasize, explain, or ignore
How those choices shape historical meaning

Part I

The Historical Moment

Why Turner Writes When He Does

The Moment of Writing: 1893

1890 Census declares the frontier "closed"

1890 Armed Indigenous resistance largely crushed

1887– Reservation and assimilation systems entrenched

1890s Western land increasingly settled, fenced, commodified

The interpretive problem:

If the frontier is over, what role did it play? What does its end mean?

From Policy to History

🔑 Key Insight

Turner writes at the moment the frontier becomes history rather than policy.

When something is ongoing → we debate what to do

When something is "over" → we ask what it meant

Explanation replaces action.

Part II

The Frontier Thesis

Frederick Jackson Turner's Argument

Frederick Jackson Turner

Frederick Jackson Turner (1861–1932)

University of Wisconsin historian
Later Harvard professor
Delivered "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" in 1893

One of the most influential essays in American historical writing

Turner's Revolutionary Approach

Turner rejected the dominant historical frameworks of his era.

What He Rejected

History as past politics

Traditional focus on laws, leaders, institutions

"Germ theory"

American institutions inherited from European origins

What He Proposed

Environment shapes society

"The wilderness masters the colonist"

Ever-advancing frontier

Continuous westward movement creates American character

"The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward, explain American development."

— Frederick Jackson Turner, 1893

📚 What You Need to Know

Turner was rebelling against TWO dominant approaches in 1893. First, "history as past politics"—the idea that history was just studying kings, wars, and constitutions. Second, the "germ theory" of history—the idea that American institutions were just transplanted European "germs" that grew in American soil. Turner said NO: the ENVIRONMENT mattered. The frontier CREATED something new.

🎓 Senior Historians' Corner

The "germ theory" was associated with scholars like Herbert Baxter Adams at Johns Hopkins, who argued that American democracy came from Germanic tribal institutions brought by English colonists. Turner studied under Adams but rejected his framework entirely. This was a BOLD move for a young scholar.

💭 Context & Connections

Notice the environmental determinism here: "The wilderness masters the colonist." Turner is arguing that geography and environment SHAPE human societies more than inherited traditions or political institutions. This was revolutionary in 1893—and deeply controversial.

What the Frontier Produced

According to Turner, repeated westward movement created:

Individualism

Self-reliance forged in frontier conditions

Egalitarianism

Social leveling in new communities

Innovation

Necessity breeding new solutions

The "Safety Valve" Thesis

The frontier provided an outlet for social and economic tension—if you were poor or dissatisfied in the East, you could go West.

The Frontier as Transformation

"The frontier is the line of most rapid and effective Americanization."

— Frederick Jackson Turner, 1893

Crucial framing:

Turner is not writing primarily about Native peoples, cowboys, or railroads
He is explaining Americans becoming Americans

The West functions as:

A process, not a place

An engine, not a subject

Part III

American Exceptionalism

The Frontier as National Explanation

American Exceptionalism

📖 Definition

American exceptionalism: the belief that the United States developed differently from other nations—that its democracy and institutions are uniquely American, shaped by geography and experience rather than inheritance.

American Exceptionalism

Turner argued that 300 years of pioneering transformed European colonists into something entirely new.

How did the frontier create a unique American character?

American institutions weren't inherited—they were forged by the frontier experience.

Democracy

Free land created political equality and self-government

Rugged Individualism

Survival on the frontier demanded self-reliance

Practical Innovation

Inventive, problem-solving turn of mind

Coarseness & Strength

Rough edges combined with resilient character

📚 What You Need to Know

This is the heart of Turner's argument about American EXCEPTIONALISM. He's saying Americans aren't just transplanted Europeans—they're fundamentally different because of 300 years of frontier conditions. The frontier didn't just change institutions; it changed PEOPLE. Democracy, individualism, inventiveness—all products of the frontier.

🎓 Senior Historians' Corner

Notice Turner includes both positive traits (democracy, innovation) and negative ones (coarseness). He's not entirely romantic about the frontier—he acknowledges it created rough, sometimes violent people. But he sees this as part of American strength, not just a flaw.

💭 Context & Connections

This theory of American exceptionalism would become enormously influential in how Americans understood themselves throughout the 20th century. It provided a flattering origin story: Americans were exceptional not because of race or religion, but because of EXPERIENCE—the frontier made them special.

Kinds of Frontiers and Their Modes of Advance

Turner argued the American frontier was not a single line, but a succession of advancing frontiers. Each type had its own pioneers, economy, and social effects.

1. Fur-Trading Frontier

Earliest phase: trappers and mountain men

2. Cattle Frontier

Open-range ranching and cowboy culture

3. Mining Frontier

Gold rushes and boom towns

4. Agricultural Frontier

Homesteaders and permanent settlement

Core Turner idea: The frontier process repeated itself over and over again across the continent.
Each new frontier zone went through roughly the same sequence — from wild, extractive beginnings to settled, civilized farming communities — continually renewing American democracy, individualism, and opportunity.

The Influences on the East

Turner argued the frontier didn't only shape the West—it profoundly influenced the older, eastern parts of the United States.

1. Americanization of Immigrants

Frontier environment rapidly "Americanized" immigrants through shared experience and necessity

2. Decreased Dependence on England

Westward expansion reduced economic and cultural reliance on Britain

3. Growth of Nationalism

Frontier strengthened national identity and American political institutions:

Internal improvements — canals, roads, railroads
Public land policy — homestead acts

4. Frontier Individualism

Cultivated self-reliance and equality—qualities that flowed eastward and reinforced democratic ideals

Ideas born on the frontier influenced eastern society and national character—not just the West.

"Closing of a Great Historic Movement"

"... there can hardly be said to be a frontier line"

— Superintendent of the Census, 1890

Turnerian Syllogism

▸ History of America has been the history of the frontier

▸ Frontier is now closed (no longer exists)

▸ America must now enter a new phase of history (something else will determine change)

📚 What You Need to Know

This is Turner's most famous argument, structured as a logical syllogism. If American history = frontier history, and the frontier is now closed, then American history must fundamentally change. This is why the 1890 census announcement was so significant to Turner—it marked the END of the formative process that made America what it was.

🎓 Senior Historians' Corner

The census superintendent's 1890 statement that there was no longer a clear frontier line prompted Turner's entire thesis. He delivered his paper in 1893, just three years after this announcement, arguing that this closure represented a watershed moment in American history.

💭 Context & Connections

Turner was writing at a moment of deep anxiety about America's future. With the frontier closed, what would happen to American democracy, individualism, and opportunity? Would America become like the "old" European nations—class-bound, static, without outlets for expansion? This anxiety shaped Progressive Era debates about imperialism, immigration, and reform.

Part IV

What Turner Leaves Out

The Analytical Center of the Lecture

A Few Criticisms of Turner's Thesis

"… an area of free land"

A Few Criticisms of Turner's Thesis

"… an area of free land"

Ignores Indians, or at most treats them as peoples to be overcome in the march of history

A Few Criticisms of Turner's Thesis

"… an area of free land"

Ignores Indians, or at most treats them as peoples to be overcome in the march of history

Hispanics, Asians, & women are completely invisible