2. Frederick Jackson Turner
“The Significance of the Frontier in American History”
(1893)
Famously argues that the frontier is “closed”
Claims that westward expansion helped further
nationalism, individualism, and democracy
And that it made the United States unique among
nations
Theory has a lasting impact: Black Elk’s story (written in
the 1930s) is the very beginning of a corrective narrative
3. By 1900: only AZ, NM, and
OK are still territories
1860s- 1880s- Statehood in 1889:
70s Nevada, Dakota, Arizona, Idaho,
90s •North Dakota
•South Dakota
•Montana
•Washington
Montana, and Wyoming
Territories organized
Statehood: Statehood in the 1890s:
•Nevada 1864 •Wyoming 1890
•Nebraska 1867 •Idaho 1890
•Colorado 1876 •Utah 1896
4. Post-Civil War Migration
Unprecedented in scale. “Romance of the West”
Why? Exists from the very
Metal ores beginning
Homestead Act (1862) Mythos overlays
Pasture/range land reality, fuels decisions
to migrate
Transcontinental Railroad
(1866-69) Landscape, rugged lifestyle
Dime novels, Wild West
Western Economies: Shows
Mining: gold, silver, then Last chance for “new”
other ores
Cattle Ranching How is this romantic vision
connected to ideas of the
The “Long Drive”
“American Dream”?
(1866-1880s)
5. “Manifest Destiny”
A widely used philosophical statement and idea during times of European settlement
A belief that territorial expansion (“from sea to shining sea”) was a divine right
Most advocates believed that Anglo-Saxon Christian society was more advanced or enlightened
than other cultures
Also relies upon the idea that America is exceptional, a unique country whose ideals were
destined to spread around the world
Term first appears in an 1845 periodical, and quickly gains steam; first used in Congress in 1846
There is some opposition to this idea, but Western expansion quickly becomes a solution to a
growing population (and a tool to win elections)
War with Mexico (1845-1848) results in the acquisition of a significant part of the Southwest,
including California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico. (“Mexican Cession”)
Seen as proof that this philosophy is correct and divinely-inspired
Despite this, Manifest Destiny wasn’t originally seen as a doctrine of force; it was considered a
means through which immigrants could establish new U.S. states
6.
7.
8. Late 19thC Conflicts
Post-Civil War Most conflict between the
Army moves West U.S. and Native peoples
Violence between white ends in the 1870s
settlement and Native
cultures intensifies Geronimo & the Apaches
hold out until 1886
Late 1860s
Final big conflict is over the
Plains tribes moved
towards 2 big reservations Ghost Dance religious
revival of 1890
Buffalo decimated
Wounded Knee Massacre,
Makes traditional
December 1890
nomadic culture
impossible to continue