The Significance of the Frontier in American History

Frederick Jackson Turner's text "The Significance of the Frontier in American History", was and still is an important American document. In this article Turner discusses all aspects of the frontier, and what it means to many different types of people. He explains American development as the movement westward, and how we used, and what we did with the "free land" that was available beyond the frontier line. One of the main points that I extracted …

…indifference to its lessons, have accompanied the frontier (Turner, 163)." To me this quote says that in order for us to be considered Americans, expansion into the Great West was a necessary thing. The West provided a place to express individual beliefs and ideas. It was a "society" where the restraints of Europe had little or no effect. In order for this country to be what it is today, the "freedom" of the West was necessary.