The Frontier Heritage
The Impact of the American Frontier
A．Although American civilization took over and replaced the frontier more than a century ago, the heritage of the frontier is still very much alive in the United States today. The idea of the frontier still stirs the emotions and imaginations of the American people. Americans continue to be fascinated by the frontier because it has been a particularly important force in shaping their national value.
B．The frontier experience began when the first colonists settled on the east coast of the continent in the 1600s. It ended in about 1890 when the last western lands were settled.
C．The American frontier consisted of the relatively unsettled regions of the United States, usually found in the western part of the country. Here, both land and life were more rugged and primitive than in the more settled eastern part. As one frontier area was settled, people began moving farther west into the next unsettled area. By settling one frontier area after another, Americans moved across an entire continent, 2,700 miles wide. How did this movement, which lasted more than two centuries, help to shape American values
D．Americans have tended to see the frontier, its life, and its people as the purest examples of their basic values. This has been the impact of the frontier on the American mind. For example, the frontier provided many inspiring examples of hard work as forests were turned into towns, and towns into large cities. The race for competitive success was rarely more colorful or adventurous than on the western frontier. The rush for gold in California, for silver in Montana, and for fertile land in all the western territories provided endless stories of high adventure. When it was announced that almost two million acres of good land in Oklahoma would be opened for settlement in April 1889, thousands of settlers gathered on the border waiting for the exact time to be announced. When it was, they literally raced into the territory in wagons and on horseback to claim the best land they could find for themselves.
E．Individualism, self-reliance, and equality of opportunity have perhaps been the values most closely associated with the frontier heritage of America. Throughout their history, Americans have tended to view the frontiersman as the model of the free individual. This is probably because there was less control over the individual on the frontier than anywhere else in the United States. There were few laws and few established social or political institutions to confine people living on the frontiers. In the United States, where from outside social controls is so highly valued, the frontier has been idealized, and it still serves as a basis for a nostalgic (怀旧的) view of the purity of the early United States, which was lost when the country became ized and more complex.
Self-Reliance and the Rugged Individualist
F．Closely associated with the frontier ideal of the free individual is the ideal of self-reliance. If the people living on the frontier were free of many of society’s rules, they were also denied many of society’s comforts and conveniences. They had to be self-reliant. They often constructed their own houses, hunted, tended their own gardens, and made their own clothing and household items.
G．The self-reliant frontiersman has been idealized by Americans who have made him the model of the classic American hero with "rugged individualism". This hero is a man who has been made physically tough and rugged by the conditions of frontier life. He is skilled with guns and other weapons. He needs no help from others. He usually has no strong tie or obligations to women and children. He is kind and polite to them, but he prefers "to go his own way" and not be tied down by them. Standing alone, he can meet all the ers which life on the frontier brings. He is strong enough to extend his protection beyond himself to others.
H．There are two types of this heroic rugged individualist drawn from two different stages of life on the frontier. In the early frontier, which existed before the Civil War of the 1860s, the main struggle was one of man against the wilderness. Daniel Boone is probably the best-known hero of this era. Boone explored the wilderness country of Kentucky in the 1760s and 1770s. On one trip he stayed in the wilderness for two years, successfully matching his strength and skills against the ers of untamed nature and hostile Indians. In 1778 Boone was captured by Indians, who were so impressed with his physical strength and skills that they made him a member of their tribe. Later he succeeded in a daring escape. Boone’s heroic strength is seen primarily in his ability to the harsh challenges of the wilderness. Although he had to fight against Indians from time to time, he is admired mainly as a survivor and conqueror of the wilderness, not as a fighter.
I．The second type of heroic rugged individualist is drawn from the last phase of the western frontier, which lasted from the 1860s until the 1890s. By this time the wilderness was largely conquered. The struggle now was no longer man against nature, but man against man. Cattlemen and cowboys fought against farmers, outlaws, Indians, and each other for control of the remaining western lands. The traditions of law and order were not yet well established, and physical violence was frequent. The frontier became known as "the Wild West".
Equality of Opportunity
J．In addition to viewing the frontier as an expression of individual and self-reliance in their purest forms, Americans have also seen the frontier as a pure expression of the ideal of equality of opportunity. On the western frontier there was more of a tendency for people to treat each other as social equals than in the more settled eastern regions of the country. On the frontier, the highest importance was placed on what a person could do in the present, and hardly any notice was taken of who his dead ancestors were. Frontiersmen were fond of saying, "what’s above the ground is more important than what’s beneath the ground."
K．Because so little attention was paid to a person’s family background, the frontier offered the chance of a new beginning for many Americans who were seeking new opportunities to advance themselves. One English visitor to the United States in the early 1800s observed that if Americans experienced disappointment or failure in business, in politics, or even in love, they moved west to the frontier to make a new beginning. The frontier offered millions of Americans a source of hope for a fresh start in the competitive race for success and for a better life. On the frontier there was a continuing need for new farmers, new skilled laborers, new merchants, new lawyers, and new political leaders.
L．The differences in wealth between rich and poor on the frontier were generally smaller than those found in the more settled regions of the nation. People lived, dressed, and acted more alike on the frontier than in other parts of the United States. The feeling of equality was shared by hired helpers who refused to be called "servants" or to be treated as such. One European visitor observed: "The clumsy gait (步态) and bent body of our peasant is hardly ever seen here... Everyone walks erect and easy." Wealthy travelers to the frontier were warned not to show off their wealth or to act superior to others if they wished to be treated politely.
M．The American frontier may not be "the key" to American development, as Frederick Jackson Turner said, but it is certainly one major factor. The frontier provided the space and conditions which helped to strengthen the American ideals of individual , self-reliance, and equality of opportunity. On the frontier, these ideals were enlarged and made workable. Frontier ideas and customs were continuously passed along to the more settled parts of the United States as newer frontier regions took the place of older ones during a westward march of settlers which lasted more than two centuries. In this way, many of the frontier values became national values.
The Impact of the American Frontier
A．Although American civilization took over and replaced the frontier more than a century ago, the heritage of the frontier is still very much alive in the United States today. The idea of the frontier still stirs the emotions and imaginations of the American people. Americans continue to be fascinated by the frontier because it has been a particularly important force in shaping their national value.
B．The frontier experience began when the first colonists settled on the east coast of the continent in the 1600s. It ended in about 1890 when the last western lands were settled.
C．The American frontier consisted of the relatively unsettled regions of the United States, usually found in the western part of the country. Here, both land and life were more rugged and primitive than in the more settled eastern part. As one frontier area was settled, people began moving farther west into the next unsettled area. By settling one frontier area after another, Americans moved across an entire continent, 2,700 miles wide. How did this movement, which lasted more than two centuries, help to shape American values
D．Americans have tended to see the frontier, its life, and its people as the purest examples of their basic values. This has been the impact of the frontier on the American mind. For example, the frontier provided many inspiring examples of hard work as forests were turned into towns, and towns into large cities. The race for competitive success was rarely more colorful or adventurous than on the western frontier. The rush for gold in California, for silver in Montana, and for fertile land in all the western territories provided endless stories of high adventure. When it was announced that almost two million acres of good land in Oklahoma would be opened for settlement in April 1889, thousands of settlers gathered on the border waiting for the exact time to be announced. When it was, they literally raced into the territory in wagons and on horseback to claim the best land they could find for themselves.
E．Individualism, self-reliance, and equality of opportunity have perhaps been the values most closely associated with the frontier heritage of America. Throughout their history, Americans have tended to view the frontiersman as the model of the free individual. This is probably because there was less control over the individual on the frontier than anywhere else in the United States. There were few laws and few established social or political institutions to confine people living on the frontiers. In the United States, where from outside social controls is so highly valued, the frontier has been idealized, and it still serves as a basis for a nostalgic (怀旧的) view of the purity of the early United States, which was lost when the country became ized and more complex.
Self-Reliance and the Rugged Individualist
F．Closely associated with the frontier ideal of the free individual is the ideal of self-reliance. If the people living on the frontier were free of many of society’s rules, they were also denied many of society’s comforts and conveniences. They had to be self-reliant. They often constructed their own houses, hunted, tended their own gardens, and made their own clothing and household items.
G．The self-reliant frontiersman has been idealized by Americans who have made him the model of the classic American hero with "rugged individualism". This hero is a man who has been made physically tough and rugged by the conditions of frontier life. He is skilled with guns and other weapons. He needs no help from others. He usually has no strong tie or obligations to women and children. He is kind and polite to them, but he prefers "to go his own way" and not be tied down by them. Standing alone, he can meet all the ers which life on the frontier brings. He is strong enough to extend his protection beyond himself to others.
H．There are two types of this heroic rugged individualist drawn from two different stages of life on the frontier. In the early frontier, which existed before the Civil War of the 1860s, the main struggle was one of man against the wilderness. Daniel Boone is probably the best-known hero of this era. Boone explored the wilderness country of Kentucky in the 1760s and 1770s. On one trip he stayed in the wilderness for two years, successfully matching his strength and skills against the ers of untamed nature and hostile Indians. In 1778 Boone was captured by Indians, who were so impressed with his physical strength and skills that they made him a member of their tribe. Later he succeeded in a daring escape. Boone’s heroic strength is seen primarily in his ability to the harsh challenges of the wilderness. Although he had to fight against Indians from time to time, he is admired mainly as a survivor and conqueror of the wilderness, not as a fighter.
I．The second type of heroic rugged individualist is drawn from the last phase of the western frontier, which lasted from the 1860s until the 1890s. By this time the wilderness was largely conquered. The struggle now was no longer man against nature, but man against man. Cattlemen and cowboys fought against farmers, outlaws, Indians, and each other for control of the remaining western lands. The traditions of law and order were not yet well established, and physical violence was frequent. The frontier became known as "the Wild West".
Equality of Opportunity
J．In addition to viewing the frontier as an expression of individual and self-reliance in their purest forms, Americans have also seen the frontier as a pure expression of the ideal of equality of opportunity. On the western frontier there was more of a tendency for people to treat each other as social equals than in the more settled eastern regions of the country. On the frontier, the highest importance was placed on what a person could do in the present, and hardly any notice was taken of who his dead ancestors were. Frontiersmen were fond of saying, "what’s above the ground is more important than what’s beneath the ground."
K．Because so little attention was paid to a person’s family background, the frontier offered the chance of a new beginning for many Americans who were seeking new opportunities to advance themselves. One English visitor to the United States in the early 1800s observed that if Americans experienced disappointment or failure in business, in politics, or even in love, they moved west to the frontier to make a new beginning. The frontier offered millions of Americans a source of hope for a fresh start in the competitive race for success and for a better life. On the frontier there was a continuing need for new farmers, new skilled laborers, new merchants, new lawyers, and new political leaders.
L．The differences in wealth between rich and poor on the frontier were generally smaller than those found in the more settled regions of the nation. People lived, dressed, and acted more alike on the frontier than in other parts of the United States. The feeling of equality was shared by hired helpers who refused to be called "servants" or to be treated as such. One European visitor observed: "The clumsy gait (步态) and bent body of our peasant is hardly ever seen here... Everyone walks erect and easy." Wealthy travelers to the frontier were warned not to show off their wealth or to act superior to others if they wished to be treated politely.
M．The American frontier may not be "the key" to American development, as Frederick Jackson Turner said, but it is certainly one major factor. The frontier provided the space and conditions which helped to strengthen the American ideals of individual , self-reliance, and equality of opportunity. On the frontier, these ideals were enlarged and made workable. Frontier ideas and customs were continuously passed along to the more settled parts of the United States as newer frontier regions took the place of older ones during a westward march of settlers which lasted more than two centuries. In this way, many of the frontier values became national values.
