Characteristics/Criteria About The Frontier:
•Wilderness; an uncivilized and violent place “that needed to be filled with the superior” culture (Schneekloth 211 ) •Opportunity; offered new opportunities in undiscovered lands and a place to start over (Schneekloth 211 ) •Conquest; a “frontier hero” environment for men who are portrayed as self-sufficient, with a “natural sense of justice, which they administer fiercely and freely” (Schneekloth 214)
Resources about The Frontier in Early American Literature
1. Gutfeld, Arnon. American Exceptionalism: The Effects of Plenty on the American Experience. Portland: Sussex Academic, 2002. Google Books. Sussex Academic Press, 2002. Web. 11 June 2010. <http://books.google.com/books?id=bl6auV5RShMC&pg=PR6&lpg=PR6&dq=american+frontier+enlightenment&source=web&ots=PrLo-DaqUi&sig=9SiiukdCTJDBxrQ2AX_vubBu9Io&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#v=onepage&q=american%20frontier%20enlightenment&f=false>.
This source contains selections from a book, which analyzes the American frontier myth. The book examines historical writings throughout American history, including the Enlightenment era, to determine how the frontier myth was created and perpetuated. The site notes that the “frontier” often represents abundance, or the opportunity to achieve it. During the Enlightenment era, for instance, the frontier-based notion of obtaining abundance and freedom to pursue happiness were very important. The source is a reliable one, as it contains an edited and published text.
2. Schneekloth, Linda H. "The Frontier Is Our Home." Journal of Architectural Education (1984-) 49.4 (1996): 210-25. JSTOR. Web. 11 June 2010.
In this article, Schneekloth looks at different representations of the frontier in American literature. She looks at three different themes represented by the frontier, including that the frontier was invented and not discovered, how it was the landscape for sanctioned violence, and that the space where the action takes place “is and always has been someone’s home.” In further detailing these three themes of the frontier, Schneekloth provides various characteristics that describe a typical frontier setting. This article is both interesting and informative, giving an insightful look into the American frontier and how it relates to American literature. This source is a very credible one, as this article was originally presented at an International Association for People-Environment Studies (IAPS) Conference. Additionally, all her claims are backed up with sufficient and credible sources, as detailed in her Notes.
3. Sweet, Timothy. "The First West: Writing from the American Frontier, 1776-1860." Literature Resource Center. 2003. University of North Carolina Press. 18 Jun 2008 <http://galenet.galegroup.com.ezp.mc.maricopa.edu/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&locID=mcc_mesa&srchtp=kywrd&c=29&stab=2048&ste=43&tbst=ksrch&tab=2&KA=american+frontier&n=10&docNum=A111934760&bConts=331687>. This article discusses what the American Frontier is, and how it was viewed in the years between 1776 and 1860. Although this particular piece is a review of a book, it contains a lot of valuable information about the theme of the frontier. I find that it provides more information rather than reviewing the book. It defines the frontier geographically, and also takes a look at how the theme prevails in literature, most commonly James Fenimore Cooper's works. I find this source highly credible as it was written by a man who is anassociate chair of the English Department at West Virginia University. He is author, most recently, of American Georgics: Economy and Environment in Early American Literature. 4. Kidd, Michael W. “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” The Frontier In American History. Summer 1996.Ch 1 http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/TURNER/
The theme of the American Frontier in the time period I’m studying is about the great historic movement. This is the colonization of the Great West when new settlers were moving westward to take up free land, so to speak. At that time, the only known people on this continent were the Native American Indians who were affected by this era. The white people came to take over the land that we now call the United States. The settler took up land for plantation, which led to the industrial development. This time period also led to some Indian wars and peace. In summation, the frontier led to the formation of a new government for America. The main purpose of this website is the significance to dialogue the history of America. It gives information researchers the true insight into how our history came about. The literary text of this website is the hypertext edition of the original writer, Frederick J. Turner. Turner’s original publication was in 1921. Due to some typographical errors and spelling variation, this online text has some slight difference to the original work of the writer. The original copy has been preserved. The criteria used to define frontier is based on the original writer’s research that includes the citations. A footnote is used to further inform the reader where the sources came from. This resource was helpful to me because of its content. It helped me read about history I’ve overlooked in the past. It was also written in early 1920, and the language is easy to read. The website is credible because of it truthfulness in stating that a few changes in spelling were made and that the original work is in archive. The whole text is located on the website with a dot "edu" URL.
5. Schultz, Stanley K. and William P. Tishler. “Which Old West and Whose?” University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents. 2004. 8 June 2007 < http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/weblect/lec03/03_04.htm >.
This website is based on American History. This essay focuses on the American Frontier, looking to Turner’s “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” for its discussion. Up to the nineteenth century, according to Turner, American history had been made up of “people setting their eyes westward,” “escaping or leaving behind the settled institutions of society, plunging into the forests, or later into the grasslands of the Great Plains.” Turner makes an important observation about the frontier. “The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward, explain American development. American social development has been continually beginning over again on the frontier.” Turner defines the frontier as “the outer wave of expansion, the meeting point between savagery and civilization.” People were leaving settled territories and going into unexplored areas with no established government or institutions. People left civilization behind and found new ways to coexist peacefully. Turner believed that the most important effect of the frontier was the promotion of democracy. The frontier was “productive of individualism.” Everyone started on the same level. People were “self-reliant rugged individuals ready, willing, eager to breath a new life into tired, old social institutions.” The frontier was a time of innovators acting in response to geography, “free land breeding free people.” This essay was extremely informative and provided a detailed history of the American Frontier. Turner’s look at the frontier is not only informative, but also beautifully written. The frontier relates to Transcendentalism in its exploration of and interest in nature. This is an educational website sponsored by the University of Wisconsin.
6. Reuben, Paul P. “The Frontier in American Literature.” PAL: Perspectives in American Literature-A Research and Reference Guide-An Ongoing Project. 2 June 2007.
The website gives the Frederick Jackson Turner Thesis on the Frontier, basically stating that the West, “not the proslavery South or the antislavery North, was the most important among American sections, and that the novel attitudes and institutions produced by the frontier, especially through its encouragement of democracy, had been more significant than the imported European heritage in shaping American society.” While the website lists Turner’s views of the Frontier, and its importance to American development, his views exhibit a cultural disconnect with minorities and women, totally avoiding the bleaker aspects of westward expansion and capitalism. I’ve found Mr. Reuben’s websites to be very helpful, and since he cites all of his sources on every chapter, his credibility doesn’t need to be questioned.
7. "THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FRONTIER IN AMERICAN HISTORY." Virginia.Edu. University of Virginia. 23 June 2007 http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/turner/chapter1.html
The main purpose of this website is to provide information on the frontier in American history. The website defines the era around 1865. To check if a specific author or text fits into this era look and see if it was around that year. This recourse was helpful in reading and interpreting the author, texts, and themes because it gives a little information on each one. The website is credible because it is apart of a reputable association, the University of Virginia.
8. West, Elliott. "Frontier." Encyclopedia of the American Foreign Relations. 22 June 2007 < http://www.americanforeignrelations.com/Fl-Ga/Frontier.html >.
The website's purpose is to provide articles about different subjects during American history and present-time relations. The author of the "Frontier" article is a distinguished professor of History at the University of Arkansas. The frontier marked the existence of freedom and opportunity for the history of America; a boundary that expanded from throughout the land resulting in present-day America as a result of a quest for farmland, as well as opportunities. The frontier is said to be defined as a line dividing one civilization from another, however, has been a significant characteristic of the interaction, exchange, and understanding of cultures, resulting in America and her people.
The author of the page mentions Frederick Turner's essay, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History," and in the essay, Turner discusses the importance of the frontier on American history and development.
9. New England.Encyclopedia Britannica.2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.3 June 2008 <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9055457>.A literary theme that I think associates best with Puritanism is the Frontier. Not only because of the fact that the English were migrating to a new land, but also because of the religious freedom that they were searching for, and the new devotion with which they started to live their lives. This site focuses on the basis of this idea. It touches on the location of the Puritans in the northeast part of the country, and on their beliefs. Understanding this helps to understand the literary standpoint of the Puritans. This site has links to other websites and journals as well.
10. Devera John. “Literary analysis: The lure of the frontier in American literature.” 9 June 2008
<http://www.helium.com/items/1043730-literary-analysis-the-lure-of-the-frontier-in-american-literature>.
This article explains the American Frontier as American’s Eden, a great land for wealth. American literature before the 20th century is known to be all about the frontier and the land of America. This article was very useful because it talked about Thomas Jefferson, one my authors was well as the time period Enlightenment which gave me an understanding of how the frontier fit into this time period. Jefferson sought to understand the American frontier and fought for the freedom of the land. At the end of this page there are links to several other articles about the American frontier which gave even more information. The American Frontier Is all about the land of America and its vast opportunities. John Devera is a professional writer who has had several articles published in the Bakersfield Californian. His writing career gives him the creditable status to write this article.
11. McMurtry, Larry. "The Legacy of the Frontier," MasterFILE Premier. Summer 2007.https://web-ebscohost-com.ezp.mc.maricopa.edu/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=105&sid=ac77c366-478e-42ff-b95e-ee587894562b%40sessionmgr108
I found this article off of the EBSCO Host database, which is located in the MCC Library database. Because of both of those reasons, I believe this site to be credible. EBSCO Host is a site I used through middle school, until the present to find resources. Not only did I believe them to be credible because it was the one site our teachers made us find information from, but also because they have never provided me with wrong information. This is probably because all of the information you can find on their site are academic journals or published books.
The site provided me with information about the frontier. It makes the point that through this time the old and the young people were die all the time. It tells how hard they worked to survive but not unusual it was for people to pass away. After working hard, the land they worked hard to survive off of was sold so they weren't sure what they had spent all the tears, sweat and lives over. In general, the Frontier was all about hard work and surviving.
12.“colonialism, Western."Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 19June2008 <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-25911>.
This article is about colonialism and the takeover of the United States as a frontier. It talks about how the colonization of the American Frontier (as with others) meant conquests and the displacement of the people who were there first. The article gives a very step-by-step chronological idea of how the West was colonized and the affect this had on the Native Americans. This article helped to explain a little of why Anne Bradstreet was hesitant to come to the United States. This article is credible because it came from the Encyclopaedia Britannica and has a stated copyright.
13. Barnhart, Adam. "The Historiography of the Frontier in Colonial America." 1999. Web. 11 Jun 2010. <http://employees.cfmc.com/adamb/index.html>.
This website describes in great detail the life of a colonist in America. It talks about how they lived and what life was like for them. It goes on to tell what they ate and how they could manage to survive and some of the more famous literary and other well-known colonists and figures of the time. It talks about how the US moves down the coast and from city to city.
14. Miller, Susan Cummins(Editor).Sweet, Separate Intimacy : Women Writers of the American Frontier, 1800-1922.Salt Lake City, UT, USA: University of Utah Press, 2000. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/mesa/Doc?id=2001310&ppg=23 This website allows readers to view Susan Miller’s book and read it page for page. In her book she describes the theme of the frontier as having to do with the time when the west was trying to get its start. She talks a lot about the women who were writing during this time and how the things they experienced affected their writing. It describes the characters during this theme or time period as having to deal with the constant struggle for survival, their separation from kin, and their tragedy in a land of promise. It is a good book because the author gives examples to help the reader understand her points being made about the frontier. It is credible because it is copyrighted, published by a University, and is supported by an accredited college that promotes it to its students for educational purposes.
15. "The Frontier ". Wikipedia. June 10 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontier>.
This website is a college of bits and pieces to form information about a variety of different topics. The information specifically for this link
is defining the American Frontier and what it was like, and what it entailed. It helps one understand the literary theme "the Frontier". It is referring
to the places beyond the European rule. The period of Enlightenment was already well into the frontier stage but alot can still be learned from this during this
specific period. The reason this website is credible is because it is from a compilation of authors deciding the most reliable information
16.Burke, Michael. “Literary analysis: The lure of the frontier in American literature”Helium11 JUN 2009. Helium, Inc. <http://www.helium.com/items/1043443-literary-analysis-the-lure-of-the-frontier-in-american-literature>.The main purpose of this article is to give an in-depth look at the frontier days of American Literature. It provides facts and information such as what the literature itself forced us to look at, as well as how it was intended to reach us. The criteria used to define this literary theme include characters facing many hardships, manual labor, and a look into the historical past of the world. This article was helpful in understanding the time period because it showed be what the country was like back then, in regards to everyday life and the work that people did. It showed me how hard people had to work and the struggles that they faced day to day. It also helped to show me how far the modern world has come in regards to our advancements. I would consider this a credible site because this was only one article out of a list of five on the same topic that were rated for their effectiveness.
17.Pappas, Jason. “From Washington to Jackson: the Expansion West”. Liberty and Culture.blogspot.com. 11 June 2009http://libertyandculture.blogspot.com/2008/06/from-washington-to-jackson-expansion.html.This blog describes the American Frontier in the times of George Washington to Andrew Jackson. Pappas discusses the American philosophies and ways of life in these times. The Frontier suffered a larger cultural divide than that of North and South. Pappas points out the hardships and political struggles surrounding these times. Though the article is brief and covers a long period of history, the information in still important and interesting to read.
18. "Life on the American Frontier." Encarta. Microsoft. Web.20 Jun 2009. <http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761584404/Life_on_the_American_Frontier.html>.
This is an article about frontier life that I found in the Encarta Encyclopedia. This is a well-known encyclopedia run by Microsoft. Its main purpose is to define and describe many different topics. Frontier life was not easy. Populations were scattered far apart. Settlers had to learn to survive in an unfamiliar environment. People had to be strong and healthy in order to live in the harsh conditions they faced. The frontier settlers could probably identify with the Enlightenment writers because the writers fought for the freedoms of the common man.
19. Fidler, Katherine. “The Forgotten Frontier: Colonist and Khoisan on the Cape’s Northern Frontier in the 19th Century.(Book Review).” Journal of Social History 42.2 (Winter 2008): 505(3). General OneFile. Mesa Community College. 17 June 2009http://find.galegroup.com.ezp.mc.maricopa.edu/itx/start.do?prodId=ITOFThis website describes The Frontier in Southern Africa. The Frontier was seen as a zone of military economic and cultural contact between white colonists and indigenous peoples. The Frontier was once located at the banks of the Berg River in the late seventeenth century. In the early years of the nineteenth century the Northern Frontier extended to the banks of the Orange River. Academic literature privileges the encounters between the British and Xhosa. The article is about the different wars and based on the outcome of the war, that is how the Frontier developed further into different areas. This article was found on the Mesa Community College Library website therefore it is a credible resource.
20. “Major themes in American literature”.http://school.jhssac.org/Faculty/HrgaI/documents/Summaryofthe5Themes.pdf
This website provides a list of five common themes found within American Literature. They include: The journey from innocence to awareness, the American Dream, the land and the frontier, the hero and the community. Specifically looking at the land and the frontier, this site explains how to many, the lands in America offered the promise of paradise and of hope, it promised a new life. It explained how many still view it that way today as we move from state to state, go to college, travel and so forth. This site explained how this theme of land was most common within the Transcendentalist literary movement as they saw the land as a place of hope and renewal. Other writers, such as Naturalists, view the land as a dangerous, mysterious wilderness.
21. Jason Combs, H. “The South’s Slave Culture Transplanted to the Western Frontier.”Professional Geographer; Aug2004, Vol. 56 Issue 3, p361-371
This article describes the relationship between slavery, culture, and the westward expansion. The Missouri Compromise is cited as an example that can be used on a larger scale. Missouri was a “northern” state that, because it had so many Southern settlers, demanded statehood with rights to slavery. If enacted, the supporters of slavery would outnumber the abolitionists. This would have imbalanced the Senate and given power to the south. Missouri was made a southern state with the “compromise” that Maine was to become a northern territory. A line was then created at the southern Missouri border to denote north and south. In short, the divide solidified the cultural distinctions between north and south. The southern frontier, which had once expanded upward into Missouri, now ran lateral to the established southern states. The north, likewise, saw their frontier in the westward expansion of the northern plains. For both the north and south, the frontier was then on the westward expansion of their ideals and culture. Slavery, key to the southern cash-crop economy, was brought into Missouri and frontier lands in a pattern that we recognize today as the Upper South. The north didn’t see the benefits of slavery because their crops were not as labor intensive; instead, northerners profited most when they hired seasonal laborers. These ideas are helpful to keep in mind when considering my abolitionist readings. The poems of Longfellow and Whitman don't just imply their abolitionist beliefs, or try to prevent the spread of slavery because it is seen by them as unjust. The spread of slavery is an endangerment to local identity, since the spread of southern culture into northern states would endanger their "Americanism" by questioning their general beliefs in the American Dream. Intentional or not on the authors' part, this concept adds an additional dynamic to the abolitionist movement. This article is credible because it is in MCC’s library and written by a university professor.
22. "American Frontier." Central A&M Community Unit District #21. 26 June 2009 <http://www.cam.k12.il.us/hs/teachers/bresnana/amfront.htm>.
The purpose of this site is to give a simple definition of the American frontier. It is defined as “the time of the cowboy, Indians, buffalo hunting, bank robbers, gunfighters, lawmen and many more”. It lasted from the end of the civil war until about 1980. When analyzing a text to see if it fit in the American frontier it should discuss the western migration and the lives of cowboys and Indians. It was not helpful in understanding the text I read for this packet because it came much after the Puritan missions but it was helpful in seeing how Puritanism had long-standing effects in America. This source is credible because it came from a K–12 school district web page. | |
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