Frederick Jackson Turner Frontier Thesis

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Topic 2 Assignment: Frontier Thesis
The Frontier Thesis was an argument made by historian Frederick Jackson Turner during the 1890s. He claimed in this argument that the American people as a whole had been shaped by the frontier. During this time, the frontier was basically the unsettled land in the western part of America. As time passed, the frontier line was steadily expanded as small farmers moved to the west as a result of the Homestead Act. Because of its expansion, the frontier seemingly vanished very quickly, which Turner claimed had a big effect due to the frontier’s influence on American characteristics. He was unsure whether the American people would keep these attributes, and questioned how future American culture would develop