American Frontier

Since colonial times, the American frontier was considered to be any place in the new world that was not yet inhabited and beyond the reach of the Europeans. Soon the American frontier became synonymous with the forested interior of the country and what eventually became known as the Wild West.

Frederick Jackson Turner (1861 - 1932), an American historian and author of "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" was one of the foremost to defenders of the American frontier. Turner believed that the uninhabited land of the West gave people a sense of unlimited opportunity and therefore shaped a new segment of society. In fact, Turner believed that the existence of the American frontier is what gave new spirit and encouragement to bridge the gap between modern civilization and savagery.

Turner's work was responsible for the foundation of the future of the recording of American history...