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Frederick Jackson Turner (November 14, 1861 – March 14, 1932) was an American historian during the early 20th century, based at the University of Wisconsin until 1910, and then Harvard University. He was known primarily for his frontier thesis. He trained many
PhDs A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
who became well-known historians. He promoted interdisciplinary and quantitative methods, often with an emphasis on the Midwest. His best known publication is his essay "
The Significance of the Frontier in American History "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" is a seminal essay by the American historian Frederick Jackson Turner which advanced the Frontier Thesis of American history. It was presented to a special meeting of the American Historical A ...
," the ideas of which formed the frontier thesis. He argued that the moving western frontier exerted a strong influence on American democracy and the American character from the colonial era until 1890. He is also known for his theories of geographical sectionalism. During recent years historians and academics have argued frequently over Turner's work; however, all agree that the frontier thesis has had an enormous effect on historical scholarship.


Early life, education, and career

Born in
Portage, Wisconsin Portage is a city in and the county seat of Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 10,581 at the 2020 census making it the largest city in Columbia County. The city is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. P ...
, the son of Andrew Jackson Turner and Mary Olivia Hanford Turner, Turner grew up in a middle-class family. His father was active in Republican politics, an investor in a railroad, and was a newspaper editor and publisher. His mother taught school. Turner was very much influenced by the writing of
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a cham ...
, a poet known for his emphasis on nature; so too was Turner influenced by scientists such as
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
,
Herbert Spencer Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 – 8 December 1903) was an English philosopher, psychologist, biologist, anthropologist, and sociologist famous for his hypothesis of social Darwinism. Spencer originated the expression " survival of the f ...
, and
Julian Huxley Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century modern synthesis. ...
, and the development of
Cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...
. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin (now
University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
) in 1884, where he was a member of the
Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded by William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore in Widow Letterman's home on the campus of Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pe ...
. He earned his PhD in history from
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
in 1890 with a thesis on the Wisconsin fur trade, titled "The Character and Influence of the Indian Trade in Wisconsin", directed by Herbert Baxter Adams. Turner did not publish extensively; his influence came from tersely expressed interpretive theories (published in articles), which influenced his hundreds of disciples. Two theories, in particular, were influential, the " Frontier Thesis" and the "Sectional Hypothesis". Although he published little, he had an encyclopedic knowledge of American history, earning a reputation by 1910 as one of the two or three most influential historians in the country. He proved adept at promoting his ideas and his students, for whom he obtained jobs in major universities, including
Merle Curti Merle Eugene Curti (September 15, 1897 – March 9, 1996) was a leading American historian, who taught many graduate students at Columbia University and the University of Wisconsin, and was a leader in developing the fields of social history a ...
and
Marcus Lee Hansen Marcus Lee Hansen (December 8, 1892 – May 11, 1938) was an American historian, who won the 1941 Pulitzer Prize for History for '' The Atlantic Migration, 1607–1860'' (1940). Biography Hansen was born in Neenah, Wisconsin.Brennan & Clarage (199 ...
. He circulated copies of his essays and lectures to important scholars and literary people, published extensively in magazines, recycled favorite material, attaining the largest possible audience for major concepts, and wielded considerable influence within the
American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...
as an officer and advisor for the ''American Historical Review''. His emphasis on the importance of the frontier in shaping American character influenced the interpretation found in thousands of scholarly histories. By the time Turner died in 1932, 60% of the major history departments in the U.S. were teaching courses in frontier history compatible with Turner's theories. Annoyed by the university regents who demanded less research and more teaching and state service, Turner sought an environment that would permit him to do more research. Declining offers from California, he accepted an offer from Harvard in 1910 and remained a professor there until 1922, being succeeded in 1924 by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr. In 1907 Turner was elected a member of the
American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...
, and in 1911 he was elected a fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
. Turner was never comfortable at Harvard; when he retired in 1922 he became a visiting scholar at
the Huntington Library The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and Arabella Huntington (c.1851–1924) in San Mar ...
in Los Angeles, where his note cards and files continued to accumulate, although few monographs got published. His ''The Frontier in American History'' (1920) was a collection of older essays. As a professor of history at Wisconsin (1890–1910) and Harvard (1910–1922), Turner trained scores of disciples who in turn dominated American history programs throughout the country. His model of sectionalism as a composite of social forces, such as ethnicity and land ownership, encouraged historians to use social history to analyze social, economic and political developments of American history. At the
American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...
, he collaborated with
J. Franklin Jameson John Franklin Jameson (September 19, 1859 – September 28, 1937) was an American historian, author, and journal editor who played a major role in the professional activities of American historians in the early 20th century. He helped establish ...
on numerous major projects. Turner's theories became unfashionable during the 1960s, as critics complained that he neglected regionalism. They complained that he claimed too much egalitarianism and democracy for a frontier that was restrictive for women and minorities. After Turner's death his former colleague Isaiah Bowman had this to say of his work: "Turner's ideas were curiously wanting in evidence from field studies...He represents a type of historian who rests his case on documents and general impression rather than a scientist who goes out for to see." His ideas were never forgotten; indeed they influenced the new field of
environmental history Environmental history is the study of human interaction with the natural world over time, emphasising the active role nature plays in influencing human affairs and vice versa. Environmental history first emerged in the United States out of th ...
. Turner gave a strong impetus to quantitative methods, and scholars using new statistical techniques and data sets have, for example, confirmed many of Turner's suggestions about population movements. Turner believed that because of his own biases and the amount of conflicting historical evidence that any one method of historical interpretation would be insufficient, that an interdisciplinary method was the most accurate way to analyze history.


Works


Frontier thesis

Turner's frontier thesis was developed in a scholarly paper of 1893, "
The Significance of the Frontier in American History "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" is a seminal essay by the American historian Frederick Jackson Turner which advanced the Frontier Thesis of American history. It was presented to a special meeting of the American Historical A ...
", read before the
American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...
in Chicago during the World's Columbian Exposition ( Chicago World's Fair). He believed the spirit and success of the United States was associated directly with the country's westward expansion. Turner expounded an evolutionary model; he had been influenced by work with geologists at Wisconsin. The West, not the East, was where distinctively American characteristics emerged. The creation of the unique American identity occurred at the juncture between the "civilization" of settlement and the "savagery" of wilderness. This produced a new type of citizen – one with the power to "tame the wild" and one upon whom the wild had conferred strength and individuality. As each generation of pioneers relocated 50 to 100 miles west, they abandoned useless European practices, institutions and ideas, and instead found new solutions to new problems created by their new environment. Over multiple generations, the frontier produced characteristics of informality, violence, crudeness, democracy and initiative that the world recognized as "American". Turner ignored gender, and he did not emphasize class. Historians of the 1960s and later stressed that race, class and gender were major influencers of history. The new generation stresses gender, ethnicity, professional categorization, and the contrasting victor and victim legacies of manifest destiny and colonial expansion. Most professional historians operating within the ''au courant'' postmodern paradigm now criticize Turner's frontier thesis and the theme of
American exceptionalism American exceptionalism is the belief that the United States is inherently different from other nations.sectionalism essays are collected in ''The Significance of Sections in American History'', which won the
Pulitzer Prize in History The Pulitzer Prize for History, administered by Columbia University, is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished book about the history ...
in 1933. Turner's sectionalism thesis had almost as much influence among historians as his frontier thesis, but never became widely known to the general public as did the frontier thesis. He argued that different ethnocultural groups had distinct settlement patterns, and this revealed itself in politics, economics and society.


Influence and legacy

Turner's ideas influenced many types of
historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians h ...
. Concerning the history of religion, for example, Boles (1993) notes that William Warren Sweet at the
University of Chicago Divinity School The University of Chicago Divinity School is a private graduate institution at the University of Chicago dedicated to the training of academics and clergy across religious boundaries. Formed under Baptist auspices, the school today lacks any s ...
argued that churches adapted to the characteristics of the frontier, creating new denominations such as the
LDS Church The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The c ...
, the
Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...
, the
Disciples of Christ The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...
, and the Cumberland Presbyterians. The frontier, they argued, created uniquely American institutions such as revivals, camp meetings, and itinerant preaching. This opinion dominated religious historiography for decades. Moos (2002) says that the 1910s to 1940s black filmmaker and novelist
Oscar Micheaux Oscar Devereaux Micheaux (; January 2, 1884 – March 25, 1951) was an author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films. Although the short-lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company was the first movie company owned and controlle ...
incorporated Turner's frontier thesis into his work. Micheaux promoted the West as a place where blacks could transcend race and earn economic success through diligent work and perseverance. Slatta (2001) maintains that the widespread popularization of Turner's frontier thesis influenced popular histories, motion pictures, and novels, which characterize the West in terms of individualism, frontier violence, and rough justice.
Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envisio ...
's
Frontierland Frontierland is one of the "themed lands" at the many Disneyland-style parks run by Disney around the world. Themed to the American Frontier of the 19th century, Frontierlands are home to cowboys and pioneers, saloons, red rock buttes and gol ...
of the late 20th century represented the myth of rugged
individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-reli ...
that celebrated what was perceived to be the American heritage. The public has ignored academic historians', David J. Weber for example, anti-Turnerian models, largely because they conflict with and often destroy the legends of Western heritage. However, the work of historians during the 1980s–1990s, some of whom sought to discredit Turner's conception of the frontier and others who have sought to spare the concept while presenting a more balanced and nuanced version of it, have done much to place Western myths in context. The Frederick Jackson Turner Award is given annually by the
Organization of American Historians The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad inc ...
for an author's first scholarly book on
American history The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densel ...
. Turner's former home in
Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th ...
is located in what is now the Langdon Street Historic District. In 2009 he was inducted into the
Hall of Great Westerners The Hall of Great Westerners was established by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1958. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., the Hall was created to celebrate the contributions of more than 200 men and women of the American ...
of the
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of Am ...
.


Marriage, family, and death

Turner married Caroline Mae Sherwood in Chicago in November 1889. They had three children: only one survived childhood. Dorothy Kinsley Turner (later Main) was the mother of the historian Jackson Turner Main (1917–2003), a scholar of Revolutionary America who married a fellow scholar. Frederick Jackson Turner died in 1932 in
Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...
, where he had been a research associate at the Huntington Library.


See also

* Edward Alsworth Ross * Charles Henry Ambler – historian of West Virginia and student of Turner *
Thomas Perkins Abernethy Thomas Perkins Abernethy (August 25, 1890 – November 12, 1975) was an American historian and academic. He served as a professor of early American history at a number of universities throughout the South and Southwest United States. He ma ...
- student of Turner at Harvard; later a noted historian


Bibliography

* Turner, Frederick Jackson. Edwards, Everett E. (comp.
''The early writings of Frederick Jackson Turner, with a list of all his works''
Compiled by Everett E. Edwards. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1938. * Turner, Frederick Jackson. * Turner, Frederick Jackson. ed. "Correspondence of the French ministers to the United States, 1791–1797" in ''American Historical Association. Annual report ... for the year 1903.'' Washington, 1904. * Turner, Frederick Jackson. "Is Sectionalism in America Dying Away?" (1908). ''American Journal of Sociology'', 13: 661–675. * Turner, Frederick Jackson.

" presidential address before the American Historical Association ''American Historical Review'', 16: 217–233. * Turner, Frederick Jackson.
''The Frontier in American History.''
New York: Holt, 1920. * Turner, Frederick Jackson
"The significance of the section in American history."
''Wisconsin Magazine of History'', vol. 8, no. 3 (Mar 1925) pp. 255–280. *Turner, Frederick Jackson. ''The Significance of Sections in American History''. New York: Holt, 1932. * Turner, Frederick Jackson. ''"Dear Lady": the letters of Frederick Jackson Turner and Alice Forbes Perkins Hooper, 1910–1932.'' Edited by Ray Allen Billington. Huntington Library, 1970. * Turner, Frederick Jackson
"Turner's Autobiographic Letter."
''Wisconsin Magazine of History'', vol. 19, no. 1 (Sep 1935) pp. 91–102. * Turner, Frederick Jackson. ''America's Great Frontiers and Sections: Frederick Jackson Turner's Unpublished Essays'' edited by Wilbur R. Jacobs. University of Nebraska Press, 1965.


References

:


Sources

* Hall, Patricia Kelly, and Steven Ruggles. "'Restless in the midst of Their Prosperity': New Evidence on the Internal Migration of Americans, 1850–2000.'' ''Journal of American History'' 2004 91(3): 829–846. * Hutton, T. R. C. "Beating a Dead Horse: the Continuing Presence of Frederick Jackson Turner in Environmental and Western History." ''International Social Science Review'' 2002 77(1–2): 47–57
online
* Scharff, Virginia, ''et al''. "Claims and Prospects of Western History: a Roundtable." ''Western Historical Quarterly'' 2000 31(1): 25–46.
in Jstor


Further reading

* Billington, Ray Allen. "Why Some Historians Rarely Write History: A Case Study of Frederick Jackson Turner". ''The Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', Vol. 50, No. 1. (June, 1963), pp. 3–27
in JSTOR
* Billington, Ray Allen. ''America's Frontier Heritage'' (1984). detailed analysis of Turner's theories from social science perspective. * Billington, Ray Allen. ed,. ''The Frontier Thesis: Valid Interpretation of American History?'' (1966). The major attacks and defenses of Turner. * Billington, Ray Allen. ''Frederick Jackson Turner: Historian, Scholar, Teacher''. (1973). full-scale biography. * Bogue, Allan G. ''Frederick Jackson Turner: Strange Roads Going Down''. (1988) along with Billington (1973), the leading full-scale biography. * Burkhart, J. A.
The Turner Thesis: A Historian's Controversy
. ''Wisconsin Magazine of History'', vol. 31, no. 1 (Sep 1947), pp. 70–83. * Cronon, E. David
''An Uncommon Professor: Frederick Jackson Turner at Wisconsin''
''Wisconsin Magazine of History'', vol. 78, no. 4 (Summer 1995), pp. 276–293. * Cronon, William. "Revisiting the Vanishing Frontier: The Legacy of Frederick Jackson Turner". ''The Western Historical Quarterly'', Vol. 18, No. 2 (Apr., 1987), pp. 157–17
online at JSTOR
* Curti, Merle E. "Frontier in American History: The Methodological Concepts of Frederick Jackson Turner" in Stuart Rice, ed. ''Methods in Social Science: A Case Book'' (1931) pp. 353–367
online edition
* Faragher, John Mack (ed.) ''Rereading Frederick Jackson Turner: The Significance of the Frontier in American History and Other Essays''. New York: Holt, 1994. * Fernlund, Kevin Jon. "American Exceptionalism or Atlantic Unity? Frederick Jackson Turner and the Enduring Problem of American Historiography", ''New Mexico Historical Review'', 89 (Summer 2014): 359–399. * Hofstadter, Richard. "Turner and the Frontier Myth", ''American Scholar'' (1949) 18#4 pp. 433–44
in JSTOR
* Hofstadter, Richard. ''The Progressive Historians: Turner, Beard, Parrington'' (1968); detailed critique of Turner. * Jacobs, Wilbur R. ''On Turner's Trail: 100 Years of Writing Western History'' (1994). * Jensen, Richard. "On Modernizing Frederick Jackson Turner: The Historiography of Regionalism". ''The Western Historical Quarterly'', vol. 11, no. 3 (July 1980), 307–322
in JSTOR
* Limerick, Patricia N. "Turnerians All: The Dream of a Helpful History in an Intelligible World", ''American Historical Review'', 100 (June 1995):697–716
in JSTOR
* Nichols, Roger L. ''American Frontier and Western Issues: A Historiographical Review'' (1986
online edition
* Steiner, Michael C. "From Frontier to Region: Frederick Jackson Turner and the New Western History". ''Pacific Historical Review'', 64 (November 1995): 479–501
in JSTOR


External links


Frederick Jackson Turner
at the Wisconsin Electronic Reader * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Frederick Jackson 1861 births 1932 deaths 19th-century American historians 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers Environmental historians Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Harvard University faculty Historians of the American West Historians of the United States Johns Hopkins University alumni People from Portage, Wisconsin Presidents of the American Historical Association Pulitzer Prize for History winners University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty People from San Marino, California Members of the American Antiquarian Society Historians from California Historians from Wisconsin 20th-century American male writers