Learning Materials
Features
Discover
The Frontier is the great American myth. That is not to say that the Frontier is not real, but that it has special meaning in explaining America beyond just the historical facts of what occurred. The nineteenth century is the period most remembered, but the frontier idea stretched back to the first European settlers who encountered a frontier that was the East coast of the United States. How did the culture of the Frontier develop to influence America over a century after it ended?
Millions of flashcards designed to help you ace your studies
Sign up for freeWhat brought Americans West in the 1840s?
What brought Americans West in the 1860s?
Most cowboys in real life were White
What was the federal definition of the Frontier?
What helped new religious movements flourish on the Frontier?
Who were the first people to work the froniter?
What event allowed the westward expansions of the nineteenth century to occur?
Who explored the West out to the Pacific Ocean for the US government?
All Americans believed in Manifest Destiny
What primarily drew people to the frontier?
What event allowed the westward expansions of the nineteenth century to occur?
Who explored the West out to the Pacific Ocean for the US government?
All Americans believed in Manifest Destiny
What primarily drew people to the frontier?
What brought Americans West in the 1840s?
What brought Americans West in the 1860s?
Most cowboys in real life were White
What was the federal definition of the Frontier?
What helped new religious movements flourish on the Frontier?
Who were the first people to work the froniter?
Achieve better grades quicker with Premium
Geld-zurück-Garantie, wenn du durch die Prüfung fällst
Did you know that StudySmarter supports you beyond learning?
Review generated flashcards
Start learning or create your own AI flashcards
Team American Frontier Culture Teachers
Thanks for your interest in learning preferences!
Which learning mode do you prefer? (e.g. “Audio,” “Video” “Text” “No preference”) (optional)
Send FeedbackFig. 1: Map of the Louisiana Purchase.
From the arrival of the earliest European settlers, America always had a frontier. To the early settlers, the first towns represented a frontier from Europe, and with the Louisiana purchase in 1803, the new lands represented a frontier from the Eastern United States, which was well settled by then. In 1805, President Thomas Jefferson convinced Congress to fund the expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark into these new Western lands to explore and report back what they found. They travelled all the way to the Pacific Ocean, bringing back maps, descriptions of animals and plants encountered, and peaceful first contacts with many Indigenous tribes. With this information, Americans would head west towards the Pacific Ocean and settle the frontier.
Frontier: The US government defined the frontier as an area having a population of fewer than two residents per square mile
Fig.2 - Lewis and Clark
During the 19th century, settlers moved west across the American continent. It was at the end of that century, in 1882, that the patriotic song "America the Beautiful" was written by Katherine Lee Bates and Samuel A. Ward. The song lyrics mention "from sea to shining sea", meaning the distance from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific that the nation covers. This is the timeline of important events as settlers crossed that distance, learning what lay between sea and shinning sea.
Fig. 3: Oregon Trail Reenactment
The earliest people at the forefront of westward movement were hunters and trappers, selling furs to the East and Europe. By the 1840s their trade was ending as Americans journeyed on the Oregon Trail in search of farmland and towards the California Gold Rush in hopes of striking it rich. The US government would debate how much direct involvement to have in western settlement, eventually settling on the Homestead Act in 1862. At the end of the Civil War in 1865, the era popularly known as the "Wild West" began and lasted through the end of the frontier in 1890.
Getting wagons loaded with supplies across the still natural landscape of the United States was extremely difficult. By the early 1840s, trails for wagon train trains were beginning to be cut for destinations such as Oregon and California. Between 1848 and 1855, many single, transient men known as "Forty-niners" travelled to California hoping to discover gold in the California Gold Rush. Although the early temporary settlements they developed were rough, the wealth discovered led to the development of California. Whether setting up a homestead to farm or seeking gold, the new trails aided in the still difficult journey West.
Many who travelled on the new trails succumbed to disease, the elements, animal attacks, or violent conflicts with indigenous peoples.
In 1862, Congress passed the Homestead Act, which would eventually give 1.6 million people 10% of the land in the US for only a small fee and the agreement to live on it for at least five years. Also in 1862, Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Acts, which made travel West much easier. After the Civil War ended in 1865, many Americans and recent immigrants from Europe went West. The process was easier than ever thanks to the new railroads easing the previously dangerous journey and the Homestead Act making acquiring the land easy.
In addition to the Homestead Act, many advertisements of the era promoted the great life to be had out West.
By 1890, the frontier was over. The West was settled with urban areas and connected through rail and post. Many Western territories were now officially states in the Union, and the rest would soon follow. From this point, the frontier would grow into the mythic history of America.
Fig. 4: Art Symbolizing Manifest Destiny
Major elements of the American culture would develop from the frontier experience. Individualism, democracy, and religion were all core elements of the American idea that the West helped to shape. Without the conservative establishment back East, new ideas were free to develop among the self-reliant settlers.
No other element has been so identified with the American spirit as individualism. From the first trappers, to small family farms, to the gold hunters, most headed West as single people or single family units to make it in a new area. Government control of these areas was sometimes minimal, with rampant lawlessness and conflicts with indigenous groups. Many chased a dream of social mobility through hard work into the often uncertain conditions of the frontier.
The emphasis on the individual and the degree of social mobility afforded on the frontier dissolved some more conservative notions of class difference in frontier regions. Despite the focus on the individual, crime and indigenous conflicts brought the small frontier populations together to deal with issues. This coming together was reinforced by the unique shared experiences of frontier life, that united native born Americans with immigrants in ways that culturally segregated neighborhoods of the urban East did not. Social mobility combined with the struggle to survive to increase democracy and respect for individual voices, even for immigrants and landless White Americans.
Increased suffrage in the 1828 election brought Andrew Jackson to the presidency, a man who had been born in an area of the Carolinas that was at the time on the frontier.
Out west, the Second Great Awakening occurred. With the mainline churches largely absent from the American West, new religious movements were able to find great success proselytizing their ideas. Traveling preachers hosted revival meetings, where they energized converts to their faith. During this period many uniquely American religions appeared, such as Mormonism and Adventism.
The Second Great Awakening inspired many abolitionists, who often viewed human enslavement as evil in religious terms.
Manifest Destiny was a loose philosophy that combined the individualism, democracy, and religion of America to support westward expansion. The American people and culture were viewed as exceptional and that it was the destiny and duty of Americans to expand West. This often involved vaguely religious ideas that the destiny came directly from God. The consequences for indigenous peoples were harsh and resulted in their removal from ancestral lands to make way for White settlers. Some prominent American leaders such as Andrew Jackson subscribed to the ideas, but others like Abraham Lincoln were in opposition.
Fig.5 - Pop Culture Image of the Frontier from the TV Series Wild, Wild West
In the 1890s, with the frontier now in the rearview, it became the creation story of the United States. Historian Frank Jackson Turner created the Frontier Hypothesis, which explained the history of the United States in terms of the frontier. With the frontier now closed, many looked for new frontiers from foreign expansion to metaphorical frontiers like conquering social or technological problems.
Already by the mid-nineteenth century, fictional tales exaggerating the gun fights and excitement of the "Wild West" were beginning to appear as entertainment. By the twentieth century, Westerns were a popular genre of fiction from novels to radio shows, to films. In reality, while gunfights did occur, they were not as common as in fiction and the lives of cowboys, mostly Black, Latinx, and Indigenous, were simply hard pastoral existences. Other elements of fiction such as general lawlessness, gambling, and prostitution were closer to the truth of the frontier.
Malaeska, the Indian Wife of the White Hunter was the first Western novel in 1859.
Defined as an area with less than two people per square mile.
Fostered individualism as single men or single families moved West.
Struggles to survive and social mobility created a unique American culture and led to increased democracy.
Lack of established churches gave rise to new religious ideas in revival meetings.
Influenced American culture long after the frontier closed, as Americans looked for new frontiers and new types of frontiers.
Sign up for free to gain access to all our flashcards.
What is the Frontier in American History
The frontier is the unsettled area of the United States until 1890, often identified as a place where American culture was developed.
What role did the Frontier play in American history
The Frontier is identified as being where ideas like individualism and democracy were able to flourish by historians like Frank Jackson Turner, as well as inspiring later generations of Americans to seek new types of frontiers.
How did the Frontier shape American culture and society
The Frontier removed Americans from the conservative influences of well settled areas to focus on self-reliance and social mobility which resulted in individualism and democracy.
What was life like on the American frontier?
The American froniter was rough for settlers. They experienced harsh elements, disease, dangerous animals and conflicts with indigenous populations.
How did the American Frontier end in history
The Frontier ended when the West was sufficiently settled beyond the federal standard of two inhabitants per square mile.
At StudySmarter, we have created a learning platform that serves millions of students. Meet the people who work hard to deliver fact based content as well as making sure it is verified.
Lily Hulatt is a Digital Content Specialist with over three years of experience in content strategy and curriculum design. She gained her PhD in English Literature from Durham University in 2022, taught in Durham University’s English Studies Department, and has contributed to a number of publications. Lily specialises in English Literature, English Language, History, and Philosophy.
Get to know Lily
Gabriel Freitas is an AI Engineer with a solid experience in software development, machine learning algorithms, and generative AI, including large language models’ (LLMs) applications. Graduated in Electrical Engineering at the University of São Paulo, he is currently pursuing an MSc in Computer Engineering at the University of Campinas, specializing in machine learning topics. Gabriel has a strong background in software engineering and has worked on projects involving computer vision, embedded AI, and LLM applications.
Get to know Gabriel
StudySmarter is a globally recognized educational technology company, offering a holistic learning platform designed for students of all ages and educational levels. Our platform provides learning support for a wide range of subjects, including STEM, Social Sciences, and Languages and also helps students to successfully master various tests and exams worldwide, such as GCSE, A Level, SAT, ACT, Abitur, and more. We offer an extensive library of learning materials, including interactive flashcards, comprehensive textbook solutions, and detailed explanations. The cutting-edge technology and tools we provide help students create their own learning materials. StudySmarter’s content is not only expert-verified but also regularly updated to ensure accuracy and relevance.
Learn moreSave explanations to your personalised space and access them anytime, anywhere!
By signing up, you agree to the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy of StudySmarter.
Already have an account? Log in
Sign up to highlight and take notes. It’s 100% free.
The first learning app that truly has everything you need to ace your exams in one place
The first learning platform with all the tools and study materials you need.
Explanations 
Flashcards 
StudySmarter AI 
Notes 
Study Plans 
Study Sets 
Exams 
Find a job 
Student Deals 
Magazine 
Mobile App 
