Turners Thesis and the Process that He Describes that Makes the United States Unique - Essay Example

Early American History Turner’s Thesis and the Process that He Describes that makes the United s Unique Since its initial publication in 1893, the Turner’s Frontier thesis has quickly become one of the most influential and pervasive models of American history. The thesis is noted to espouse three main points; First, the American frontier line can be perceived as being the most rapid line of Americanization, the second of these points is that the frontier experience is responsible for having shaped America’s democratic institutions in a much more visible way as compared to force and thirdly that the frontier was largely instrumental in the shaping of American culture and character (Derman 131). In his thesis, Turner points out that America is unique due to a number of reasons that include the settlement by White people, the existence of large areas of free land and its continuous recession as well as the Westward advancement of American settlement. He further argues that it is these three attributes that are the central story of American history. A number of historical events can be noted to arguably support this thesis. One of these events is the Bacon’s rebellion. The Bacon’s rebellion is noted to have occurred over a period of several months in Tidewater Virginia. The rebellion was brought about by a rapidly growing shortage of available land as well as the colony’s relatively complicated relations with both the hostile and friendly tribes of Native Americans. Noble (42), points out that in one of his essays, Turner points out that the Bacon’s rebellion was essentially the first attempt of the American people to attempt to throw out both the British authority as well as the colonial aristocracy. As is characteristic of Turner’s thesis, the eastern authority was able to gradually push inland into the American frontier to the fall line of the rivers that served to end the existence of this first frontier. Turner’s thesis is also noted to be supported by the ideology behind Manifest Destiny. The ideology behind this phrase was that it was indeed the providential mission of the United States to ensure that it extends itself over the frontier as this was essentially a God-given national right. In this regard, the American frontier is noted to have quickly moved across the nation although this was not done in a uniform manner. Americans believed that all the land spanning form the Pacific to the Atlantic should be filled. When all this area was eventually filled in 1893, Turner proclaimed that the American Frontier was closed. It was during this time that the United States started moving towards a foreign Manifest Destiny and the creation of an empire following the Spanish-American War. The empire gradually expanded into the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean similarly to how US expanded its frontier. Northern Arguments against Slavery and the Southern Arguments to defend its Legitimacy The Northern arguments against slavery included the there were other alternative to trade as opposed to primarily focusing on the selling of slaves. The anti-slavery Northern states also argued that the fact that a number of other countries engaged in the trade did not serve to make it right even though it was profitable. In opposing these Northern arguments, the Southern supporters of this argument pointed out that any sudden end to the slavery economy would have the effect of killing the Southern economy where slave labor was widely perceive to be the economy’s foundation. They also argued that if the slaves were to be freed, this would result in widespread unemployment and chaos (Smith 6). The color line was able to transcend these positions as leaders from both the Black and White American communities rose up to argue that all humans were essentially equal regardless of their color. After wide spread campaigns by these individuals, the country’s Northern states started to assail slavery and the states that continued to practice it. Some Northerners even went one to assist in the escape of runaway slaves. After the United States managed to win the Mexican war (1846-48) and subsequently managed to expand its territory to the Pacific Ocean, the debate over slavery intensified. When the Republican Party swept the 1859 elections putting the avowed foe to the expansion of slavery, Abraham Lincoln, in office, the Southern states seceded from the Lincoln led Union resulting in the Civil War conflict. The Theory of Natural law, Independence and the Constitution The Natural Law theory basically referrers to the unwritten body of what are considered to be universal moral principles that are seen to underlie the legal and ethical norms that work to govern and evaluate human conduct. These laws are considered to be an inherent part of nature and actually exist irrespective of the government’s is willingness to recognize and enforce them (Hutton 9). Natural law theory can be noted to justify independence due to the fact that according to this law, humans have the fundamental right to freedom and enjoying the ability to choose who will rule them. As such, any oppressive colonialism or captivity essentially goes against the intrinsic moral fiber that is present in all societies as it denies this people independence and the ability to freely rule themselves. The constitution is noted to be framed by the ideology of Natural Law due to the fact that in establishing the constitution, the founders did not seek to establish the Constitution for the sole purpose of granting rights. Instead they worked to establish a government of laws and not a government of men with the aim of ensuring that they secure each person’s God given rights to liberty, life and property. The founders recognized that it would be impossible to sustain the God-given unalienable prerogatives in society unless these rights were protected under a code of law which was by itself designed to be in harmony with a much higher law. it is this much higher law that they referred to as Natural law. the 1976 American Declaration of Independence is responsible for the establishment of the premise that people in the country are free to assume the station that Nature and God entitles them to assume. Works Cited Derman, Joshua. "Frederick Jackson Turner and the Gospel of Wealth." The Concord Review 131-148 (1995). Print. Hutton, Christopher. Language, Meaning and the Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009. Print. Noble, David W. Historians against history: the frontier thesis and the national covenant in American historical writing since 1830. U of Minnesota Press, 1965. Print. Smith, Mark M. Debating Slavery: Economy and Society in the Antebellum American South : Prepared for the Economic History Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Print. Read More