Nostalgia and the frontier - Assignment Example

Nostalgia and the Frontier Just like any other nation, America has an expansive history. The nostalgia drawn from the frontier thesis demonstrates that the current American society is constituted of a hybrid of the native tribesmen and the immigrant westerners who came from Europe to conquer the empty American continent. According to the ideas of Jackson Fredrick Turner, frontier is basically a process through which the immigrant Europeans were changed into a totally new caliber of people called the Americans.

As demonstrated by Buffalo Bill, the process of the creation of the American history was not a Rosy affair. Since it introduced new changes into he society, it was fiercely opposed by the native populations. Meaning, it sparked a violent resistance from the natives who were threatened by the coming of these colonialists into their land. Such a version can appeal most to the scout who perceive America to be built from violent resistances.Initially, Americans were democratic people who believed in equality, peace and social order.

This is the view of Turner in his highly regarded Frontier thesis in which he says that the Native American populations were peace-loving. At the same time, they were egalitarians who did not entertain selfishness, but believed in the sharing of resources amongst themselves. This was seen in the manner in which they managed land resources. In fact, it is because of this that the native Indian Americans believed in the free land system. After all, there was a vast land with numerous resources to exploit making it unnecessary for these natives to scramble for them.

However, when the land was invaded by the colonialists, all these changed as a new social order was established. After the signing of numerous with the Europeans, the natives would soon find out that life would never be the same. As demonstrated by Buffalo Bill, violence had to erupt because the invasion opened a new frontier to the Indian Americans whose life had been confined within their geographical area. So, unlike before, they would be exposed to the western community and the rest of the world thus influencing them a great deal.

Apart from introducing new economic systems, the frontier led to the establishment of the states. These were totally new developments that had to be defended. All in all, the ideas expressed by the boy scouts, Buffalo Bill Wild West shows and Westerns demonstrate that the frontier was indeed a new development that marked a big turning point in the lives of the Indian Americans. If it were not for it, these natives would not be exposed to the ideology of individualism, violence and self-reliance.

Instead, they would stick to their traditional democratic, peaceful and egalitarian ways of life. Therefore, it is clear that that the frontier directly contributed to this change through the use of military conquest, signing of treaties and political compromise. This qualifies the frontier to be a nostalgic experienced that transformed America from into a capitalist and individualistic society with weird dreams like Manifest Destiny. Had it not been for the frontier, this would not be the case.