Students examine paintings by Thomas Cole and Jasper Francis Cropsey as windows into American frontier life. They consider the pioneer's relationship with nature and the role of Native Americans in the pioneer's lives and settlements.

Learners examine the political, social, religious, and economic world and national context in which the settlement of Deerfield occurred and the competing political agendas, and competition for land, power, and wealth in Deerfield.

Students are introduced to Frederick Jackson Turner and how early Census data, when combined visually with maps, effectively demonstrated the end of the frontier.

Learners explore cultural myths in America by collecting images and characteristics of stereotypical Americans. They read a primary source document, discussing the views of the author in class. Next, they compare the terms used to...

Students research the impact of American Imperialism. In this Spanish-American War lesson, students visit the listed Web sites to discover details about the war and its effects. Students use the information they locate to participate in...

In this American pioneer quiz worksheet, students advance their understanding of the early American pioneer days by answering ten fill in the blank questions.

Students examine how the image of the cowboy changed at the turn of the century. They read about cowboys' shifting reputation at the turn of the century and connect popular perceptions of the cowboy to a trend in popular culture that...

Eighth graders explore the political, social, religious, and economic world and national context in which the events of Deerfield occurred.

Young scholars will analyze the impact of the frontier on American life and the role Congress played in settling the frontier. Included are worksheets, Turner's Thesis, and reflection questions. Primary sources provided are petitions for...

Examines the development of American foreign policy in the latter part of the 1800s, and what Frederick Jackson Turner and Alfred Thayer Mahan did to further American imperialistic interests.

This PBS website provides a brief biographical sketch of Frederick Jackson Turner, and an overview of his theory regarding the significance of the American western frontier as the defining experience in the development of the American...

Read an excerpt from "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" by Frederick Jackson Turner.

Learning modules with primary resources explores how the West has been imagined as both America's manifest destiny and a wild frontier and examines the ways American Indian art and literature challenge these popular narratives.

This site from the Fordham University contains the introductory text of "The Significance of the Frontier in American History, 1893" by Frederick Jackson Turner.

This website is the reproduction of Ray Allen Billington's essay, "How the Frontier Shaped the American Character," (published in "American Heritage, The Magazine of History" in 1958). Billington analyzes the Turner frontier thesis in...

Arguably the most famous essay every written about the impact of land on American history, Frederick Jackson Turner's "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" explains how Americans' relationship with the environment shaped...

By the 1890's, the status of Indian people seemed to validate Frederick Jackson Turner's claim that "the frontier has gone, and with its going has closed the first period of American history." Natives ceased to threaten the Republic...

This in-depth resource presents a history of the American West from pre-Columbian times until World War I with profiles, documents, and images. It encourages visitors to link these into patterns of historical meaning for themselves....

A program from the Buffalo Bill Wild West show that depicts the thrills of the American West and illustrates how American influence was spreading beyond the nation's borders.

Arguably the most famous essay every written about the impact of land on American history, Frederick Jackson Turner's "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" explains how Americans' relationship with the environment shaped...

Eighteen primary sources-historical documents, literary texts, and visual images-that explore the industrial, racial, and technological progress of the late-nineteenth century.