1. Old West, New West, Whose West?

2. Frederick Jackson Turner  University of Wisconsin  1893 the American Historical Association  1890: Census and the “frontier”  Wounded Knee  Chicago Exposition 1893  History = social science professionalization  Imperialism

3. What is his thesis? -What are his main points? Find several quotes as examples  What does he say about the American West?  What is the significance of the West for American history in general?

4. Turner’s “Frontier” Frontier process, ended Social evolution Free land Individualism Opportunity & improvement Progress of the nation American character Democratic institutions Mega-narrative

5. Impact of Turner Thesis  Schoolbooks  Movies & T.V.  Newspapers  Laws + legislation  Domestic policy  Foreign Policy  Individualism  “Exceptionalism”

6. Weaknesses of his frontier…?  Eastern bias  Exclusive: Indians, Mexicans, Chinese, Spain?  Ignored interdependence of groups  Manifest Destiny Part II  Simplifies complexities, analytically dangerous  U.S. as culmination of humanity  Cultural hierarchies  Democracy = expansion: endless expansion?  Superiority and self-serving  One sided and ultra-nationalistic

7. Essays  Turner  Limerick

8. The “New Western History”  1970s-1980s  Context of analysis  Generational  New Sources  Question ideology  New scholars & fields  “Revisionists?”  “Politically Correct?”  “Bashing America?”

9. Old vs. New Approaches  Progress  Mega-narrative  Frontier  Wild & untamed  Westward Movement  Anglo-Euro  Free land  Individualism  1890s  Conquest  Multiple perspectives  Zones of interaction  Highly altered/shaped  E, S, N, & no movement  Indians, Mexicans, etc.  “Stolen” land  Federal support, families, Indians, etc.  Continuity

10. “The New West : The 20 th Century

11. The New West

12. And more…

13. Continued…  Democracy  Peaceful expansion  Inevitable “destiny”  “Americanization”  The West = going west  Nationalism, patriotism  19 th century  White male oriented  “Racial democracy”  Violence & resistance  Ideological justification  Multi-cultural, exclusive, and/or assimilative  “Place, process, complex”  Critical inquiries  21 st century  Race, class, gender, etc.

14. Historical Landscape of the 19 th Century  Tejas, Alamo & U.S.- Mexico War  James K. Polk & Manifest Destiny  Visions of Empire  American Exceptionalism

15. General Changes 1860-1890 Telegraph increased continental communication Railroads knitted the country together and moved people and goods Both altered American sense of time and space Corporate consolidation & industrial monopoly Labor unions and populism Border violence Rise of the federal government Racial disenfranchisement Woman’s suffrage in Western states

16. Images & Iconography

17. American Indian Affairs  Concentration & Relocation  “Peace Policy”  Indigenous Resistance  End of Treaties  Reservation Era

18. Wounded Knee, 1890  Pine Ridge, South DK  Ghost Dance  Nervous agent  U.S. Army killed nearly 300 innocents  Rewarded with medals  “End of Indian Wars”

19. The Californios  Mexicans in California  Land grants  Ranches  Many sided with U.S.  Lost land, 1850s-90s  New laws, property deeds, race, taxation  Landless families

20. Industrial Labor Conflict  Western Federation of Miners, Butte, MT, 1892  Cripple Creek, CO, 1894  Western Labor Union, Salt Lake, 1898

21. Columbian Exposition, 1893  400 th Anniversary of Columbus  Showcase of international technology  America on display  Progress & Civilization  Cultural exhibitions of “dying races”  End of an Era  25 million people

22. Conclusions  The trends and changes throughout the American West began in the mid-1800s and continued through the early 1900s  No sharp break occurred in 1900  People remain captivated by the myth of the “old west” as a distinctly unique place and time that fundamentally shapes “American Character”  By investing ourselves and our national identity so deeply on a simplistic version of the past, we cripple our ability to deal with complexities in the present.