Questions: 1. What important effects did the frontier have on American society and
character, according to Turner? What is his evidence that the frontier pro-
moted individualism and a "composite nationality"?
2. What was the relationship between the frontier and American political
institutions? How does Tumer attempt to demonstrate a relationship between
I democracy and the frontier?
3. What is Turner's evidence for social breakdown and evolution on the fron-
tier? What role do the government, corporations, cities, or religious organi-
zations play in Turner's frontier?
4. How do the experiences of specific groups of people, as reflected in the
primary sources, support or modify Turner's view of Western settlement?
Does Turner's thesis reflect a mythic view of the West or real experiences?