Writing Comparison Essay

Learning Module 10: Manifest Destiney and the Frontier
By 1900, the West, as they knew it, was no longer considered a frontier by the U.S. Census
Bureau. For a couple of hundred years, Americans were obsessed with expansion and Manifest
Destiny, endeavoring to push our country’s boundaries from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Yet, most
historians believed that our country was primarily shaped by our European roots. In 1893
Frederick Jackson Turner delivered a paper to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin;
mainstream historians were aghast as this young upstart’s look at the frontier’s place in
American history. Turner argued that the frontier was extremely significant to the development
of who we are as a people and as a country. Why the very idea!
 Read through Thinking through the Past, chapter 8, Grand Theory and History:
Democracy and the Frontier. This chapter presents Frederick Jackson Turner’s thesis
about the frontier. It also presents different perspectives from people and groups that
lived through this era.
 In the Hollitz chapter 8, answer question #4: How do the experiences of specific groups of
people, as reflected in the primary sources, support, refute, or modify Turner’s view of
western settlement? Present 3 sources hat support or refute or modify. Does Turner’s
thesis reflect a mythic view of the West or real experience?
This is a comparison – Turner’s thesis compared to primary sources. So, first describe what you
think Turner’s thesis is and support with plenty of details from the chapter. Give details about
“what Turner writes about in terms of American character and American progress.” In the
comparison, make sure to note whether Turner’s thesis has merit and whether the primary
sources support, refute or modify.
Make sure to support your position with plenty of details.
This is a two page Essay
READ Thinking through the Past, chapter 8, Grand Theory and History: Democracy and the Frontier. This chapter presents Frederick Jackson Turner’s thesis about the frontier. It also presents different perspectives from people and groups that lived through this era.
In the Hollitz chapter 8, answer question #4: How do the experiences of specific groups of people, as reflected in the primary sources, support, refute, or modify Turner’s view of western settlement? Present 3 sources hat support or refute or modify. Does Turner’s thesis reflect a mythic view of the West or real experience?
This is a comparison essay – Turner’s thesis compared to primary sources. So, first describe what you think Turner’s thesis is and support with plenty of details from the chapter. In the comparison, make sure note whether Turner’s thesis has merit and whether the primary sources support, refute or modify.

Make sure to support your position with plenty of details.