Changes

Kearns (1998) examines the environmentalism of William Cronon and Donald Worster, and the revisionist moralism of Richard White and Patricia Limerick, who reject Turner as too favorable toward white men.

Kearns (1998) examines the environmentalism of William Cronon and Donald Worster, and the revisionist moralism of Richard White and Patricia Limerick, who reject Turner as too favorable toward white men.

Since the 1970s the "new western historians" have attacjed Turner's model. They have condemned the frontier thesis for its Euro-centric and racist assumptions, ridiculing Turner for his depiction of enlightened whites and savage natives and for discounting Indian agency. They assailed Turner's argument that the frontier created America character and ideology by revealing how Americans drew upon European antecedents and their own experiences in urban settings. Other maintain that the frontier was neither especially democratic nor equal. Nevertheless the Turnerians have counterattacked, saying that the critics confuse 21st century moralistic sensiblities with historical reality.  Turner's model, they note, was not about the Indians (who Turner wrote about elsewhere), but rather about the impact of the frontier on the frontiersmen and all Americans. Agreeing that the frontiersmen did not jettison all European ideas, the Turnerians argue they decisively remoulded and reshaped them to meet American conditions. The critics who suggest that democracy emerged from boss-ridden urban machines like Tammany Hall have surely misunderstood what American democracy means.

Since the 1970s the "new western historians" have attacjed Turner's model. They have condemned the frontier thesis for its Euro-centric and racist assumptions, ridiculing Turner for his depiction of enlightened whites and savage natives and for discounting Indian agency. They assailed Turner's argument that the frontier created America character and ideology by revealing how Americans drew upon European antecedents and their own experiences in urban settings. Other maintain that the frontier was neither especially democratic nor equal. Nevertheless, the Turnerians have counterattacked, saying that the critics confuse 21st century moralistic sensibilities with historical reality.  Turner's model, they note, was not about the Indians (who Turner wrote about elsewhere), but rather about the impact of the frontier on the frontiersmen and all Americans. Agreeing that the frontiersmen did not jettison all European ideas, the Turnerians argue they decisively remoulded and reshaped them to meet American conditions. The critics who suggest that democracy emerged from boss-ridden urban machines like Tammany Hall have surely misunderstood what American democracy means.

==See also==

==See also==

* [[Oregon Trail]]

* [[Oregon Trail]]