LO #26 - Extra Credit

Turner's thesis states that not only the west but the national character had been shaped by the westward movement. Through the struggle to overcome the hazards of the western wilderness had transformed Europeans into tough, inventive, and self-reliant Americans. Many historians have critisized he's thesis and I find that David Weber's is the most valid. He believes that the frontier didn't define the edge of civilizatoin but marked the boundary between diverse cultures. Not that we completely changed people, it is the Europeans who come here with ideas, moving westward didn't change them to "self-reliant" Americans it just helped the same Europeans interact and pick up a little from different cultures.