Continuing his past speech, Turner added “The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward explain American development” Therefore with the “closing” of the frontier, American culture and history would no longer develop. Turner truly believed that the only most important factor in American history was its age of expansion, therefore he was upset to see the “closing” of the frontier. “American social development has been continually beginning over again on the frontier… It occupies an important place in American History” Turner …show more content…
“This perennial rebirth, this fluidity of American life, this expansion westward with its new opportunities, its continuous touch with the simplicity of primitive society, furnish the forces dominating American character. The true point of view in the history of this nation is not the Atlantic coast, it is the great West.” As the quotes above show, Turner believed that the force of westward expansion forged the American character. He believed there was such a thing as an American character, and that that character was individualistic, practical, militarily-skilled, and formed by economic opportunity and social mobility. Correspondingly, he also assumed that at the end of the nineteen century with the closing of the continental frontier uncertain consequences might happen in the American