 Thus Turner concluded that America was only unique because of its interaction with the frontier and the West as it developed during expansion, “to the frontier the American intellect owes its striking characteristics.”

The heroes of Turner’s thesis are the farmers, those who come right after the hunter/trapper pathfinders.In his eyes they are the first step toward civilization, and when they arrive the boundary of the frontier moves westward.In a broad sense, the notion of the frontier was the edge of the settled country where unlimited free land was available and thus unlimited opportunity.