“The settling of the American West,” according to an eminent contemporary historian, “has been perceived as a series of quaint, violent, and romantic adventures of rugged individuals pushing across the continent. But in fact, the history of that region from 1850 to 1900 can be best understood as an economic and cultural conquest.” Meditate on this assertion by comparing Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier thesis to the lived experiences of Mormons, Mexican-Americans, and Native Americans in the West. Do you agree more with Turner or the eminent historian? Why?
