Technology: the New American Frontier

This is quote from one of our Fredrick Jackson Turner readings about America and the Frontier,

“From the conditions of frontier life came intellectual traits of profound importance. The works of travelers along each frontier from colonial days onward describe certain common traits, and these traits have, while softening down, still persisted as survivals in the place of their origin, even when a higher social organization succeeded. The result is that to the frontier the American intellect owes its striking characteristics. That coarseness and strength combined with acuteness and inquisitiveness; that practical, inventive turn of mind, quick to find expedients; that masterful grasp of material things, lacking in the artistic but powerful to effect great ends; that restless, nervous energy; that dominant individualism, working for good and for evil, and withal that buoyancy and exuberance which comes with freedom these are traits of the frontier, or traits called out elsewhere because of the existence of the frontier.” (italics added)


I really like this because I feel like Americans historically have gained a large part of their identity from the frontier. I agree with Turner that frontier gave Americans acuteness and inquisitiveness, and inventive turn of mind, nervous energy, and a dominant individualism.

I think since early colonial days Americans have been fascinated with the ideas of discovering a new frontier. However, with the West being fully discovered, I feel that the American passion for discovering frontiers has changed its focus point to the great West to discovering other frontiers such as Space, the Ocean, Technology, and Medicine.

In our day, I believe that the frontier of technology is most exciting and popular frontier being discovered. Americans hold their breath in excitement as companies pioneer and release new technologies that test the limits of what was thought possible in the past (e.g., the I-phone 4 by Apple). I believe that, as was mentioned in class, the development of technology is the frontier that is allowing people to create and go places before unimaginable (e.g., Second Life) and personifies the American ideals inquisitiveness, inventive turn of mind, and nervous energy that have allows accompanied the American Frontier Movement.