Progressive Historians

Below is a short sample of the essay Progressive Historians. If you sign up you could be reading the rest of this essay in under two minutes. Registered users should login to view the essay.

Progressive Historians

One must decide the meaning of “progressive historiography.” It can mean
either the history written by “progressive historians,” or it can mean
history written by historians of the Progressive era of American history and
shortly after. The focus that was chosen for this paper is more in keeping with
the latter interpretation, if for no other reason than it provides a useful
compare-and-contrast “control” literature. The caveat is this: the focus of
this report is on the predominant question of the historiographical period: was
the war a revolution or a war for independence? One could choose many other
questions to argue, questions that historians have for years disputed about the
revolution, but there are a number of reasons why this report was chosen for
this particular assignment; the two best follow. First, it is an old and
time-honored question that professors and instructors have posed to their
students for years; of pre-Civil War historiographical questions, it is perhaps
second only in fashion during the last twenty to twenty-five years to the
Jefferson-Hemmings paternity controversy. Second, the revolution-or-independence
question is one of those which must be answered through interpretation. A case
cannot be made that is so utterly conclusive as to exclude all others; it is
that very fact that makes history at once so frustrating and so fascinating.
What better way could there be to look at the writings of a specific school of
historians? Therefore, in the pursuit of “personal truth,” we must
proceed... Perhaps the most famous of all progressive historians is Frederick
Jackson Turner. His most famous argument is not devoted strictly to the American
Revolution, but instead to the effects of the American frontier. In a sentence,
his argument is that the frontier was the chief determinant in American history.
This is not to say that Turner did not write about the war; he did, in his
seminal work, “The Frontier in American History,” there are discussions of
the frontier’s effect on the coming of the revolution. It is worth noting,
before exploring Turner’s arguments, that the frontier in this period was only
about one hundred miles from the Atlantic coast. Of course, as the period under
scrutiny approaches the war chronologically, the frontier moves away from the
ocean. But it is important to remember that Turner defines the Jamestown of
Captain John Smith in 1607 as the frontier in its initial stage. So, in this
context, it m...

The complete article is about 6169 words and 24.68 pages long.

To continue reading the complete article, subscribe below and get free instant unlimited access.

Once you have registered for an Account, No refunds can be issued.
Please make sure you look over the site before you purchase an account!!!