Frontier Culture: The Roots and Persistence of “Rugged Individualism” in the United States
中文摘要
不断向西推进的定居边疆塑造了美国早期历史。1893年，历史学家弗雷德里克·杰克逊·特纳提出了著名论断，认为美国边疆孕育了个人主义。我们考察这一“边疆论”，并识别其对文化和政治的长期影响。我们追踪了1790—1890年整个时期内边疆的变迁，并构建了一项新的县级边疆经历总量（TFE）指标。历史上，边疆地区具有独特的人口特征和更强的个人主义。在边疆终结很久之后，TFE较高的县仍表现出更为普遍的个人主义及反对再分配的态度。这一模式跨越了美国已知的多种分野，包括城乡和南北之分。我们提供了关于边疆文化根源的证据，既识别了选择性迁移，也识别了边疆接触对个人主义的因果效应。总体而言，我们的发现为理解边疆所留下的粗犷个人主义这一持久遗产提供了新的启示。
Abstract
The presence of a westward‐moving frontier of settlement shaped early U.S. history. In 1893, the historian Frederick Jackson Turner famously argued that the American frontier fostered individualism. We investigate the “frontier thesis” and identify its long‐run implications for culture and politics. We track the frontier throughout the 1790–1890 period and construct a novel, county‐level measure of total frontier experience (TFE). Historically, frontier locations had distinctive demographics and greater individualism. Long after the closing of the frontier, counties with greater TFE exhibit more pervasive individualism and opposition to redistribution. This pattern cuts across known divides in the United States, including urban–rural and north–south. We provide evidence on the roots of frontier culture, identifying both selective migration and a causal effect of frontier exposure on individualism. Overall, our findings shed new light on the frontier's persistent legacy of rugged individualism.