Urbanization In The New West

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In 1893 during his famous lecture, Frederick Jackson Turner announced that the frontier had closed in 1890. However, he could not have been more wrong. “New West” historians such as Limerick point out how westward expansion certainly did not stop in 1890. Instead, major changes occurred after 1890 for the West. The wave of European immigrants strongly reshaped United States demographics and strongly contributed to the identity of the United States today. Although the original settlers in the United States were also European, this new wave of immigrants was more intense and played a major part in Limerick’s analysis of the “New West.” The wave of immigrants also contributed to the rapid urbanization of the “New West.” The United States evolved…show more content…
First of all, the rapid urbanization of New York is a symbol of westward expansion that Limerick points out and that Turner fails to recognize. A main issue that Limerick addresses about the “New West” is how rural America is replaced by industrialized America. New York is one of the best examples of this as it is one of the world’s busiest and most industrialized cities. The landscape and urban setting of New York can be seen throughout the film. New York was of course not the only symbol for “second-stage industrialization.” If we take a look at the literal West and not just a symbol of it, Limerick alludes to the growth of Los Angeles in the twentieth century and how quickly it urbanized. Los Angeles, like New York, also rapidly became an urban city filled with different minorities and ethnicities. Moreover, the population density that Turner describes and Limerick describes are completely different. Turner thought that “two persons per square mile” meant that the “West was “settled.” Not only is the population density exponentially higher today, but Limerick also states that one half of the land remained federal property in 1890. There is no way the West could be fully settled when comparing the population densities now and in 1890. The difference is…show more content…
Limerick addresses the situations of ordinary people in her analysis of the “New West.” Previously, the majority of conflict was observed between the white settlers and Indians. After all, manifest destiny was based on the anglo-saxon myth of superiority. Now, with the wave of new immigrants, there are many more different types of ordinary people. The Anglo-Saxons do not dominate expansion, in whatever terms one would like to explain expansion in today. After all, Limerick explains that expansion can be seen as “free-trade globalization” now. In “Do the Right Thing” the conflict revolves around the Italian-Americans and the African-Americans. This conflict focuses on a different group of ethnicities, rather than the old West “Cowboys and Indians” approach. Sal, the Italian-American owner of the pizza restaurant has worked in his restaurant for over twenty years, with the help of his Italian-American family. Mookie (Spike Lee) associates mainly with his African-American neighborhood and friends. At first, the two different minorities more or less get along. However, several African-American customers raise questions about the “Wall of Fame” in Sal’s restaurant. They ask Sal why there aren’t any African-Americans on the wall, and then demand for Sal to put some up. Sal refuses and says that it is his restaurant and he only wants Italians up there. The African-Americans counter by saying that

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