The Fair Play Settlers of the West Branch Valley, 1769-1784 | Page 3

community.
The results, again, lend credence to Turner's hypothesis. Admittedly,
Turner's bold assertion that "the growth of nationalism and the
evolution of American political institutions were dependent on the
advance of the frontier" is somewhat contradicted by the nature of this
Pennsylvania frontier. Western lands in Pennsylvania were either

Provincial, Commonwealth, or Indian lands, but never national lands.
As a result, western land ordinances, and the whole controversy which
accompanied the ratification of the Articles of Confederation, had no
real significance in Pennsylvania. However, in subsequent years, the
expansion of internal improvement legislation and nationalism sustains
Turner's thesis, as does the democratic and non-sectional nature of the
middle colonial region generally.[2]
The intellectual character which the frontier spawned has been
described as rationalistic. However, this was a rationalism which was
not at odds with empiricism, but which was more in line with what has
been called the American philosophy, pragmatism. Or, to put it in the
vernacular, "if it works, it's good." The frontiersman was a
trial-and-error empiricist, who believed in his own ability to fathom the
depths of the problems which plagued him. If the apparent solution
contradicted past patterns and interpretations, he justified his actions in
terms of the realities of the moment. It is this pragmatic
ratio-empiricism which we imply when we use the term "rationalistic."
An examination of the role of leadership, suggested by the Curti study,
presents the first summary of this type for the West Branch Valley.
Here, too, the limited numbers of this frontier population, combined
with its peculiar tendency to rely upon peripheral residents for top
leadership, prevents any broad generalizations. The nature of its
leadership can only be interpreted in terms of this particular group in
this specific location.
The last two chapters of this study are summary chapters. The first of
these is an analysis of democracy on one segment of the Pennsylvania
frontier. Arbitrarily defining democracy, certain objective criteria were
set up to evaluate it in the Fair Play territory. Political democracy was
investigated in terms of popular sovereignty, political equality, popular
consultation, and majority rule, and the political system was judged on
the basis of these principles. Social democracy was ascertained through
inquiries concerning religious freedom, the social class system, and
economic opportunity. The conclusion is that, for this frontier at least,
democratic tendencies were displayed in various contexts.

The final chapter, although relying to a large extent upon Turner's great
work, is in no way intended to be a critical evaluation of that thesis. Its
primary objective is to test one interpretation of it through a particular
analytic technique, ethnographic in nature. Frontier ethnography has
proved to be a reliable research tool, mainly because of its wide scope.
It permits conclusions which a strictly confined study, given the data
limitations of this and other frontier areas, would not allow.
Democracy, it is no doubt agreed, is a difficult thing to assess,
particularly when there are so many conflicting interpretations of it.
But an examination of it, even in its most primitive stages in this
country, can give the researcher a glimpse of its fundamentals and its
effectiveness. In a time when idealists envision a world community
based upon the self-determination which was basic in this nation's early
development, it is essential to re-evaluate that principle in terms of its
earliest American development. If we would enjoy the blessings of
freedom, we must undergo the fatigue of attempting to understand it.
Some seventy years ago, a great American historian suggested an
interpretation of the American ethos. Turner's thesis is still being
debated today, something which I am certain would please its author
immensely. But what is needed today is not the prolongation of the
debate as to its validity so much as the investigation of it with newer
techniques which, it might be added, Turner himself suggested. This is
the merit of frontier ethnography, and, perhaps, the particular value of
this study.
To me, Robert Frost implied as much in his wonderful "Stopping by
Woods on a Snowy Evening." Yes, the "woods" of contemporary
history are "lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles
to go before I sleep."
It is hoped that this investigation is the beginning of the answer to that
promise, but it is well-recognized that there are miles to go.
FOOTNOTES:

[1] Merle Curti et al., The Making of an American Community: A Case
Study of Democracy in a Frontier County (Stanford, 1959), p. 3.
[2] Frontier and Section: Selected Essays of Frederick Jackson Turner,
intro. by Ray Allen Billington (Englewood Cliffs, N. J., 1961), pp.
52-55.

Table of Contents
PREFACE iii
INTRODUCTION v
I. FAIR PLAY TERRITORY: GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY 1
II. THE FAIR PLAY SETTLERS: DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS 16
III. THE POLITICS OF FAIR