From a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a new and eye-opening
interpretation of the meaning of the frontier, from early westward
expansion to Trump’s border wall.
Ever since this
nation’s inception, the idea of an open and ever-expanding frontier
has been central to American identity. Symbolizing a future of
endless promise, it was the foundation of the United States’ belief
in itself as an exceptional nation—democratic, individualistic,
forward-looking. Today, though, America has a new symbol: the border
wall.
In The End of the
Myth, acclaimed historian Greg Grandin explores the meaning of
the frontier throughout the full sweep of U.S. history—from the
American Revolution to the War of 1898, the New Deal to the election
of 2016. For centuries, he shows, America’s constant
expansion—fighting wars and opening markets—served as a “gate
of escape,” helping to deflect domestic political and economic
conflicts outward. But this deflection meant that the country’s
problems, from racism to inequality, were never confronted directly.
And now, the combined catastrophe of the 2008 financial meltdown and
our unwinnable wars in the Middle East have slammed this gate shut,
bringing political passions that had long been directed elsewhere
back home.
It is this new
reality, Grandin says, that explains the rise of reactionary populism
and racist nationalism, the extreme anger and polarization that
catapulted Trump to the presidency. The border wall may or may not be
built, but it will survive as a rallying point, an allegorical
tombstone marking the end of American exceptionalism.