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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 February 2017
Frederick Jackson Turner tends to stress, on the part of the frontiersman, “a return to primitive conditions,” a “plowing with a sharp stick.” While the regression to a form of semi-barbarism was certainly typical of frontiersmen in some areas, particularly in the eighteenth century, there is evidence to suggest that settlers in the Middle West during the early nineteenth century can by no means be described in toto as primitive. Indeed, it may be noted that from the viewpoint of the provision of educational facilities the frontiersman of the early nineteenth century was often a good deal more active than were his Eastern and Southern brothers. Early attempts to provide public education in the Midwestern states are remarkable for their foresight and enthusiasm. This argument may be examined by means of a description of the development of secondary education in the state of Illinois.
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