The American Frontier Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The American Frontier - Assignment Example These settlers and the Native Americans were mythologized in terms of their cultures and economic activities. In this mythological era, the white settlers got two opportunities; to practice slavery and extend their ranches and farm lands. Most Southerners were whites who had settled earlier to cultivate land and mine precious metals for economic gains. Historical studies reveal that the Southerners created a myth which justified that the uncivilized black slaves were meant to labor for the white planters since the white communities catered for the needs of the so-called inferior beings. In addition, they claimed that both societies lived happily and in an orderly manner since everyone knew their social positions in the community. With the aid of this myth, the white settlers had the opportunity to exploit the cheap slave labour and exercise powers over the blacks (Slatta, 2010). Another prominent mythological belief is that the ranchers needed to secure large tracts of land in order to pursue their livelihood. The myth justified that the extensive tracts of land were to be made available for commercial farming for the ranchers. They claimed that the produce from the ranches supported them and the loyal black slaves, as well. Most arguments made by the mythologized settlers were based on the ideology that as far as they are benefiting in the New World, no law was to be made to remove such benefits. Some of the beliefs about ranching may include; ranchers would protect the land, livestock benefits the wildlife, public lands support the rancher, rangeland would stay healthy if were grazed, and more (Slatta, 2010). In other words, the ranchers didn’t consider the environmental impact of extending ranches such as imbalance of the ecosystems and climatic changes. Instead, they used that opportunity to enrich themselves with many herds of cattle at the expe nse of environment. As stated earlier, the closing of the American