alternatehistory.com

The frontier thesis is the idea that American democracy and liberalism was born largely out of the presence of lots of empty frontier land. As Wiki says:

In the thesis, the American frontier established liberty by releasing Americans from European mindsets and eroding old, dysfunctional customs. The frontier had no need for standing armies, established churches, aristocrats or nobles, nor for landed gentry who controlled most of the land and charged heavy rents. Frontier land was free for the taking.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontier_Thesis

OTOH, there have been a fair few other societies with similar frontiers which didn't develop into liberal democracies. (E.g., the Russian Empire, Spanish America, New France.) Conversely, other countries have evolved in a liberal and democratic direction despite not having such frontiers (e.g., the UK). So, what do people think? Is the role of the frontier in shaping American ideas of liberty over-rated?
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