Legacy of Conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Legacy of Conflict - Essay Example This paper will argue that, in the "Legacy of Conquest", Limerick functions more as a revisionist than a prophet. More specifically, this book review will argue that her approach to the American West, in terms of invasion, conquest, and development, is a valuable contribution to the study of American history regardless of academic debates regarding the efficacy of her writings as a larger foundation for a more generalized theoretical model. As an initial matter, Limerick takes great pains to define the American West as a place rather than as an abstract process. The frontier was, in her view, a stage of development. The American West exists no less today than it did a thousand or two hundred years ago. This is a valuable continuation; it is valuable because the frontier is no more the American West than the Silicon Valley, Hollywood, or tourist-packed Yosemite National Park. Students and citizens alike are better served by viewing the American West as a place, and they are also better served by viewing the American West as a place which has changed and developed over time.