Frontier children grow up prematurely hardened into self-reliant adults

Evidence

One of the most painful things in the Western States and Territories is the extinction of childhood. I have never seen any children, only debased imitations of men and women, cankered by greed and selfishness, and asserting and gaining complete independence of their parents at ten years old. The atmosphere in which they are brought up is one of greed, godlessness, and frequently of profanity. Consequently these sweet things seem like flowers in a desert. — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 87

Categorization

• SEED: The ‘extinction of childhood’ on the frontier is a strong lens for an essay contrasting pioneer settler childhood with today’s, or as historical context against the Victorian cult of the innocent child.
• XREF: connects to: Frontier settlement extinguished childhood by forcing early independence — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 189; Poverty and circumstance can strip children of innocence before adolescence. — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 101

Broader Connections

• Frontier settlement extinguished childhood by forcing early independence #expands (0.95) — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 189
• Poverty and circumstance can strip children of innocence before adolescence. #qualifies (0.72) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 101