Question

How does the role of effective national territory relate to the idea of a frontier?

Answer 1

Effective national territory is the territory where the government has the legal rights to govern. The frontier was important for this because that meant that the government could not control what happens in the frontier, so many people went there and started developing their own communities. These communities eventually became a part of effective national territory through getting the status of states, but they still kept their local state sovereignty.