New Mexico Historical Review Volume 89 Number 3 Article 4 7-1-2014 American Exceptionalism or Atlantic Unity? Fredrick Jackson Turner and the Enduring Problem of American Historiography Kevin Jon Fernlund Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmhr Recommended Citation Fernlund, Kevin Jon. "American Exceptionalism or Atlantic Unity? Fredrick Jackson Turner and the Enduring Problem of American Historiography." New Mexico Historical Review 89, 3 (2014). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmhr/vol89/iss3/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in New Mexico Historical Review by an authorized editor of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. American Exceptionalism or Atlantic Unity? Frederick Jackson Turner and the Enduring Problem of American Historiography • KEVIN JON FERNLUND The Problem: Europe and the History of America n 1892 the United States celebrated the four hundredth anniversary of Chris- topher Columbus’s discovery of lands west of Europe, on the far side of the IAtlantic Ocean. To mark this historic occasion, and to showcase the nation’s tremendous industrial progress, the city of Chicago hosted the World’s Colum- bian Exposition. Chicago won the honor after competing with other major U.S. cities, including New York. Owing to delays, the opening of the exposition was pushed back to 1893. This grand event was ideally timed to provide the coun- try’s nascent historical profession with the opportunity to demonstrate its value to the world. The American Historical Association (AHA) was founded only a few years prior in 1884, and incorporated by the U.S.