[HIGHLIGHTS] INTERVIEW - Why has the conquest of the West become a myth? 

The history of the United States of America begins on the east coast, where the thirteen pioneer colonies were established which became the first states in 1776. In 1893, the historian Frederick Jackson Turner made the process of conquest of the West, which was then completed, the matrix of American identity.

“It is precisely in these wild spaces that these men and women, by pushing back the border, transformed their European origins to become Americans” explains the historian. Virginie Girod receives Annick Foucrier, professor emeritus of North American history at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University.