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In the late 18th century, the western part of the North American continent remained largely unexplored, which still fuelled imaginary conceptions of the territory. They had roots, often religious ones, whose origins could be traced back to the early times of European settlement on this continent. In the course of time, a better knowledge of the territory came to be established but, paradoxically enough, did not alter the afore-mentioned conceptions and the best illustration of this hesitation between continuity and discontinuity was, certainly, the independence of the United States, when the American nation made use of the Messianic character that was to be found in this “mental image” of the North American continent. With the notion of “horizon” as a starting point and the use of various sources, the study of the transplantation of European ideas into America and the way they flourished on this new soil thus constitute the main points in this article.