Turner's much-anthologized 1893 essay argues that the vast western frontier shaped the modern American character—and the course of US history. Interacting with both the wilderness and Native Americans, settlers on the frontier developed institutions and character traits quite distinct from Europe. The West's surplus of "free land," Turner suggests, helped America become a country of economic opportunity, where individual effort was rewarded and democracy could flourish. Turner's work captured the imagination of ordinary Americans. Countless television shows, films, novels, and even a theme park—Disney World's "Frontierland"—have based their depictions of the American West on this important essay.