Category: Hidden Worlds

• The "Hollow Earth"

  This theory argued that the Earth was hollow and open at the poles, and that an expedition to the far north or south would discover entry into a habitable interior world. John Cleves Symmes Jr. became the leading American advocate of the theory after 1818, circulating printed appeals, lecturing widely, and petitioning Congress for a government-backed expedition. In its strongest form, the theory treated the polar openings as gateways to new lands, resources, and perhaps new peoples. The historical record clearly shows that Symmes campaigned intensely for official support, that Congress considered his petitions, and that his ideas influenced later polar-expedition enthusiasm through followers such as Jeremiah N. Reynolds. What remained theory was the interior world itself.