The theology of the Tribulation is relatively new. John Nelson Darby was the main originator during the first half of the 19th century. It spread to the US with the Scofield Reference Bible.
The Epistle of Baarnabas (AD100) contains the argument for a pre-trib Rapture. Irenaeus in his 'Against Heresies' addressed it. His follower, Hippolytus also addressed it. From the Eastern Church tradition, Ephraem of Nisibis (306-373AD) asserted it clearly in his 'On The Last Times'. Several teachers in the eighteenth century addressed it. And prior to Darby taking up the challenge, at least two others in the nineteenth century had raised the issue.