The era of Westward Expansion was a turning point in U.S. history. When
President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from the
French in 1803, it nearly doubled the size of the nation. The president
sent Lewis and Clark to learn more about this land. Many people thought
it was the nation's destiny to expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean,
a belief known as Manifest Destiny. People moved west to farm, to start
businesses, or to strike it rich. But the American Indians who were
native to these lands had a different perspective. If you were around at
the time of Westward Expansion would you have been: A traveler on the
Oregon Trail? A laborer? A Sioux warrior? You Choose offers multiple
perspectives in history, supporting Common Core reading standards and
providing readers a front row seat to the past.