4The 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.