Discover the story behind the Louisiana Purchase, one of the most important land deals in American history. In this video, we explain how the United States bought a huge amount of territory from France in 1803, doubling the size of the...

The Indian Removal Act of 1830 led to the forced relocation of Indigenous Peoples from the fertile East to the arid West, marking a tragic chapter in U.S. history with the harrowing Trail of Tears.

In the 1800s, as the United States expanded, thousands travelled well-worn trails on foot and horseback in search of land and opportunity, often at the expense of Indigenous Peoples.

The War of 1812, between the United States and Great Britain, ended with the Treaty of Ghent. This historic agreement, negotiated in Belgium over five months, proved that the U.S. could achieve its aims through diplomacy.

In the early 1800s, Meriweather Lewis and William Clark charted the vast Louisiana Territory, providing the first maps and detailed documentation of its geography, plants, animals, and Indigenous populations.

What did the United States look like after the Revolution? Discover how economic, governmental and social challenges in the post-war period led to lasting reforms that fulfilled the promise of independence.

Kansas has fewer than 3 million Americans overall making it the 36th largest state in the country. But if you look just to the east and west you have the states of Missouri and Colorado respectively, each with about double the population...

This video explores the significant effects of the Louisiana Purchase on the United States. It discusses how the acquisition doubled the country's size, opened up new trade routes along the Mississippi River, and enabled westward...

This video explores the events leading up to the Louisiana Purchase and President Thomas Jefferson's concerns about New Orleans in the early 1800s. It covers Jefferson's efforts to secure access to the Mississippi River for American...

The Trail of Tears identifies how westward expansion affected Native Americans by exploring the Trail of Tears.

An explanation of Mark Bradford's abstract landscape paintings

Learn how exploitation of the land changed the face of North America, as presented in Look to the Land, a 1954 production of Encyclopaedia Britannica Films.

Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery opened the American West up to expansion and settlement – but it all rested on the expert planning and preparation.