This Land

The Louisiana Purchase doubles America’s size overnight and reshapes the country forever.

The Lewis and Clark expedition - part of Jefferson's vision to create an America stretching "from sea to shining sea" - marks rapid expansion westward, but ultimately leads to the darkest period in Native American history.

California’s rise was not promised. Descendants of the settlers, in pursuit of Manifest Destiny, reveal the ambition that transformed the frontier.

The Alaska Purchase adds vast territory to the U.S. but is also one of the Earth’s most extreme environments.

The 1836 Battle of the Alamo becomes a rallying cry for the Texas Revolution, culminating in the U.S. seizing vast territory from Mexico. As decades pass, the nation grows by nearly a third, reshaping North America and its balance of power.