Americans’ belief that the country was destined to expand across the continent helped to create our greatest territorial growth, doubling the size of the young country. Using primary source documents and images, this is a lively account of our territorial expansion during the nineteenth century. Revealing the states that developed from these acquired territories, the book also provides significant information on the Mexican-American War, the effect on the Native American population, and the battle over allowing slavery in the new territories, which eventually led to the Civil War.