America's 2nd president was Thomas Jefferson. He feared that the people west of the Appalachians would feel isolated and begin to think of forming their own country. He desperately wanted to avoid this.
Then he had a stroke of luck. In 1803 he was able to buy land right across to the Mississippi from the French. This was called the Louisiana Purchase.
Now he could use this land to encourage Americans to seek to go to the Pacific – something later called 'from sea to shining sea'. that he hoped would unify the people. But he had no idea what he had bought. It was uncharted territory!
