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Westward Expansion
Kentucky had been admitted as a state in 1792, Tennessee in 1796. United States territory was greatly enlarged during Jefferson's administration. By the Louisiana Purchase, the United States in 1803 acquired the lands west of the Mississippi that France had ceded to Spain, but which had been turned back to France under Napoleon. This purchase extended the domain of the United States to the Rocky Mountains. Ohio was admitted as a state that same year. Westward expansion of the republic had begun in earnest.
Louisiana Purchase area today. This map shows the states that were formed from the Louisiana Purchase. This vast area lay between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border. Six entire states and parts of nine others were formed from the region.
