After United States purchased Louisiana from France in 1803, most of the land west of the Mississippi River was completely strange to the Americans. The Americas needed more land to settle in and for this reason, it was importance to explore it before they could settle in. It is for this reason that President Thomas Jefferson decided to commission an expedition under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lewis’s close friend as Second Lieutenant William Clark. Jefferson’s main objective in this expedition was to explore and create a map of the newly acquired territory thus finding a route across the western half of the continent. This was to help him establish an American presence in the west before Spain, British and other European …show more content…
Diplomacy When Jefferson sent Lewis, he told him that they should tell the natives to make friends with the American because they were going to pass to the Pacific Ocean, “it will now be proper you should inform those through whose country you will pass . . . that henceforth we become their fathers and friends”. This is a clear indicator that the Americans perceived the Indians to be a hostile community. Previously, when the Euro-Americans met with the Indians, they used to use ancient diplomatic protocols such as ceremonial gifts, displays of military powers and formal languages. However, due to the difference in understanding by the two, it used to result in conflict. Therefore, when Clark and Lewis understood the concept and symbols from the Indians, it was easy for them to agree on thus diplomacy was established. William Clark recorded a speech in which the chiefs called them father while they called the Indians children. This was a great result of diplomacy since to the Indians it expressed kinship. Geography As stated in the beginning, Lewis was to draw some maps that would help them to be able to know the face of the country as Jefferson puts it. During their journey, Lewis and Gallatin collected the latest maps and made several sketches. They also used the help of the native people in order to record their astronomical and geographic observations. To most
Louis and Clark were sent out to explore the new land, to see what it was like out in the unexplored land. The Corps of Discovery left in May 1804 and didn’t come back until September 1806. Within those two years Louis, Clark and their men, had encountered with Native Americans. This is a really important deal because the natives had helped Louis and Clark on their journey. Sacajawea helped them with paths, directions, and interacting with other Indians. If Louis and Clark never had encounters with the natives than they would have never found their way back home. If they didn’t return home on one would know if it was safe land to live on, or bad land to live on. Ever since they explored the land that Jefferson bought, more people went out and explored, there were fur trapper’s mountain men and many different types of people that had went out and explored after Louis and Clark returned. So the point on why it was a turning point, is because they made interactions with the Native Americans, and the natives helped explore the new
America doubled in size in 1803 when President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from France for 15 million dollars. Jefferson wanted to discover this land and hoped to find a water route that would link the pacific ocean with the mississippi river. Jefferson decided to enlist the help of his personal secretary and soldier, Meriwether Lewis. Lewis knew he couldn’t go on this journey alone and he knew just the man to join him on the journey. William Clark was a draftsman who possessed knowledge of the outdoors. Among Lewis and Clark, young american soldiers and french canadian river men were hand picked to tag along with them on their journey. York, Clark’s personal slave and companion since childhood, tagged along. Another person
This was the time of “manifest destiny,” the idea that our country’s destiny was to expand west and occupy the whole width of the continent to the Pacific Ocean. The Louisiana Purchase made that a lot more possible. Main reasoning for more expansion was to gain farmland, developing more wealth and taxes, and a stronger nation. Jefferson also wanted to find routes to the Pacific Ocean for trade. Lewis and Clark’s expedition – after the purchase of the Louisiana Territory ̶ was meant for them to follow the Missouri River as far west as it went to see if they could find a water route leading to the Pacific. This way, boats could carry goods to the west coast and from there to Japan, China, etc. The Louisiana Purchase too would put an end to French claims to the western part of the continent. Without the French in our way, we would only have the Indians to deal with, who were much less of a threat. Jefferson also anticipated that the new land might become a refuge for free blacks and diminish racial tensions along the Atlantic
The Louisiana Purchase affected the boundaries of the U.S. because when Jefferson bought the land, the boundaries were not clear. Spain claimed the border was about one hundred miles west of the Mississippi River, while Jefferson was under the impression that it was around eight hundred miles further west, which was defined by the crest of the Rocky Mountains. This lead to four different government-funded expeditions. The first was in 1804 when Lewis and Clark led an expedition westward to determine the upper reaches of the Missouri River. Throughout the expedition Lewis and Clark were instructed to study the Indian culture, such as plants and animals. They were able to explore the Indian culture when they stayed their first winter in huts beside the Mandan Indians. Without the help from the Indians they would not have survived the winter. They also had to draw out the geography of the West. After the treacherous journey, they reached the Pacific Ocean on November 7, 1805. They made their journey back to St. Louis and arrived back in September 1806. The other three expeditions that took place between 1804 and 1806 were to determine the southwestern border. The first group went down the Red River to the Ouachita River, ending in current-day Arkansas. The second group went west into eastern Texas along the Red River and the third group ended up going too far into the Spaniard’s Territory, which caused them to get arrested and then released soon after.
But he would need an exploration of the west. So Jefferson hired a acquaintance of his secretary a U.S army member Meriwether Lewis to do this; who later hired William Clark to be a co captain of the trip. After the trip they gathered maps of the land, climate observations, food vegetation in the area, and Indians and other people.After learning of the Louisiana Purchase it was Pike’s dream too set off on such an adventure. Pike covered 5,000 miles in 9 months gathering information on Spanish territories and army locations, British activity going against the John Jay treaty, and finally Indian treaties like the Friendship
Over the course of the expedition, Lewis and Clark developed a ritual that we used when meeting a tribe for the first time. The captains would explain to the tribal leaders that the their land now belonged to the United States, and that a man far in the east – President Thomas Jefferson – was their new “great father.” We made peace with the natives and they became very essential and useful on our journey. Along the way we met a lady named Sacajawea who was from the Shoshone tribe and she was the person who helped us the most. She guided us through the land and helped us when we were in need. She knew the ways and we were grateful to have her because we may have not made it without
In December 1805, they built Fort Clatsop on the south side of the Columbia River. On March 23, 1806, Lewis and Clark and the rest of the men began their journey back to St.
Lewis couldn't go alone, however, even though he was known for being an intelligent, and literate man, as well as being an experienced frontiersman. Therefore, Lewis asked Jefferson if a man known as William Clark could be a part of the exploration. Clark was an even more experienced draftsman and frontiersman than Lewis. Jefferson approved of the duo and believed that the men would find Wolly Mammoths, volcanoes, and a mountain of salt. Thus, Jefferson initiated a military Corps of
In addition to the spread westward, massive amounts of land were gained with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The Louisiana Purchase conquered possession on territory west of the Mississippi River that stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada (Roark, 249). President Jefferson came to the reasoning of the US needed to further explore the newly inherited parts of the land added. Acquisition of the Louisiana Territory virtually doubled the territorial extent of the United States, giving the new nation what then seemed to be almost limitless room for expansion. It also made possible the nation’s later expansion to the Pacific Ocean (Loos). Meriwether Lewis and William Clark went on an expedition to later on explore the trans – Mississippi West.
Jefferson recommended James Monroe to join Livingston in Pairs as minister, to negotiate and find a way to Purchase the Territory of Louisiana. Later, Jefferson asked the congress to fund for the expedition that would cross the Louisiana territory, regardless of who controlled it, and proceed on the Pacific (Monticello). Which would become known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Monroe owned a land in Kentucky and had a spoken openly for the rights of western territories, and so Jefferson wanted Monroe to accept the posting, saying that Monroe had “the unlimited confidence of the administration & of the Western people” (Monticello). Where he also added, that it all depended on him for the sake of the future destinies of the republic. Then after, Jefferson sends a letter to the governor of Kentucky, to inform him about the arrangements that were made with Monroe to secure the rights and interests in the Mississippi, and the country Eastward of that. It was also said in the letter, that Monroe goal was to obtain the land east of the Mississippi. It had all the instructions, even drawn up, where it was allocated up to 10 million just for the purchase of New Orleans and all or part if the Floridas. If the such bid failed, Monroe had to find a way to try to purchase just New Orleans, or for the very least, have access to the
The Louisiana Purchase affected the boundaries of the U.S. because when Jefferson bought the land, the boundaries were not clear. Spain claimed the border was about one hundred miles west of the Mississippi River, while Jefferson was under the impression that it was around eight hundred miles further west, which was defined by the crest of the Rocky Mountains. This lead to four different government-funded expeditions. The first was in 1804 when Lewis and Clark led an expedition westward to determine the upper reaches of the Missouri River. Throughout the expedition Lewis and Clark were instructed to study the Indian culture, such as plants and animals. They were able to explore the Indian culture when they stayed their first winter in huts beside the Mandan Indians. Without the help from the Indians they would not have survived the winter. They also had to draw out the geography of the West. After the treacherous journey, they reached the Pacific Ocean on November 7, 1805. They made their journey back to St. Louis and arrived back in September 1806. The other three expeditions that took place between 1804 and 1806 were to determine the southwestern border. The first group went down the Red River to the Ouachita River, ending in current-day Arkansas. The second group went west into eastern Texas along the Red River and the third group ended up going too far into the Spaniard’s
Lewis and Clark were the first pioneers, to explore the west coast. The journals of Lewis and Clark are the single most important document in the history of American exploration. On their journey they discovered new animals such as the grizzly bear. They started their expedition May,1804 and returned to St.Louis September, 1806. First of all I’m like Lewis and Clark in many different ways.
Lewis and Clark and the rest of their expedition, they began their journey near the st, louis Missouri, in May of 1804. This group often called the corps of discovery by historians faced nearly every obstacle and hardship imaginable on their trip. The dangerous they would face were the harsh water, weather, and hunger, illness and.
In this voyage of discovery from Louisiana territory to the Pacific Ocean, United States Army Captain Meriwether Lewis was named the leader by Thomas Jefferson, and Lewis named William Clark as the second leader in command. As a result, the Lewis and Clark Expedition provided many useful information about the life of Indian tribes, plant, and animals in the continent. Thanks to the president Thomas Jefferson, the expedition helped establish the U.S. presence in the newly acquired territory and let United States have more opportunities to do further exploration, trade and scientific discoveries in the future. Just like Thomas Jefferson said: “We shall delineate with correctness the great arteries of this great country: those who come after us will fill up the canvas we
Long before he became the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson had dreamed of sending explorers across North America. When Jefferson took office in 1801, most of the United States population lived within 50 miles of the Atlantic Ocean. Knowledge of the western part of the continent was limited to what had been learned from French traders and fur trappers and Spanish and British explorers. On January 18, 1803, President Jefferson sent a confidential letter to Congress asking for $2,500 to fund an expedition to the Pacific Ocean. He hoped to establish trade with the Native American people of the West and find a water route to the Pacific. Jefferson also was fascinated by the prospect of what could be learned about the geography of the West, the lives and languages of the Native Americans, the plants and animals, the soil, the rocks, the weather, and how they differed from those in the East. President Jefferson 's choice to lead an expedition was Meriwether Lewis, his former secretary and a fellow native of Albemarle County, Virginia. Having reached the rank of captain in the U.S. Army, Lewis possessed military discipline and experience that would prove invaluable. While in the Army, Lewis had served in a rifle company commanded by William Clark. It was Clark whom Lewis chose to assist him in leading this U.S. Army expedition, commonly known today as the "Corps of Discovery." On February 28, 1803, Congress appropriated funds for the Expedition, and Jefferson