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The Expedition Of Captain Meriwether Lewis And Lewis 's Close Friend As Second Lieutenant William Clark

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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

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