After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, many citizens were eager to find out more about this new land. Thomas Jefferson, the president of the United States at the time, “sent a secret letter to Congress asking for $2,500 to fund an expedition to the Pacific Ocean (Thomas Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition). He chose Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to lead this expedition. Lewis and Clark were some of the greatest heroes in our country because of their experience, how they interacted with their team and with the natives, and how they gave citizens a new outlook on their country. In order for them to be able to lead this expedition, these two men had to have had experience. Lewis and Jefferson’s families had been friends for quite some time, making Lewis a top pick for Jefferson. Prior to the journey, Lewis served as his aid. Lewis was also an experienced hunter, outdoorsman, and herbal medicine expert (Legendary Lewis and Clark Expedition Characters). These were some of the main reasons Jefferson chose him to lead the expedition because these traits could be vital for his survival. But even before this, in 1795, Lewis served with another man: William Clark. During their time together they became great friends (William Clark). Although Clark was not an expert in many of the things Lewis was that granted him the …show more content…
Their exploration would encourage people to explore this new land themselves. Along the way, Clark drew maps of all the land they covered, which would aid citizens in reaching a new settlement (Legendary Lewis and Clark Expedition Characters). Over many years to come, citizens would continue to explore and settle in this land, eventually forming the 48 contiguous states we know today. Lewis and Clark’s bravery in their mission encouraged and influenced many movements such as overland immigration, the Northwest Passage, the western fur trade, and much
Being the president, Jefferson had wanted the recently gained land to be explored to be aware of what it contained. As a result, the United States' government provide money to Meriwether Lewis and William Clark for exploration. This was known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition which had taken place from May 1804 to November 1805 when Lewis and Clark explored the territory. Stated by Heather LeBlanc, “Along the way they charted trails, mapped river and mountain ranges, collected samples and wrote descriptions of unfamiliar plants and animals, and recorded facts about the Native American tribes they encountered along their journey.” The discovery of these untapped resources allowed the Americans to make profit by selling them to other country’s that did not contain them.
Lewis and Clark had a profound impact on the historical development of the United States, expanding the nation's understanding of its geography, and shaping the country's connection with Native Americans. The Geography of the Louisiana Purchase led to the development of many things. After realizing that the Northwest Passage didn’t exist, they
Lewis and Clark Expedition In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson handed over a small price of $15,000,000 for the Louisiana Territory, originally owned by France. After the treaty for the purchase was made, Jefferson issued an exploration of this new land. Jefferson ordered that his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis, an intelligent and skilled man, be the leader of the expedition. As his personal assistant, Lewis selected the help of William Clark.
He had 5 older brothers that served in the Revolutionary War. When William was 19, he joined the United States Army. That is where he met his best friend Meriwether Lewis. They served together in the army in 1795. The next year William resigned from the army to run his family's estate.
In 1803, Thomas Jefferson wrote a document to France to purchase western land, also known a the Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson was given the land from France, and wanted to study the new purchased territory. He sent out his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis, he had much knowledge about the frontier. Lewis asked for help from William Clark, he also was a draftsman and frontiersman and had more knowledge than Meriwether. Both of the men made a plan to take a two-year trip to the ocean.
Lewis was already eager to start the trip. He immediately contacted his old friend, William Clark, to co-command the expedition. President Jefferson asked Lewis to gather information on plants, animals, and people. Lewis also bought samples of animals and plants he came across with. Lewis and Clark along with the rest of the group started their expedition journey at St. Louis, Missouri in May 1804.
The expedition set by Lewis and Clark on 1804-1806 to the explore the newly purchased Louisiana territory was a crucial moment in American history. The idea for the exploration was brought by President Thomas Jefferson on January 18, 1803. After purchasing the Louisiana territory from the French, he wanted someone to explore it before people can relocate. He asked Lewis to go on this journey and to find out everything. Lewis agreed and selected William Clark for an expedition that would make history.
“Lewis and Clark made the first detailed maps for fur traders, missionaries, and pioneers who later ventured into the Great Plains, Rocky Mountains, and led the West Coast.” (Textbook Page 135) Without the maps they wouldn’t have know we’re they were going or what to look for. Thanks to Lewis and Clark it showed the Americans everything they needed to know about the western half of the United States and allowed them to feel
The Lewis and Clark expedition also helped the United States work towards manifest destiny. This expedition was led by Meriwether Lewis and his partner William Clark from 1804 to 1806. It helped the United States gain knowledge of
Later on, he became friends with Meriwether Lewis while they both served in 1795. They year after that he was resigned from the army to become manager of his family’s estate. In 1803, Clark had received a letter from Lewis, inviting him to share command on an expedition to the west of the Mississippi River. The journey set off
Following the Spanish exploration of the Oregon territory, several countries claimed the newly explored region. Due to the region’s abundance of beavers, the interest to claim the region increased. To settle the dispute, US and Great Britain created the treaty of 1818 which allowed both Americans and Britons to have access to the Oregon country. Following the treaty, both countries decided on dividing the region and accepting 49° north as the boundary. America’s share of Oregon country included the present day states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming.
The Lewis and Clark expedition is very important to the US for many many reasons. Thomas Jefferson, determined to find this so called Northwest Passage, sent a group of few men to find this crossing. The Northwest Passage was a series of rivers
“Amazing the things you will find when you bother to search for them. ”-Sacagawea. Nowadays, when we think famous people we think of Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber and Lebron James, but what about the famous celebrities who made history? When I got the chance to research a famous deceased individual, I choose Sacagawea. Sacagawea was a very important person in the history of America, in fact without her help Lewis and Clark might have ended up lost on their famous expedition in 1804.
There were many challenges when exploring, one of them was the weather. If it was too hot, you could acquire a stroke, or you could run out of water and dehydrate; If it was too cold you could acquire frostbite. There were wild animals like bears, wolves, and snakes, there were also geographic obstacles like mountains and rivers, there were natural disasters as well. William Clark affected at least 80,000,000 people, I know this because the west coast is populated by 47,800,000 people, and the Journey of Discovery covered the middle of the country as well, all of those people wouldn’t have been able to move out there, if the Lewis and Clark expedition hadn’t explored that area and made maps. Without William Clark, America would be much less populated.
Members chosen for the expedition were sought after for skills that included hunting, blacksmithing, and gunsmithing, making United States Army soldiers a good option for crew who traveled by land, water and horseback, for nearly 8,000 miles over mountains, through plains and by rivers (The Lewis and Clark Expedition, 2016). The success of the Lewis and Clark expedition was important to science, as they made important observations about the land of North America that lead to creation of maps with Captain Clark having the duty of mapping the landscape because of his experience: the result of maps made by Clark became one of the most important achievements of the western exploration. (The Lewis and Clark Expedition, 2016). The scientific information collected on geography, meteorology, cultures, and animal life and plant life were greatly important to the nation (Corps of Discover, 2016). The trip also was partially useful in creating peaceful relations with the American Indians in territories of the Northwest, although not all tribes were accepting of the gestures, giving gifts was important to building peaceful relationships with the American Indians (The Corp of Discovery, 2016).