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Thomas Jefferson's Contributions To The American Revolution

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Thomas Jefferson, born in Virginia in 1743, began his early political life in 1769 when he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses. He then later was elected a legislator for Virginia from 1776 until 1779. “During Jefferson’s time as a legislator he gained beneficial knowledge on the leadership characteristics needed to direct a country through a reconstruction era.” Although Jefferson was unable to keep the British from invading Virginia, he did successfully guide the state through the American Revolution. Jefferson served as Vice President to John Adams. As his time as Vice President, he took a stand against the Alien and Sedition Acts. He believed them to be unconstitutional. Jefferson, along with James Madison, then wrote the Kentucky …show more content…

When he became president, nearly all of the United States population resided within fifty miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Jefferson decided that it was time to explore the rest of the continent. He chose Meriwether Lewis, his former secretary, to lead an expedition. Lewis was disciplined and had extremely valuable skills due to him priorly being a captain in the United States Army. Lewis knew that if he wanted to successfully navigate the territory, he was going to need certain scientific skills. Lewis traveled to Philadelphia in the spring of 1803 to study with scientist Andrew Ellicott. Here Lewis was taught mapmaking skills and surveying. He was tutored in botany by Smith Barton, mathematics by Robert Patterson, astronomy by Caspar Wistar, and he was taught medicine by Benjamin …show more content…

The forests began to end and wide open prairie was visible. Lewis and Clark entered in their journals, “Several wild Goats Seen in the Plains they are wild & fleet Elk & Buffalow is verry plenty, Scercely any timber in Countrey except a little on the river in the Points.” On October 26, 1,600 miles away from Camp Dubois, they arrived at more Indian villages. Whitehouse, one of the men from the expedition, wrote in his journal, “ This morning we had clear & pleasant Weather, We set off early, at 10 oClock we came too, where a party of the Mandan Indians were hunting, & they were encamped in a River bottom which was cover 'd with heavy Timber, on the South side of the

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Thomas Jefferson Instructions To Meriwether Lewis Summary

414 Words | 2 Pages

Thomas Jefferson’s Instructions to Meriwether Lewis discussed the appointment of Lewis as commander of the expedition, gave specific details of the purpose of the exploration, and provided directions for Lewis to follow when carrying out the trip. Thomas Jefferson carefully selected his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to be the commander of the Expedition and trusted that he would be able to perform the tasks assigned to him. Jefferson requested that an abundant amount of precise notes be taken and that they be protected at all costs. He was interested in learning about the people occupying the land, their culture, the ecosystems, and the land. In addition to note taking, treating the Native Americans with respect and peace was important

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Who Is Meriwether Lewis's Suicide

746 Words | 3 Pages

Meriwether Lewis was born on August 18, 1774 in IV Virginia. He was in the U.S army, got enlisted, and later was promoted to captain in 1800. In that same year Jefferson became president and a year after Jefferson became president, Lewis became Jefferson’s personal secretary. Lewis was a part of the expedition and the Louisiana Purchase. The purpose of the Lewis and Clark expedition is to discover the land of the Louisiana territory and to find a route to the Pacific Ocean.

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How Did Meriwether Lewis Commit Suicide

441 Words | 2 Pages

Lewis was also believed to have had depression or an anxiety disorder. Meriwether Lewis was an explorer, soldier, politician and public administrator. He was best known for his role as the leader of the Corps of Discovery, but he was also President Thomas Jefferson's private secretary. He was a member of the Virginia state militia, helped to quell the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794 and was also an army

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Compare And Contrast Lewis And Clark Expedition

805 Words | 4 Pages

It was thomas jefferson's newly owned land and his will to explore it he decided to send explorers across it in which he named the corps of discovery. The heads of the group were Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. When starting the expedition meriwether lewis bought many gifts for the indians such as beads, coats, fabrics, and hats that could hopefully help convince the indians to be relatively good friends with the explorers and our country. When the expedition started exploring in 1803 they started down the Mississippi river on three ships and didn’t run into any american indians. as they traveled they learned about many new things such as minerals and plants so far unknown to science and eventually sent a care package back to president Jefferson on one of the three ships to show him all the new scientific discoveries that the expedition had made.

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A Comparison Of The Lewis And Clark Expedition

1887 Words | 8 Pages

Throughout 1803, Jefferson had talked with Meriwether Lewis, a young army veteran and his private secretary, about the Louisiana Territory. Jefferson wanted Lewis to lead a group of people out into the west to explore as much land as he could. Lewis, an adventurer at heart, accepted Jefferson’s request, and in early 1804, went to Philadelphia to recruit the men he wanted to accompany him on his journey. Among the men that were recruited was William Clark, an old friend of Lewis and the man that would share command of the band of explorers with Lewis. Together, Lewis and Clark decided to call their group “The Corps of Discovery.”

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Meriwether Lewis: The Corps Of Discovery

180 Words | 1 Pages

Born August 18, 1774; Meriwether Lewis was an American explorer, soldier, politician, public administrator, and the leader of the Louisiana expedition group known as the Corps of Discovery. During the first few years of his life, Meriwether grew up on his family’s estate in Ivy Creek, Virginia. After the death of Meriwether’s father in 1779, Meriwether’s mother Lucy Meriwether remarried to John Marks who later moved the family to Broad River Valley, Georgia in 1780. At his new home, Meriwether was influenced by his love for natural history and spent most of his time improving his skills as an outdoorsman, and it is said that he would go out hunting with his dogs at the age of eight. Meriwether’s mother who was a regionally-known herbalist

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How Did Meriwether Lewis Learn Good

928 Words | 4 Pages

Lewis served as Jefferson’s private secretary for about a year and a half when Jefferson asked Lewis to lead the expedition through the Louisiana Territory, Lewis gladly accepted and asked William Clark to serve as co-captain whom also accepted (Harper). Together Lewis and Clark gathered over thirty men and created The Corps of Discovery (Harper). Lewis and Clark along with The Corps of Discovery successfully Navigated and Documented the Louisiana Territory (Harper). After the expedition Jefferson made Lewis the governor of the Louisiana Territory (Harper). During his time as governor Lewis did many things, he oversaw the creation of the Territory of Arkansas, and he ordered for the creation of a road connecting St. Louis and New Madrid, Missouri (Harper).

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Compare And Contrast The Views Of Thomas Jefferson During The 1790s

116 Words | 1 Pages

Thomas Jefferson during the 1790’s-1800’s while working with federalists Alexander Hamilton, his viewpoints were different. During the 1790’s Jefferson was known to be in the democratic-republican party where he progresses an ideal structure of equivalencies between money and weight standards with the American/Spanish currency. Jefferson took charge of the republicans after a conflict created two parties, republican-democratic and the federalist, who empathized with the revolutionary cause in France. While attacking the federalist policies, Jefferson opposed a strong centralized government and granted the rights of states. While Jefferson was in presidency, he cut down on the Army and Navy expenditures, cut the U.S. budget, eliminated the tax

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John Adams Dbq

1910 Words | 8 Pages

He was also very famous because he helped break the link between religion and government through the Virginia Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom. Thomas Jefferson was the governor of Virginia for two years during the Revolutionary War. Jefferson wrote the Kentucky Resolution in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts. His running mate was Aaron Burr. Thomas Jefferson was the most likely candidate because he was a Democratic-Republican, and the American people favored him over John Adams, who was a

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Meriwether Lewis Westward Expansion Essay

438 Words | 2 Pages

Meriwether Lewis was very significant in the Westward Expansion. He was one of the real leaders of this movement for over fifty years, and was one of the ones to lead America forward. Even today, his legacy still remains strong in America. After receiving our Louisiana territory in 1803, President Jefferson wanted to learn as much as possible about our new territory, therefore he sent Meriwether Lewis to learn about and explore the land. Lewis was one of President Jefferson’s secretary members, and Jefferson specifically chose him because he had the perfect skills required for a journey like this.

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Meriwether Lewis/Clark Expedition

402 Words | 2 Pages

From the start of their, Lewis and Clark embraced their old abilities and were regularly documenting the new features that Louisiana held. While Lewis was creating highly detailed maps of the land, Clark spent his time on land, documenting previously undiscovered animals (pictured below), plants, and geographic features. The expedition started smoothly, and by the end of July, the group had traveled more than 600 miles on the river. However, to the group’s unease, not one Indian had been seen or encountered. That was until the beginning of August, when the Corps of Discovery was finally given the opportunity to make a good first impression on the Native Americans.

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Compare And Contrast Meriwether Lewis And Clark

1192 Words | 5 Pages

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led thirty-three people on the most dangerous journey west from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean. Those leaders commanded the Corps of Discovery through starvation in the Rockies, created peace between natives and white men, and achieved an unparalleled exploration that mankind has never repeated. Meriwether Lewis was born on August 18, 1774, in Charlottesville, Virginia. Lewis was an avid outdoorsman in his childhood; he spent his time hunting and exploring. After his childhood exploring, he became more comfortable with being out away from civilization.

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The Importance Of The Lewis And Clark Expedition

902 Words | 4 Pages

Lewis and Clark encountered many obstacles like the Rocky Mountains, but found the Pacific ocean and a way across the United States. By the courageous exploration of Lewis and Clark, their encounters with Native Americans, and the exchange of foods, animals, and knowledge shaped the United States as it is today. The Lewis and Clark exploration took

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Lewis And Clark Expedition Analysis

530 Words | 3 Pages

In Corps of Discover, 2016, “Although it was not successful, “Lewis and Clark achieved an impressive record of peaceful cooperation with the Indians and generated American interest in the fur trade” (Corps of Discover, 2016). On April 7, 1805 the Lewis and Clark exploration provided all gathered information from the trip and sent it to Missouri making the expedition results vitally important to the nations growth by providing information from the crews hard work (Corps of Discover, 2016). As rightfully noted in The Lewis and Clark Expedition, 2016, “The Lewis and Clark Expedition are often called the greatest adventure in American history. ”(The Lewis and Clark Expedition, 2016), and as

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Essay On Meriwether Lewis

1717 Words | 7 Pages

After he left home he still was always writing in journals about the plants and the animals he found in his travels. So when Thomas Jefferson invited Meriwether Lewis to go and explore the western United States for the purpose of studying and documenting plants and animal species for the benefit of mankind's knowledge of the world around them.(see fig. 4 He jumped on the opportunity immediately after getting the invitation to go on the exploration of the west he decided to get some education on everything that was known about North America at the time by every scientist, botanist , biologist that ever was. For at least a year he studied day and night and nothing could prepare him for what he saw on the expedition.

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