Manifested in the mind of the 3rd President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson came the first American expedition to head west towards the Missouri River all the way to the Pacific Ocean, in the year 1804. The Lewis and Clark Expedition formed just one year after the Louisiana Purchase, the purchase of territory from imperial France in 1803 by Thomas Jefferson. 1 The Louisiana Purchase provoked President Jefferson to look to navigate the territory that his empire now encompassed, and out of this grew the expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and Lewis Clark. 2 Lewis and Clark and their unit of volunteers from the United States Army specially selected by Thomas Jefferson that accompanied them soon became known as the Corps of Discovery, a group of men destined to “compile what amounted to the first chapters in an American encyclopedia of Native American peoples and cultures”. 3
Jefferson delegated many objectives upon Lewis and Clark for the expedition, but one of the objectives at the face of the list was the interaction with Native Indians in the land they looked to travel to. When planning the expedition, Jefferson came up with a lists of questions for Lewis and Clark to answer about the Native cultures of the area, as he urged the two men to find out all the information they could about the tribes, while also forming good relationships and blending American culture with Indian culture in order to slowly undertake the land they inhabited. 4 Thus, the Lewis and Clark expedition focused mainly on the interactions with Native Americans, as they tried to peacefully make a relationship with the Native tribes and change Native culture to reflect more American principles in efforts to take control of the Native’s lands, but ultimatel...
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...ion with the purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803, and furthered it with the expedition. Some instant ramifications were present after the expedition: it led to the northern plains fur trade from 1806-1812 that came out of Lewis and Clark’s focus on improving trade. 33 In a broader sense, the expedition promoted further expansion goals for the United States as a whole later on in American history. The idea of manifest destiny later on in the 19th century reflects a continued goal of the United States to expand. Thus, the “land hungry” attitude that Jefferson himself exhibited went on to influence later American goals of expansion out west. Lewis and Clark’s expedition thus was only the beginning, as it was the first American expedition out last, but nevertheless was surely not the last based on the benefits that the United States reaped after its completion.
The changes will be no less profound for European Americans. President Jefferson's orders were far-reaching. While Lewis and Clark did not discover a Northwest Passage or start the western fur trade or overland immigration, they certainly influenced the latter two movements. They provided valuable information about the topography, the biological sciences, the ecology, and ethnic and linguistic studies of the American Indian. The mysteries of the vast area known as the Louisiana Purchase quickly disappeared after Lewis and Clark.
The generalization that, “The decision of the Jackson administration to remove the Cherokee Indians to lands west of the Mississippi River in the 1830s was more a reformulation of the national policy that had been in effect since the 1790s than a change in that policy,” is valid. Ever since the American people arrived at the New World they have continually driven the Native Americans out of their native lands. Many people wanted to contribute to this removal of the Cherokees and their society. Knox proposed a “civilization” of the Indians. President Monroe continued Knox’s plan by developing ways to rid of the Indians, claiming it would be beneficial to all. Andrew Jackson ultimately fulfilled the plan. First of all, the map [Document A] indicates the relationship between time, land, and policies, which affected the Indians. The Indian Tribes have been forced to give up their land as early as the 1720s. Between the years of 1721 and 1785, the Colonial and Confederation treaties forced the Indians to give up huge portions of their land. During Washington's, Monroe's, and Jefferson's administration, more and more Indian land was being commandeered by the colonists. The Washington administration signed the Treaty of Holston and other supplements between the time periods of 1791 until 1798 that made the Native Americans give up more of their homeland land. The administrations during the 1790's to the 1830's had gradually acquired more and more land from the Cherokee Indians. Jackson followed that precedent by the acquisition of more Cherokee lands. In later years, those speaking on behalf of the United States government believed that teaching the Indians how to live a more civilized life would only benefit them. Rather than only thinking of benefiting the Indians, we were also trying to benefit ourselves. We were looking to acquire the Indians’ land. In a letter to George Washington, Knox says we should first is to destroy the Indians with an army, and the second is to make peace with them. The Indian Trade and Intercourse Act of 1793 began to put Knox’s plan into effect. The federal government’s promise of supplying the Indians with animals, agricultural tool...
Talking Back to Civilization , edited by Frederick E. Hoxie, is a compilation of excerpts from speeches, articles, and texts written by various American Indian authors and scholars from the 1890s to the 1920s. As a whole, the pieces provide a rough testimony of the American Indian during a period when conflict over land and resources, cultural stereotypes, and national policies caused tensions between Native American Indians and Euro-American reformers. This paper will attempt to sum up the plight of the American Indian during this period in American history.
American history is joined by a not insignificant rundown of adventurers who initially found and who investigated the gigantic landmass. The majority of the wayfarers affected the advancement of America. The Lewis and Clark campaign, otherwise called the Corps of Discovery, stands conspicuously at the top some portion of this rundown. The Lewis and Clark Expedition has had a huge political, social, and monetary impact on America. They were the first to guide out the west and set off westbound development. Without the accomplishment of the undertaking development of America would have taken five times as long, as anticipated by Thomas Jefferson.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the crowning achievement of Thomas Jefferson’s Presidency. Without the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the United States may never have expanded west. The expedition set out from outside St. Louis in May of 1804. During that summer and into the fall, the explorers paddled upstream, northwest on the Missouri River to Fort Mandan where the Corps of Discovery set up camp, wintered, and prepared for the journey to the Pacific. This expedition was extremely important for the new nation because on their journey, the Corps of Discovery did find a water route to the Pacific Ocean. They documented and cataloged the geography, as well as new flora and fauna they encountered, resulting in an extensive journal of new scientific information. They also established diplomatic and trade relations with the Native American Tribes they encountered along the way.
After Thomas Jefferson have made the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803, Jefferson wanted to have exploration to the expansion of unknown, foreign land and mostly importantly to find a water route to the Pacific. He setup an expedition by borrowing 2,500 dollar from Congress to record and verify the unknown land and rivers. Though the Louisiana ...
American history is accompanied by a long list of explorers who first discovered and who explored the massive continent. All of the explorers had an impact on the development of America. The Lewis and Clark expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, stands prominently at the top part of this list. The Lewis and Clark Expedition has had a significant political, social, and economic effect on America. They were the first to map out the west and set off westward expansion. Without the success of the expedition growth of America would have taken five times as long, as predicted by Thomas Jefferson.
The Lewis and Clark expedition (1804-1806) was the first US expedition to cross the United States ashore to the Pacific coast. Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809, convinced Congress to allocate $ 2,500 at the time.
One, they wanted to find out about Indians for Jefferson. Two, they wanted to establish trade relations because that’s gonna be part of an empire for the United States. Three, and they wanted to include them in the United Stated. (http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/living/6.html)
Now that the purchase has been made Jefferson was eager to make an expedition to explore the land that had just been purchased. For this journey Jefferson hired a young officer, Captain Meriwether Lewis to lead the trip. From there
The scope of the captain’s interactions with the Mandan Indians extended far beyond a simple exchange of goods. As Jefferson foretold, a knowledge of the natives was necessary for the sustainable relationship required to survive the harsh winter, and thus the two captains heavily involved themselves in Mandan affairs to further understand native culture. To involve themselves in political proceedings of the natives, Lewis and Clark act as a liaison between the Mandan and Arikara tribes. The two native groups wished to establish a peace between each other and Lewis and Clark aided in the process by drafting treaties between various chiefs. Moreover, the captains take a strong stance and ally themselves with the Mandan and Arikara tribes against
The Louisiana Purchase increased the United States by approximately 828,000 square miles, nearly doubling the size of the young country (http://www.encyclopedia.com). The purchase was so large that it has been described as one of the greatest real estate deals in history. The Louisiana Territory stretched from the Mississippi River all the way to the Rocky Mountains and included what would eventually become 15 new states. With all the land that was gained, it allowed the growing population to expand westward. Now that Americans were starting to settle into their new land this clearly made the US the leading force in North America. Soon this would lead to Manifest Destiny, the idea that the US would expand reaching coast to coast. This showed European countries that America can make deals and negotiate with them despite being a new country and that they were on their way to becoming a power to be reckoned
The Corps of Discovery’s journey from September 25, 1804–April 6, 1805 led them upstream the Missouri River, traversing through the Dakotas to their eventual wintering refuge near the Mandan Village. Along the way, the Corps inevitably encountered numerous Indian tribes. To complete their journey, Lewis and Clark had to overcome the vast differences between the culture of the Corps and of the Indian tribes to avoid violence and facilitate the flow of supplies. Lewis and Clark’s commitment to peace and active involvement in Indian affairs allowed the Corps of Discovery to establish favorable relations with the tribes, resulting in trading dynamics key to the party’s survival through the winter at Fort Mandan.
The United States of America has a long background of history in which is accompanied by a list of explorers who explored this nation. These explorers, each discovered parts that made the United States the continent it is today. An important expedition that involved two very important explorers is the, Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as, Corps of Discovery. Thomas Jefferson, who was the president at the moment, chose Meriwether Lewis, whom was a good friend of his, to lead an expedition into the lands west of the Mississippi and to gather information about the plants, animals, and peoples of the region. Lewis accepted Jefferson’s mission, and asks his close friend, William Clark, to help him in the expedition. This expedition had many
In Thomas King’s novel, The Inconvenient Indian, the story of North America’s history is discussed from his original viewpoint and perspective. In his first chapter, “Forgetting Columbus,” he voices his opinion about how he feel towards the way white people have told America’s history and portraying it as an adventurous tale of triumph, strength and freedom. King hunts down the evidence needed to reveal more facts on the controversial relationship between the whites and natives and how it has affected the culture of Americans. Mainly untangling the confusion between the idea of Native Americans being savages and whites constantly reigning in glory. He exposes the truth about how Native Americans were treated and how their actual stories were