Unwavering, Impervious, Undaunted Courage

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Ever since the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Thomas Jefferson longed to know what lay in the West. Now that the land belonged to the Americans, sold to them from the French, they were free to explore it. Jefferson hired two men named Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to lead an expedition into this unknown territory on an adventure called the Journey of Discovery. This journey was set up so that Jefferson could collect as much information of the unknown as possible, including plants, animals, and other natural history. An author and American historian named Stephen Ambrose wrote a 484 page book retelling this story of Lewis and Clark titled Undaunted Courage. Professor at University of New Orleans, founder of the National D-day Museum, and writer/editor of over 35 books, Ambrose was well-educated on the topics he wrote about (nationalgeographic.com). At a young age, Ambrose joined the World War II Navy, and this instilled a feeling of patriotism that never left him. This love that he had for his country shows through his writing as the reader can feel the passion for the subjects that he writes about. Because his writing was so phenomenal, multiple books of his climbed to the 1st New York Times Bestseller slot, not to mention that one biography titled Band of Brothers made its way on-screen in form of a television miniseries. The significance of the Journey of Discovery is humongous, considering that the voyage is what laid down the foundation of life in the West. “The expedition was meant to prepare the way for the extension of the American fur trade and to advance geographical knowledge” (nsp.gov). As a developing country, America needed as much help as it could possibly get, and this included expanding on their knowledge of the... ... middle of paper ... ... have met. Because Lewis is the main focus in the biography, the reader gets to know him on a very personal level. You get a good idea of how mentally and physically challenging the trip was to him. Since I have a preference of European history over American history I was fairly satisfied after putting it down. With a renewed perspective on our country and the effort made by the Founding Fathers to lay down a plan for the future of America which we are indulging in as we speak. Its books like this that reminds me why I would like to be a historian someday. Inspiring and all around fantastic, I had a great time reading about Lewis and Clark and the Journey of Discovery. Works Cited "Historian Steven Ambrose Dead at 66." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. National Parks Service. National Parks Service, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.

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