Week 30 of 32 • Page 4
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The Louisiana Purchase Thomas Jefferson faced many challenges during his time as president, but he made many positive improvements to the United States. Many historians believe that Jefferson’s greatest achievement was the Louisiana Purchase. Rivalry between the countries in Europe created an opportunity for the United States to double its size. When the opportunity to buy the Louisiana Territory came up, Jefferson faced a tough decision. The Constitution did not give the federal government the specific right to make such a purchase. However, Jefferson knew he did not have time to wait for an amendment to the Constitution. In 1803, the sale of the Louisiana Territory in North America funded
France’s most recent war with Great Britain. On April 30, 1803, Jefferson and his ambassador in France purchased 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. For roughly four cents an acre, the United States doubled its size, expanding the nation westward. Newspapers around the world reported on the purchase of the Louisiana Territory by the United States. On Tuesday, July 5, 1803, the New York Evening Post reported: At length the business of New Orleans has terminated favorably to this country. Instead of being obliged to rely any longer on the force of treaties, for a place of deposit, the jurisdiction of the territory is now transferred to our hands … This, it will be allowed, is an important acquisition; not, indeed, as territory, but as being essential to the peace and prosperity of our Western country, and as opening a free and valuable market to our commercial states. Jefferson knew that acquiring the Louisiana Territory was the key to westward expansion. Most Americans knew nothing of the land west of the Mississippi River. Jefferson wanted to know more about this vast area of land. He wanted to establish trade with the Native American tribes in the territory. He wanted to record information about the area’s soil, water, plants, animals, weather, and insects. He also wanted to find
LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION
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a water route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. With Congress’s approval, he created a Corps of Discovery to achieve his goals. However, who would lead this monumental expedition into the unknown?
The Corps of Discovery Thomas Jefferson chose Meriwether Lewis to lead the Corps of Discovery. In the summer of 1803, Lewis was tasked with recruiting
leggings and mockersons [moccasins], all with buffalo robes of different colors… This nation is divided into 20 tribes… The members of the expedition also had several encounters with wildlife, some of which were friendly and some of which were hostile. Clark wrote about a new species of animal they encountered on Sept. 7, 1804: … discovered a village of Small animals that burrow in the ground (those animals are called by the French petit chien)... Caught one live by pouring a great quantity of water in his hole; we attempted to dig to the beds of one of those animals… Contains great numbers of holes on the top of which those little animals sit erect, make a whistling noise and when alarmed step into their hole. Like Clark, Lewis recorded many of these encounters in his journals. On May 14, 1805, he wrote: ... the bear pursued and had very nearly overtaken them before they reached the river; ... in this manner he pursued two of them separately so close that they were obliged to throw aside their guns and pouches and throw themselves into the river altho’ the bank was nearly twenty feet perpendicular; so enraged was this animal that he plunged into the river only a few feet behind the second man he had compelled [to] take refuge in the water, when one of those who still remained on shore shot him and finally killed him… In November 1804, the Corps arrived in the Dakota Territory and built their winter quarters. They resided at Fort Mandan until April 1805. Before continuing their journey, they met a few friendly people. These were a French-Canadian fur trader named Toussaint Charbonneau, his Shoshone wife, Sacagawea, and their infant son, Jean Baptiste. Charbonneau and Sacagawea joined the Corps of Discovery as guides and interpreters with their young son. The
members and gathering supplies for the long and arduous expedition. To prepare, Jefferson sent Lewis to Philadelphia to study medicine, botany, zoology, and navigation from experts in each field. While there, Lewis also purchased supplies. He commissioned the building of several vessels for transportation and secured weapons for hunting and defense, too. Lewis chose Captain William Clark to help him lead the expedition. In a letter to Clark, Lewis wrote, “There is no man on earth with whom I should feel equal pleasure in sharing them as with yourself.” Clark accepted and was tasked with recruiting and training men for the expedition. Clark also served as the company’s principal cartographer. On May 21, 1804, the Corps of Discovery departed and traveled west from St. Louis, Missouri. Lewis and Clark kept detailed journals throughout the expedition. They cataloged hundreds of plants, wrote detailed descriptions of countless animals, and created new maps of the territory. Along their journey, the Corps of Discovery negotiated peace treaties with many Indigenous tribes. Many tribes agreed to peaceful trade with the United States. However, other tribes didn’t welcome the Corps and had no desire to negotiate terms of peace. On Aug. 30, 1804, the expedition met with members of the Sioux Nation. Clark recorded the experience in detail in his journal: ... a Council under an Oak Tree near where we had a flag flying on a high flagstaff ... The Souix is a stout, bold looking people, & well made, the greater part of make use of bows & arrows. Some few fusses I observe among them… The warriors are Very much decorated with paint, porcupine quills & feathers, large
Detail of “Lewis and Clark at Three Forks” by Edgar Samuel Paxson, 1912
expedition continued overland through the rough terrain of the Rocky Mountains. Sacagawea guided the explorers through Native American territory. She had knowledge of the land, plants, animals, and the native peoples of the West. Perhaps the last kind of encounter the Corps expected to have was a family reunion. On Aug. 17, 1805, Captain Clark wrote in his journal: I saw at a distance Several Indians on towards me, The & [Sacagawea] who were before me at Some distance danced for the joyful Sight, and She made signs to me that they were her nation … The Great Chief of this nation proved to be the brother of the Woman[Sacagawea] with us and is a man of Influence ... & reserved manners, appears to possess a great of … This nation Call themselves Cho--nê [Shoshone]. Eighteen months after leaving St. Louis, the Corps of Discovery reached the Pacific Ocean in present-day Oregon on Nov. 15, 1805. They didn’t find a direct water route to the Pacific Ocean, as they had hoped for. However, the Corps of Discovery strengthened the relationship between the United States and many of the Native American tribes they encountered. They also identified, cataloged, and collected plant and animal specimens that were unknown to most Americans at the time. Their expedition marked the beginning of America’s settlement of the frontier.
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