Compare And Contrast Lewis And Clark

Lewis and Clark accelerated the growth of America with their endeavors put forth into the Corps of Discovery expedition; they provided the nation with the necessary information needed for the augmentation of our country. “As a member of the state militia, Lewis helped to quell the Whiskey Rebellion, a Pennsylvania uprising led by farmers against taxes, in 1794.” (Biography.com, p. 1). Meriwether Lewis would later subjugate uncharted lands with fellow militia member William Clark. “A younger brother to Revolutionary War hero George Rogers Clark, William Clark entered the military at the age of 19.” (Biography.com, p. 1). The duo’s background proved they possessed high qualities from their past aspirations, and displayed the ability to lead other

men into the unknown with the assistance from a Native American interpreter and guide known as Sacagawea. “In 1800, when she was about 12 years old, Sacagawea was kidnapped by a war party of Hidatsa Indians ­­ enemies of her people, the Shoshones.” (PBS.org, p. 1). Together they ventured into the unknown, known as the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Lewis and Clark, with the assistance of Sacagawea, scavenged the unforetold land and discovered many wildlife and tribes of Native Americans, they discovered many landscapes unforeseen to the citizens of the United States of America.
The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 provided the country with a massive amount of land, which contained many diverse types of geographical features. “This was a huge tract of over 800,000 square mile…”. (Edgate.com, p. 1). This almost doubled the size of the new country. Lewis and Clark explored present-day states from Missouri to Oregon. ”Along the way, William Clark drew a series of maps that were remarkably detailed, noting and naming rivers and creeks, significant points in the landscape, the shape of river shore, and spots where the Corps spent each night or camped or portaged for longer periods of time.” (Perry, p. 1). After venturing through these states, the expedition team found themselves at the Pacific Ocean. During the expedition, Lewis and Clark, along with other members, traveled northwest. The expedition team discovered many rivers throughout their journey, which would help future settlers. The newly discovered rivers, found by Lewis and Clark, proved potentially efficient for a fresh water resource, transportation, farming, food, trading routes, and recreation. The regions explored within the expedition embodied many enigmatic plants and animals, while the terrain itself supplied America with traveling routes necessary to its own development.
The wildlife found during Lewis and Clark’s journey document a large variety of species, as well as the flora and fauna unseen to the rest of America until after the expedition ended. “They encountered a great profusion of wildlife, including buffalo, wolves, bighorn sheep, and ferocious grizzly bears.” (Edgate.com, p. 3). The variety of animals and plants discovered throughout the expedition proved effective to present and future citizens of America as they gained knowledge about plants and animals that could potentially contain poison or other hazardous effects. “Throughout the journey, Lewis and Clark constantly collected samples of plants, animals, and birds.” (Weiser, p. 3). Lewis and Clark also discovered the forest and plains that provided a habitat to some of the plants and animals discovered throughout the expedition. This would later lead to the expansion of future settlements from within the land beyond the west, whether it belonged to Native Americans or not. “This wave of development would significantly transform virgin forests and grasslands into a landscape of cities, farms, and harvested forests, displacing fauna…” (Perry, p. 1). Native Americans that resided beyond the west revered to Lewis and Clark as allies; they exhibited medical procedures, which contemporary medicine originated from.
The Native American tribes that met Lewis and Clark each had different outlooks on the duo. “During the course of the expedition, contact was made with at least 55 different native cultural groups.” (Lamar, p. 1). Many of the Native American tribes thought of Lewis and Clark as associates, while others viewed them as adversaries. This greatly affected Lewis and Clark’s progress in the expedition, as they needed to watch their backs while roaming the new land. Lewis and Clark needed to befriend the Native Americans that inhabited the land, while they also needed to “...explore the unknown territory, establish trade with the Natives and affirm the sovereignty of the United States in the region.” (History.net, p. 3). Lewis and Clark made progress with the Native Americans by establishing trust. They had specific “... instructions to treat the Indians "in the most friendly and conciliatory manner," it was hoped that knowledge of them could be acquired and trade increased.” (Monticello.com, p. 1 & 2). Through trading Lewis and Clark discovered the stage of technology the Native Americans acquired. This information proved that the United States of America had an huge advantage over the primitive weapons and medical training the Native Americans had. This greatly impacted the United States of America by supply the country with the Native American’s weakness. The United States of America harshly exploited the Native American’s flaws, our country unleashed biological warfare upon the Native Americans. On a large scale the moribund Native Americans began perishing. The Native Americans have never seen an epidemic that caused so many deaths. They could not fight back against the fatal disease, and lost many of their people. This made overtaking the land for the United States of America more easy and efficient. Lewis and Clark had no idea that their newly acquired information would cause the downfall of Native Americans.
Lewis and Clark returned to familiar land, and began to reveal the abundance of information they acquired throughout the treacherous and incessant journey.

The duo sparked the hope of many people when they embarked on the journey. The people became excited once they learned that Lewis and Clark returned to share all they had experienced. The expedition enabled people to move throughout the nation, and began expanding our prospering country. The United States of America had a lot to owe to inquisitive duo for engaging in the rough conundrum known as the Lewis and Clark expedition. “Both Lewis and Clark were generously rewarded for their services, each receiving large parcels of land and double pay. (Smithsonianmag.com, p. 2). The Lewis and Clark expedition became known nation-wide as one of the most dangerous and enduring expeditions ever made. Lewis and Clark became revered as heroes, they ventured far and wide across the nation. The duo essentially fulfilled the concept of Manifest Destiny, and discovered the United States of America from Mississippi westwards. Lewis and Clark made large contributions, and impacted the country immensely. Without the Lewis and Clark expedition, the United States of America would not exist as it stands

today.