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...
... middle of paper ...
...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.
Lewis and Clark weren’t very kind towards all the Native American’s he met. Lewis and Clark stole, killed, and addressed Indians as “children” to tribes. Lewis and Clark also did some nice things such as take a child in and hand out medicine. The good doesn’t outweigh the bad things they’ve done. Lewis and Clark weren’t very kind or respectful people to the Native
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...
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
The article, “Native Reactions to the invasion of America”, is written by a well-known historian, James Axtell to inform the readers about the tragedy that took place in the Native American history. All through the article, Axtell summarizes the life of the Native Americans after Columbus acquainted America to the world. Axtell launches his essay by pointing out how Christopher Columbus’s image changed in the eyes of the public over the past century. In 1892, Columbus’s work and admirations overshadowed the tears and sorrows of the Native Americans. However, in 1992, Columbus’s undeserved limelight shifted to the Native Americans when the society rediscovered the history’s unheard voices and became much more evident about the horrific tragedy of the Natives Indians.
To understand Jackson’s book and why it was written, however, one must first fully comprehend the context of the time period it was published in and understand what was being done to and about Native Americans in the 19th century. From the Native American point of view, the frontier, which settlers viewed as an economic opportunity, was nothin...
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 ...
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.
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 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
Lewis and Clark repeated the same process of greeting each chief and group of Indians with gifts, this time without being pressured into contributing more to the tribe. Upon interaction with the Arikara, Lewis and Clark showed not only a desire for peace between the Corps and the Indian tribes, but between the various Indian tribes themselves. The Corps served as liaisons between the tribes along the river, establishing a council of peace and facilitating communication between the different groups of Indians. Lewis and Clark readily carried out the Arikara’s request “to take a Chief of their nation and make a good pact with the Mandins & nations above” (p 162). This not only benefitted the Indian tribes by allowing them to “hunt without fear & [allowing] ther women [to] work in the field without looking everry moment for the Enemey," but also opened the road and safe travel for the Corps of Discovery after leaving Sioux territory, aiding them on their journey as winter approached (p.
The party was extremely fatigued, running low on food, and the horses were in bad health. If it were not for the serendipitous meeting of the Shoshone Indians, the journey would have very likely been doomed to failure. The Shoshone represented a time when the aid of native tribes was absolutely vital and the tactfulness of Lewis and Clark in handling Indian relations allowed them to successfully complete the trek. Upon first seeing a small group of Shoshone, Lewis “frequently repeated the word tab-ba-bone” in an attempt to draw their attention in a friendly manner. The Corps take extra precautions by leaving their arms on the ground well before approaching. After reaching the natives, Lewis pulls up his sleeve to display his white skin. The natives’ reaction is worth noting; Lewis describes them as “instantly reconciled” (p. 78). The Indians are more relieved to see foreign white men than other native tribe members, demonstrating that Jefferson’s goal of building friendly relations with the natives had already
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