Lewis And Clark Expedition Analysis

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Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led an expedition known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition into the uncharted wilds of America which was the most important expedition in American history. Thomas Jefferson commissioned the expedition to head west into the unmapped, unknown, and possibly hostile Indian territory known as the Louisiana Territory. Their main goal was to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean for commerce. Along the way they would also learn about the Native Americans, draw maps, study plants and animals, and uncover the mysteries of the west. In a letter to Andrew Michaux’s expedition eleven years prior to the Lewis and Clark expedition Jefferson wrote “Under the head of Animal history, that of the Mammoth is particularly …show more content…
In 1792 while he was the secretary of state under George Washington he tried to get Dr. Moses Marshall to undertake this voyage across the continent but Dr. Marshall never made an attempt. Then one year later, Jefferson acting for the American Philosophical Society, sponsored the most promising attempt at that time. Jefferson sent Andrew Michaux, a French botanist, to find “the shortest & most convenient route of communication between the US. & the Pacific Ocean, within the temperate latitudes, & to learn such particulars as can be obtained of the country through which it passes, it's productions, inhabitants & other interesting circumstances” [1]. Unfortunately, Andrew Michaux got caught up in international issues and did not make it past the Mississippi. This would be the foundation as the Lewis and Clark expedition eleven years later.
In January 1803 Jefferson wrote a secret letter Congress asking for two thousand five hundred dollars for an expedition to the Pacific Ocean. Congress approved and for the first time Jefferson’s dream was to become reality.
- Finish this paragraph with the advancements in knowledge that happened prior to
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