Land Jefferson example essay topic

Quite possibly one of the most important purchases in the history of The United States was the one in which Thomas Jefferson enabled the size of the country to double. The territory was the Louisiana Territory, the 820,000 square mile piece of land was bought for 15 million dollars which equaled out to about three cents an acre. The United States originally only wanted to buy the port of New Orleans. Thomas Jefferson wanted to buy this because there was a risk that the half million Americans living west of the Appalachian would secede from the Union. Purchasing the port would keep them from seceding because they would then have a port that they could easily use to get to the ocean.

The people in that region had been using the port until the Spanish stopped letting them use it. This posed a serious problem because then the only way to get goods to the ocean was over the Appalachian Mountains, and there were few roads that crossed the mountains. By adding the land west of the Mississippi the United States had the potential to become a very powerful nation. Jefferson learned that France had just obtained the Louisiana Territory from Spain. He proceeded to send James Monroe and the ambassador to France, Robert Livingston to the current leader of France Napoleon Bona part. Napoleon needed money for the upcoming war with Britain, realizing that he had little hope for an empire in America any time soon he declared that the united States could have the port if it bought the entire territory.

Jefferson quickly passed the treaty through congress and although there doubts about the purchase on April 30, 1803 the United States doubled its size. Jefferson had been planning to map out and explore the west for two decades Before even acquiring the land Jefferson had been planning a small trip to explore the land he was so captivated by. His personal library had more books on the land than any other place. However many of the descriptions of the land were simply made up in the minds of people that had never been there in there lives.

Maps of the land were also based on little or no actual facts from the land. Many showed the Rocky Mountains as smaller than the Appalachians. So in 1803 Jefferson proposed to congress that an intelligent officer with ten or twelve chosen men... might explore the whole line, even to the Western Ocean. Thomas Jeffersons reasons for the expedition were not just for science he also saw that commercial growth in the west would be a key to the United States growing a stronghold on the region. Jeffersons proposed expedition would travel through unknown lands that were owned by the two most powerful nations, France and Brit an with Spain in possession in the land to the south west. Spanish officials administering the region for France had turned down Jeffersons request to explore the region.

None the less Jefferson sent his request to Congress. To make his request more tempting he asked for only $2,500 to fund the trip but in actuality it cost $38,722. So on Feburary 28, 1803 Jeffersons request was approved. Jefferson appointed Meriwether Louis in charge of the expedition.

When the Louisiana purchase was announced on july 3, just two days before Lewis was to set out to Pittsburgh to buy supplies and hire men, the semi-covert mission through foreign land was turned into a daring survey into newly aquired American land. To ensure that Louis could buy every thing he needed Jefferson gave a signed page that gave the faith of the United States to reimburse anyone for any goods or services needed by Louis. Before leaving Louis had Albert Gallatin (a map collector) make a map that showed North America from the Mississippi to the Pacific. The only points on the map were the mouth of the Columbia river, St. Louis and the Missouri river up to the Mandan Villages.

The rest were to be Filled out by Lewis and Clark. On the trip the group encountered many different Native American tribes, one of wich was the Teton Sioux. These native americans were a war-like tribe, they were known for being a powerful and aggressive tribe that controlled all traffic through there section of the Missouri River. When they stopped passing merchants they would demand many gifts as a toll, or they would resort to a more violent approach. When Lewis and Clark arrived, the Teton Sioux veiled them and America as a threat to there control of the trade area. At the first council held between the Tetons and the expedition the expedition followed there normal routine of marching and firing there guns.

This did not impress the Tetons and an armed conflict nearly erupted. The che if However calmed things down. In his journal Clark wrote that the tetons were thin, small and ill-looking. The men dressed as Indians are stereotypically depicted with hawk feathers on there heads and robes on there bodies, the women wore robes and buffalo skins. Another tribe that the expedition met were the Mandans. Some of the Mandans political characteristics are similar to modern-day communism.

To the Mandans the village was the center of activity be it ceremonial, political or economic. In the village each household worked together as a collective to better each thing part of the collective such as families and the village itself. In the fall many different types of people came to the Mandan village to trade. At these trades Europeans and many differnt tribes were in attendance. The Mandans traded there corn for a variety of items.

When the expedition arrived the Mandans were very hospitable they allowed the Corps to stay across the river for the winter and supplied them with food. At one point during the winter when the food supplies became low the Mandans were accompanied by members of the Corps on a buffalo hunt. In return Clark performed medical services for the tribe. The tribe was also mesmerized by the color of Yorks (Clarks slave) skin.

The Corps of Discovery did not make the entire trip without help from Native Americans. One Native American that played a large part in helping the expedition was Sacagawea. The Corps met her when they hired the french fur trapper Toussaint Charbonneau to be a guide. Sacagawea was of much help when the Corp met the Shoshone tribe. Sacagawea was the brother of the tribes leader. At one meeting when Sacagawea was present she recognized Cameahwait.

Sacagawea was Shoshone but was Kidnapped by the Hidatsas when she was a child. It was with Sacagaweas help that the Corps was able to get the horses and guide they needed to make the trip across the Bitterroot Mountains. The Corp got help from many tribes as well. As mentioned the Shoshone helped by providing horses and a guide through the Mountains.

The Mandan Indians helped by giving the expedition food through out the winter while the Corps stayed with them. The Nez Perce gave the Corps food and let them say near them during the winter of 1805. Without the help of the Indians mentioned and others the Corp of discovery would almost certainly not have survived or completed there journey. One of the purposes of the Corps of discovery was to study the land animals that lived on this land. One animal that was new to the people was the grizzly bear, the Hidatsas warned the expedition about this fierce animal. A few days later the Corps met up with a grizzly bear and they shot and killed it.

That night Lewis wrote in his journal that for a wel trained man with a gun the grizzly bear was not something to fear. A few days later they ran into another bear and could not kill it, it chased them into the river. Some other new animals that the Corps met with were the buffalo, jackrabbit and praire dog. They were so interested by the praire dog that they spent a few days trying to capture one and when they finally did they sent it back to Jefferson alive. To travel on the rivers they used a special built keel boat that was constructed in Pittsburgh. When going against the flow they traveled in a way that resembles the gondolas of Venice italy.

They would take poles that reached the river bottom and walk from the front of the boat to the back. They also sailed, rowed and even waded in the water and pulled the boat. To cross mountains they put there gear on horses. They crossed the Rockies at the Bitterroot Mountains, on a trail used by the Shoshone. The Corps of Discovery found several interesting geographic features.

They saw the towering falls of missouri. They also saw the Rocky Mountains which were almost ten thousand feet higher than the Appalachians. They also saw a high sandstone peak that Clark named Pomp ys tower after Sacagaweas son. In conclusion the Lewis and Clark Expedition was a great succes, it acheive d many feats and opened the door to a new era of american history. Works Sighted Page Lewis and Clark Page. PBS.

28 Feb 2000 web Appleby, Brinkley, and McPherson. The American Journey Building a Nation. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2000 Lewis and Clark Expedition. Compton's Encyclopedia. 1989 ed.