The Louisiana Purchase was one of the United States’ largest land deals ever. The US bought the one hundred, eighty-six thousand square mile territory for about 5.5 cents per square mile, 35 and one-third cent per acre. At that time, the early 1800’s, the US was expanding westward, and Louisiana, which was owned by Spain, was right in the way.
Thomas Jefferson become the third president of the United States on February seventeenth, 1801, and was looking west even before. He had dreams of expanding the country westward, and being president might help. Before the start of his presidency, Jefferson found himself a private secretary, who was a captain of the US infantry and a family friend, Meriwether Lewis. Jefferson had other friends who might have made a better secretary, but Jefferson wanted to send a party westward to search for the Northwest Passage. Jefferson most likely had Lewis as a secretary because he wanted Lewis to join the expedition; when asked, Lewis accepted. Unknown to Jefferson, one of his associates was a spy for Spain. He was nicknamed Secret Agent No. Thirteen and was paid well; two thousand dollars a year! Meanwhile, Lewis went in search for a co-leader to help him in the expedition.
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The group consisted of soldiers, French river guides, young explorers, and Lewis’ dog, Seaman. There were forty-five men total. Lewis had had six service years in the army. One hundred sixty-four days into the journey, the group met the Mandan Indians. With them was a French-Indian’s wife, Sacagawea. She, as a child had been stolen from her home tribe from the West. She went with the group to guide them. As all this was happening, the purchase was being discussed as of reasons to buy… and
Born August 18, 1774; Meriwether Lewis was an American explorer, soldier, politician, public administrator, and the leader of the Louisiana expedition group known as the Corps of Discovery. During the first few years of his life, Meriwether grew up on his family’s estate in Ivy Creek, Virginia. After the death of Meriwether’s father in 1779, Meriwether’s mother Lucy Meriwether remarried to John Marks who later moved the family to Broad River Valley, Georgia in 1780. At his new home, Meriwether was influenced by his love for natural history and spent most of his time improving his skills as an outdoorsman, and it is said that he would go out hunting with his dogs at the age of eight. Meriwether’s mother who was a regionally-known herbalist
Captain Lewis, former secretary of the President, led the expedition. He invited Captain Clark, a former army officer, to join him. "The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, & such principal stream of it, as, by it's course & communication with the water of the
They also came across many rivers including the Columbia River, the Missouri River, and the Mississippi River. Thomas Jefferson asked for $2,500 from the congress, but the number got higher to around $50,000. Lewis and Clark went through harsh weather,dangerous waters, and endured hunger during this expedition. They were on a hunt for a all-water route across North America. They also ate a lot.
According to the Reader’s Digest book Great Adventures That Changed Our World: The World’s Greatest Explorers Their Triumphs and Tragedies, Jefferson asked Congress for $2,500 to provide everything necessary for this expedition to take place. Jefferson asked his private secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to be the leader of the expedition. Jefferson believed Lewis was qualified to be such a leader because he had “courage, prudence, habits and health adapted to the woods, and some familiarity with the Indian character” (Thomas Jefferson, qtd. in Reader’s Digest 213). Lewis took on the responsibility of organizing and preparing for the voyage (Reader’s Digest, 213).
It was on February 28, 1803 that President Thomas Jefferson won Congressional approval for the expedition of the Western lands that would become the adventures of Merriwether Lewis and William Clark.(1) A budget of $2,500 was allotted for the expedition of the group who were dubbed “The Corps of Discovery” by Jefferson. Jefferson was extremely interested in the western lands, so much so that his personal library at his home, Monticello, had more books on the subject than any other library in the world. (2) The group were to be led by Jefferson’s secretary, Merriwether Lewis, and Lewis’ friend William Clark.
Thomas Jefferson had acquired $2,500 from congress to pay for the trip as well as supplies. The expedition team would be called ‘The Corps of Discovery’. To prepare for the voyage, Lewis purchased many supplies including, food, guns and ammunition, knives, medicine, clothes, items to trade with the indians, as well as navigational instruments such as compasses. Lewis also had a boat built capable of carrying 12 tons of cargo. As leader of the Corps of Discovery, Lewis and Clark wanted the best crew they could find.
Would you have the courage to leave your home friends and family to go off on an important mission? You would not know where you are going or who will be there, but in the case of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the reward was worth the risk. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were part of the Corps of Discovery which comprised a select group of US Army volunteers. This expedition was commissioned by Thomas Jefferson soon after the Louisiana Purchase. They explored and mapped what is now the Western part of the United States.
In the year 1807, Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on an expedition with a group of men. Specifically, the goal was to discover new waterways and routes near the Pacific ocean and to uncover new finds in the West. Along the way, the group of men was later joined by a woman named Sacagawea and her family. In general, the group ended up finding new Indian tribes, the Rockies, and over 300 new types of species. In the “ The Lewis and Clark Journey Begins”, from National Geographic, the article summarizes the dangerous and rough expedition Lewis and Clark took with a group of men in order to find new discoveries.
The original name given to this expedition was given by Lewis. The name for the expedition would be known as “corps of volunteers for North Western Discovery.” Monday, May 14, 1804 was the first day of the expedition: they departed from the Wood River along with forty-two men. The supply of food they bought were, “coffee, salt pork, flour, cornmeal, and an incredible 120 gallons of whiskey—but for the most part the Expedition lived off the fat and the fruit of the land.”
Jefferson gave Lewis permission to find a co-captain for the journey. Lewis chose William Clark for this position. While in the military, Lewis met Clark, the captain of the Chosen Rifle Company, where they became friends and admirers of each other. Lewis chose Clark even though they had only known each other for six months. Lewis felt Clark could be helpful in places where he wasn’t the strongest.
The Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana purchase was one of the biggest land purchases in history. In 1803, the United States paid around $15 million dollars for around 800,000 square miles of land. This was arguably the greatest achievement of thomas jefferson’s presidency. The louisiana territory was a wild card in the european game of imperialism.
The Louisiana Purchase was the purchase of the Louisiana territory by the United States from France in 1803. The U.S. paid fifty million dollars and a cancellation of debts worth eighteen million dollars which averages to less than three cents per acre. The Louisiana territory included land from fifteen present U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. The territory contained land that forms Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, portions of Minnesota, large portions of North Dakota; large portions of South Dakota, parts of New Mexico, the northern portion of Texas, the area of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. The Louisiana Purchase was smart move by the United States.
Lewis and Clark are credited while being two of the greatest explorers of our time. In spring of 1806 they after months of planning, strategizing and general preparation, they set out on a 3,700mi trek through the Luisiana Purchase. They began from St. Louis, Illinois with roughly 40 men - including Clark’s slave,York. On this trip they would face many hardships, including malnutrition. But, they had help from the friendly tribesmen on their way.
For Lewis and Clark, it only got better. Both of the explorers received double their pay and 1,600 acres of land (history.com). So, this exploration was a win-win situation for most people involved. Hollis 2 Works Cited “Meriwether Lewis & William Clark - Meet Amazing Americans: America's Library - Library of Congress.”
Jefferson’s dilemma in the Louisiana Purchase In April of 1803 Thomas Jefferson was faced with many moral dilemmas in the process of buying the Louisiana territory. Though the price for the territory was beyond generous, Jefferson felt that by purchasing the territory he would be going against his beliefs that the constitution should be followed word for word. The constitution said nothing of the president having the power to purchase land from another government, or to use money of the states for the same purpose (“the moral dilemma”). Another problem was once the land was purchased, there was a fear that it could have been a waste since they had no way to know the layout of the land, and what it would be useful for.