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Lewis And Clark Essay

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In 1803, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out on a voyage to explore the western portion of America that was conducted by American President Thomas Jefferson. The Lewis and Clark expedition contributed to what is now known as Manifest Destiny. It was of President Jefferson’s best interest for American military to explore the west, as well as the men appointed to join in the voyage felt honor to be part of such a historical event. The knowledge and skill set that was acquired due to the expedition was used as the upper hand when expansion towards the west took place. As we know, Manifest Destiney played out in the 19th century and was seen as a justified right for the U.S. to expand its “empire”.
On June 20th 1803, President Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to Captain Meriwether Lewis. In the letter, Jefferson is appointing Lewis as commander of an expedition that is to take place in Western America. Jefferson’s instructions involved getting a group of military men to explore the West and find its water passage across the continent “for the purposes of commerce”, discovering new plants and …show more content…

As shown, the letter of instructions that President Thomas Jefferson wrote to Meriwether Lewis clearly states his plans for buying more western territory in acts of expanding the United States. Both Lewis and Clark as well as the 25 men accompanying them in the journey have a sense of honor, knowing that what they are contributing to, are in acts of building up the United States Empire. After the Expedition took place, the U.S. had more reasons to act upon expansion towards the west due to understanding of the region. A decade before Manifest Destiney took place, the Lewis and Clark Expedition was one of the many attributes that led to the beliefs of Manifest Destiney and why it took

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