Following the Louisiana Purchase, President Jefferson began to organize an exhibition to explore the new American territory. Thomas Jefferson asked fellow Virginian Merriwether Lewis to lead an exhibition to the Louisiana Territory. Lewis was the President's secretary and shared a passion for science with Jefferson. Given the task of organizing the members of his party, Lewis asked his former military commander William Clark to co-lead the newly formed "Corps of Discovery."
Their mission was both scientific and political. Jefferson wanted the group chart a water route to the Pacific Ocean. This would allow American merchants to trade with nations in Asia and increase American commerce. Jefferson also ordered the group to catalogue and chronicle the plant and animal life that they encountered on their journey. The men kept journals of the trip detailing the different species they had seen along the way as well as the climate of the land they journeyed through. They also sent back to the President plant and animal species to be further studied back in Washington D.C. The journals that Lewis and Clark kept were later published, and helped increase interest in the Louisiana Territory.
On the political side of the trip, the men had a very important job. They were the representatives of the United States of America whenever they encountered Native American tribes. As representatives of the U.S., they were ordered by the President to try and establish peaceful relationships with the tribes that they met. Jefferson also wanted the group to gather as much information on the tribes as possible. Jefferson hoped that the United States would be able to establish healthy economic relationships with Native American tribes. These facts would allow Americans to further their understandings of the different native groups in the American West.
Jefferson wrote various letters to Captain Lewis before he left for his journey. Tonight you are analyzing two of those letters, one written in June of 1803, and the other was written in January of 1804. He instructed the men on the following: how to behave towards the tribes, what to tell the tribes, and what to ask them.
Below are some links that you might find useful
No comments:
Post a Comment