analysis of how the louisiana purchase and the
The Lewis and Clark trip is a significant exploration inside the history of the usa. It looked into newly obtained land and helped encourage westward growth. It provided new data for cartography and taxonomy.
In 1803 Thomas Jefferson acquired the Louisiana Terrain. After having “offered to acquire for $2 million only the region around the mouth in the Mississippi Riv, which included the port and city of Fresh Orleans”, Napoleon countered the offer by offering to sell the complete Louisiana Territory for $15, 000, 500 which included the cancellation of all war debts. Though strict constructionist believed it was not really in his right to acquire new land, Jefferson went ahead and made the purchase. David Quincy Adams later “criticized Jefferson for getting into business office under the banners of state’s rights and state’s sovereignty¦and immediately getting Louisiana” (Brown, 30). Later on during the case of American Insurance Company v. Canter it was made a decision that “the Constitution confers absolutely on the government with the Union, the powers of getting war, along with making treaties, consequently, that government possesses the power of purchasing territory, possibly by conquest or simply by treaty”
After the Louisiana Purchase Jefferson commissioned his own secretary, Meriwether Lewis to head the journey, Lewis then contracted his friend Bill Clark to co-captain the expedition. “Together they accumulated a diverse military Corps of Discovery” to help ensure the completion of both the year trip to the Pacific cycles. One primary thing that made the expedition successful was the helped they received from Indians. They would include starved or perhaps been murdered if it wasn’t for Sacagawea, a Shoshone Indian, “the Indians were inclined to think that the white wines were friendly when they noticed Sacagawea. A war party never traveled with a woman, especially a woman with a baby. “
The expedition made wonderful contributions to cartography. “They prepared about 140 roadmaps on the trek and accumulated some 35 maps by Indians, pelt trappers, and traders”. A lot of the maps they provided helped provide a more detailed look at the western world, “including a greatly broadened view with the Rocky Mountain range and an even more accurate setting of a few of the western rivers”. The information these types of maps offered helped pave the way to get westward enlargement.
Not only do the expedition provide developments in cartography, but it also provided information to get taxonomy. The expedition noted “179 species of undocumented plant life and trees” and presented the “first documentation of 122 species of animals, parrots and fish”. With these details scientist were able to learn more about the land that had been conquered. Lewis and Clark also brought back to Jefferson a prairie dog as being a gift, which in turn did not exist in the east.
The Lewis and Clark expedition is a significant moment in time since it helped supply a wealth of information about the New World. This helped boost relations together with the Indians and helped to encourage westward expansion. It also provided the President while using power to purchase land intended for the United States. The Lewis and Clark will be a famous journey not simply for the information it presented, but also for the courage it took to go out into the backwoods, not knowing what faced them.
- Category: technology
- Words: 561
- Pages: 2
- Project Type: Essay