Randall Williams Mr. Carey August 16 2015 Undaunted Courage is a sweeping novel by Stephen E. Ambrose, detailing the grueling journey of Lewis and Clark. Following the adventure of the Corps of Discovery, Ambrose describes the expedition exploring the vast wilderness of the western portion of the United States. Complete with excerpts from the personal diaries of the men themselves, the book gives an insight to readers as to how challenging the mission really was. The expedition faced countless dangers, including risky encounters with Native Americans, extreme weather, disease, depression, and the battle to keep their own sanity. Through their brilliant leadership skills, Lewis and Clark were able to lead their expedition 3,700 miles from …show more content…
During their expedition, the men had reported plentiful resources, including seas of cattle, flowing rivers, and towering trees. When the men had returned and reported back to Jefferson, “citizens were almost exclusively interested in what Lewis had found with regard to Indians and furs.” (Ambrose 418). As a result of their expedition, “The riches of Louisiana [were] available for immediate exploitation consisted most entirely of furs and land” (Ambrose 416). Millions of Americans were hungry for new land, and discovery of rare furs in the west further piqued their interest. In the long run, the expedition provided great fortunes and expanded the federal power of the government. This had a far reaching effect, since it led to further exploration the West, even if that meant crossing borders into other countries. With millions of acres of fresh, bountiful land and virtually nothing holding them back, “Americans were questioning the validity of land titles acquired under the informal land cessions of the Spanish and French regimes” (Ambrose 446). The monopolies on the land were very tempting to seize, and Americans were eager to flood the country and stake their claim of land. All in all, the Corps of Discovery expedition opened a new window of opportunity for American economic enterprises, supplying new land and resources for the fast growing
Although “historians no longer use the word “discovery” to describe the European exploration, conquest and colonization of a hemisphere already home to millions of people”, it was one of the greatest and most important discoveries ever in our history that changed the lives of millions of people. (Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty: An American History (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008), pg 1.) For some the “discovery”of America would mean an opportunity for a better life, for others the “discovery” brought misery and death.
A Wilderness so Immense by John Kukla explores the events leading up to and the enduring effects of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Kukla begins his story almost twenty years before Jefferson bought the Louisiana territory from France and analyzes how factors ranging from major revolutions to personal relationships all culminated to make the most famous land acquisition in American history possible. He argues that the Louisiana Purchase was not only a case a good luck on Jefferson’s part or solely the result of Napoleon’s failed caribbean ambitions, as some historians that came before him argued. Rather, Kukla explains that the roots of American expansionism are older than the republic itself. American politicians worked and made very
The US saw profit in the native lands. The US wanted the land because it was on the Mississippi River which had many economic benefits because land on the river was more accessible for trading. In the text, Transcript of Jefferson's Secret Message to Congress Regarding the Lewis and Clark Expedition, it states; "First to encourage them to abandon hunting, to apply to raising stock...and thereby prove to themselves that less land and labor will maintain them in this... Secondly: to multiply trading houses among them." The US is trying to encourage the natives to transition into a lifestyle more like theirs which involves more farming and less hunting. By switching, the natives will need less land because they won't need to hunt anymore. The US had plans to open more trading houses for the natives so they could make a profit off of farming. Before the US tried getting the natives to indulge in trading houses, the government tried buying the land from the natives. The natives were becoming nervous and irritated because their land was
The Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expeditions were big turning points in American history because of the ability to settle into new lands and to start new businesses and farms in new places. When Thomas Jefferson bought the entire Louisiana territory from Napoleon it was a huge advantage to our economy. It enabled us to start new businesses and farms, thus making us a much richer and more powerful country. Since it enabled America to start new farms it fed into Jeffersons philosophy of wanting a more agricultural economy. This purchase helped our trading significantly, we could trade much easier with different countries because we had access to the Mississippi River. When Jefferson purchased the Louisiana territory from Napoleon he did not really even know what he was buying, except for the size of the territory. So, he sent a group of explorers to document and map out the entire Louisiana territory, this expedition was led by two men named Lewis and Clark. They founded many new animals and set an example for the Americans that would later on settle these areas for how to live in each certain area of the Louisiana purchase. . The Louisiana Purchase followed by Lewis and Clarks expedition were both big investments that payed off huge for America.
The Louisiana Purchase was a “land deal” made between France and the U.S. in December of 1803, where France sold America 828,000 miles of land along the west side of the Mississippi River for 15 million dollars (approximately 4 cents per acre). People regard it as Thomas Jefferson’s greatest achievement because of how drastically it changed the United States. The purchase greatly expanded America and brought many other benefits along with it. Although it was definitely a major benefit to the United States, even Jefferson had his doubts about the purchase. But despite their many doubts, the U.S. made the decision to ratify the purchase, and because of that decision, America has changed for the better.
The topic of territorial expansion of the United States was a controversial and widely discussed matter during the first half of the 17th century. America was expanding in size and economically prospering as a result. The expansionist surge began with Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase in 1803. This massive attainment of land left many politicians and influential figures unsatisfied -- hungry for as much wealth as possible to acquire. They believed increasing ownership of land would increase power. However, some staunchly opposed westward expansion for ethical and strategic reasons. Debates over further acquisition of territory increased and became progressively more intense. The two sides clashed in attempt to succeed in shaping federal policy in their favor.
The year of 1803 significantly changed our nation eternally. It stunned many people. In no way, shape or form, did we ever believe that our nation would expand so rapidly. What started with the small purchase of New Orleans led into the substantial purchase of the Louisiana Territory. This was a purchase that will make Thomas Jefferson a man to be remembered. Although, he wasn’t the only man who impacted the United States during this time period. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are the two men that are greatly known for their expedition across the Louisiana Territory. These two subjects, the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, altered our nation immeasurably.
The Louisiana Purchase nearly doubled the size of the United States in 1803. Jefferson decided to buy the land because he wanted to increase the United States’s territory towards the Pacific ocean and to avoid a war with the French. Due to the purchase, Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the new unfamiliar land with three goals. The goals were to makes maps of the newly bought territory and find a river passage to the Pacific ocean, make peace with the Native American, and to record and send back discoveries of new plant and animal life that lived within the Louisiana Territory. These were the goals that Lewis and Clark had to achieve.
As a president, Thomas Jeffereson made several changes to the United States, but his most important decision was the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition. The Lousiana Purchase would double the size of the United States and let people settle there when there were trail marked on maps and other places. After he bought the land, he sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the western part of the country with a group of 31 men known as the Corps of Discovery. According to the book, "The animal specimens they sent back and their sketches and journal description of the plants, animals, and natural formations that they saw greatly contributed to the scientific knowledge and to a natural fascination with the West." This shows that because Thomas Jefferson sent the Corps of Dicovery on the expedition the people in the thirteen colonies got a lot of knowledge about the west when the explorers came back.
The purchasing of the Louisiana territory was not as easy of a business transaction as one might think. It was a very rushed, stressful process that caused President Thomas Jefferson a considerable amount of mental and emotional anguish. The problem that was the Louisiana purchase can be broken into three parts: Jefferson’s dilemma, Jefferson’s decision, and the consequences. The Louisiana Purchase was one of the most influential events in American history because it helped not only double the size of the US in the early 1800s, but also helped the United States’ economy prosper. Some events cannot be fully measured at the time of their occurrence. It requires decades, even centuries, to understand their full significance. Next to winning
Ordinary courage is a book that tells the story of an ordinary man who is inlisted in the continental army in the revolutionary war. Joseph Plumb Martin is the young man fighting in this war, at the time he entered he was just a mere 16 year old kid but by the time his time in the continental army was up he became a man. This is a first person memoir of what it was like for a regular person living in a war zone, and dealing with the everyday fears of food shortage, low morale, and danger of attack. This is something that many people in todays world could not handle because even some of the old guys in the
The American landscape has always been that of great majestic glory. But this was not always so. The westward expansion was not always in the cards for the Americans. The French had mostly settled from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the Canadian border in the north. With the Louisiana Purchase the U.S acquired most of that land. How did this land help define the United States of America as a Nation? This essay will discuss the actions leading up to the Acquirement of the Louisiana territory and how it changed America forever.
Lewis and Clark were explorers of America. After European explorers came to the ¨New Land,¨ Lewis and Clark helped to discover more land towards the West of America. It took Lewis and Clark two years and four months to voyage all the way across America. The reason they did this voyage was because of the Louisiana Purchase that America bought from French. This massive land purchase was about 827,000 acres of land. Lewis and Clark were sent by the President. His name was Thomas Jefferson and he sent them to discover their new land. But Lewis And Clark accidentally went too far and and discovered the land around the Louisiana Purchase. During their expedition they discovered over 122 different animal species. These new plant species included
The books Undaunted Courage and Captain’s Dog are about Lewis and Clark’s famous expedition through the uncharted west to the Pacific Ocean. Undaunted Courage is a third-person book about the expedition of Lewis and Clark told from the perspective of the author. The book Captain’s Dog is a first person book told from the perspective of Captain Lewis’s dog. In both books the crew face many hardships through the dangerous west. In both books Lewis and Clark represent the best and worst of America.
The purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803 opened the door to westward expansion. Thomas Jefferson purchased this extensive plot of land with the hopes of strengthening and expanding the Republic, unaware that it would have the opposite effect. Jefferson’s fateful decision to expand the United States nearly destroyed the Republic that Americans worked so hard to build. It triggered the rise of divisions amongst Americans. These small cracks continued to grow and tear at the seams of the nation. Although westward expansion between 1800 and 1848 granted many new opportunities to the American people, it also brought about tension that plagued the nation for years to come.