preview

The Lewis And Clark Expedition

Better Essays

On May 14, 1804 in the eastern city of Saint Louis, William Clark and Merry-weather Lewis set of on the westward adventure that would change America as we know it today. Their journey began on the Mississippi River, those rapids would propel Lewis and Clark into the "Corps of Discovery". Across the vast land that these men would soon travel lived the many native-american tribes. The Native people hunted freely across their western lands, lived their life as one with the ground they so carefully treaded on. Soon, the great American adventurers and the native people would meet, but one brought with them the foreshadowing of a new era. An era when American life would be greatly improved with new natural resources and plentiful free land, but only at the cost of ruining the native american people of their way of life. The Lewis and Clark Expedition expanded the knowledge and lifestyle of America but began the elimination of the original American natives way of life and culture. The Lewis and Clark expedition had many beneficial economic effects on the arising American country. The newly charted territory began the great Western expansion of the American people. The first to travel to the West were the fur traders. The American Fur trade was described as, "a distinct and necessary phase in the growth of this new country" (Legends of America). The fur trading became a booming business and attracted the attention of many American civilians. The West was seen as a new

Get Access