BEFORE LEWIS AND CLARK

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BEFORE LEWIS AND CLARK

• The United States at the time of Thomas Jefferson

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Thomas Jefferson

• Elected third president in 1800
• Strong sense of country
• Facilitated purchase of Louisiana Territory from
  France

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The Louisiana Purchase

• Land from west of Mississippi River to Rocky
  mountains
• Owned by France
• Napoleon controlled the land

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Contained all or parts of

• Montana
• Wyoming
• Colorado
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Minnesota

• Iowa
• Kansas
• Nebraska
• Missouri
• Oklahoma
• Arkansas
• Louisiana

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Jefferson sent Monroe

• James Monroe was sent to France
• He asked Napoleon to sell New Orleans and West
  Florida
• Napoleon offered entire Louisiana Territory for
  15 million

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Now What?

• Jefferson wanted to know more about the land.
• How could we use it to get to the Pacific Ocean?
• This land would be essential in trade.

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What did Jefferson think?

• There was a river starting at the Mississippi
  that reached the Pacific Ocean
• The west had erupting volcanoes
• Mammoths and llamas roamed the west

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Jefferson sent explorers

• Jefferson wanted to establish trade with Indians
• Jefferson wanted to develop trade route
• Jefferson asked Meriwether Lewis to form and lead
  the expedition party

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The Corps of Discovery

• Lewis asked his friend Clark to help
• Together they formed the Corps of Discovery
• This group launched the expedition of the west in
  1804

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And so the adventure begins..
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Credits

• Photos and maps from
• Library of Congress
• Independence National Historical Park
• All items are in public domain