In 1795, Thomas Pinckney negotiated a treaty with Spain ensuring American use of the Mississippi and the ‘Queen City’ of its delta, New Orleans.
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At the same time, Jefferson knew that Spanish agents were intriguing to detach the western territory from the eastern seaboard with tempting promises of free navigation of the Mississippi and use of the port of New Orleans at its mouth. When Spain began to object in 1790 to the American migration, Thomas Jefferson, then President George Washington’s secretary of state, emphasized to William Carmichael, the American diplomat in Madrid, the necessity of an early and even an immediate settlement of the matter. Thus, when the Treaty of Paris was signed in September 1783 ending the war, American rights to the Mississippi were boldly spelled out: The western boundary of the new nation would rest on ‘a line drawn along the middle of the said river until it shall intersect the northermost part of the thirty-first degree of north latitude.’ Moreover, rights to the navigation of the Mississippi would ‘remain forever free and open to the subjects of Great Britain and the citizens of the United States.’ Already, American pioneers were crossing the Father of Waters into Spanish-ruled Louisiana Territory, a gigantic expanse rolling north from New Orleans to the frontier of Canada. Even in peacetime, foreign rule of the mighty stream would paralyze American expansion into the fertile lands to the west. They knew that any foreign power that ruled the Mississippi faced the soft western underbelly of the United States and could, if war came, thrust a dagger deep into the vitals of the republic. When peace negotiations were underway with England to bring the American Revolution to an end, vital American interests in the Mississippi River, the ‘Father of Waters,’ stood paramount in the minds of the American diplomats on the scene, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay and John Adams. To see a map of the Lewis and Clark Expedition as well as paintings of Merriweather Lewis and William Clark, please see our Lewis And Clark Map page.Ĭorps of Discovery: Long March of Lewis and Clark The travelers, Sacagawea and often her husband are depicted in many different ways in paintings, carvings, and in media. Sacagawea was a Native American who guided their mission because she knew the native land far better than the European travelers.
The expedition was so marked in history that the story of the explorers was made into many films and many books have been written about them. They failed to find a waterway from the Mississippi to the Pacific, but succeeded in documenting more than 100 new animals and 178 plants, as well as providing 140 maps of the region. The expedition lasted from May 1804 until September 1806. Lewis and Clark commanded the Corps of Discovery which consisted of 33 people, including one Indian woman and one slave.
One of their goals was to find a waterway from the US to the Pacific Ocean. Their mission was to explore the unknown territory, establish trade with the Natives and affirm the sovereignty of the United States in the region. Lewis invited his former superior officer from the Army, William Clark, to be his Co-commander.
President Jefferson decided to send an exploratory expedition west so he appointed his own private secretary, Meriwether Lewis as a Commander in charge of the expedition and finding appropriate guides for it. The huge part of the land west of the Mississippi River was completely unknown to Americans and needed to be examined first before it could be settled. Lewis And Clark Expedition summary: The United States purchased Louisiana from France in 1803. Lewis And Clark ArticlesĮxplore articles from the History Net archives about Lewis And Clark Expedition Jefferson Ĭlark: Appointed Brigadier General of the Militia and Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Lewis: Captain Clark: Lieutenant CommandsĬo-commanders of the Corps of Discovery Achievements Lewis: US Army (1794 – 1801), Governor of the Louisiana Territory (1807 – 1809) Ĭlark: US Militia (1789 – 1796), Governor of the Missouri Territory (1813 – 1820) Ranks Lewis: none Clark: Julia Hancock (1808 – 1820), Harriet Kennerly Radford (1820 – 1831) Years Of Service Merriweather Lewis: OctoWilliam Clark: SeptemSpouses (Meriwether) Lewis: Aug(William) Clark: AugDied Lewis And Clark Expedition | Historynet Close
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