Compare And Contrast Lewis And Clark Expedition

Throughout American history, it’s clear to see that the majority of white interaction with Native Americans didn’t end well for the natives. Although this is the case in most circumstances, there is one instance that boded well for both parties. In the case of the Lewis and Clark expedition, the treatment of native people was intended to be fair and kind from the onset, and was executed as such. Thus, Lewis and Clark were respectful to the Native Americans and their cultures. The beginning of the Lewis and Clark expedition was the conception of the Corps of Discovery by Thomas Jefferson. The Corps was necessitated by the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803, which more than doubled the amount of land that the United States owned. With all of the new land available to the young nation, Jefferson enacted a plan to explore it, and he included a provision for the treatment of the people they would inevitably discover there. He specifically states that Native Americans are to be treated with respect, offered a chance to educate their children in the already developed America, and given smallpox medicine as well as the instructions for its administration. It was his intention that the native …show more content…
The Corps of Discovery set out to explore new land and start positive relations with the natives, extending invitations for education and smallpox medicines to smooth the transition into friendship. These actions could not have taken place without communication, which had to be translated. This was the work of people like Sacagawea, and proved that the actions of the white men must have been decent enough to garner the support of so many tribes and interpreters. They even went to great lengths, and spent long hours in the effort of making everything clear for both parties when explaining and negotiating, as shown in Document