History: Impact Of The Lewis And Clark Expedition

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How did the Lewis and Clark expedition impact the United States? Starting with the birth of the United States, waterways were essential for trade, communication, transportation, and the formation of colonies. With the Louisiana Purchase under way, colonizing the west became a large priority due to the many resources and opportunities it held. In 1803, under the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, the United States purchased a large sum of land from France which was known as the Louisiana Purchase. According to America, This purchase included 875,000 square miles of land extending far beyond the boundaries of present-day Louisiana” (Shi & Tindall, 227). Meriwether Lewis and William Clark both native Virginians and former army officers Under Jefferson, set out on an expedition in hopes to find new water ways to connect the Columbian and Missouri Rivers, directly leading to the Pacific Ocean “archives.gov”.According to For the Record, “This was …show more content…
Many of the animals Lewis and Clark discovered can be identified by most American’s today. The animals that Lewis and Clark came across were beneficial not only to expanding the knowledge of the time, but to our common knowledge of the world today. For Lewis and Clark, they discovered certain plants and animals to provide food and also for clothing purposes. Animals such as buffalo, catfish, white tailed deer, red fox, elk and much more, were exposed on their expedition “NebraskaStudies.Org”. According to lewis-clark.org, certain plants were discovered such as; bare grass, sweet grass, yucca, and wild ginger. These discoveries were an impact on the United States by opening the doors for studying the different aspects of animals and their vegetation involvement. Along the Lewis and Clark expedition, they not only discovered many new plants and animals, but they also came across new tribes, territories, and

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