Lewis and Clark Expedition Part 1 - Introduction | History in a Nutshell - Episode 1

Part 1 of the Lewis and Clark Expedition outlines Americans' desire to explore the then unknown west of the early 1800's. President Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, and recruited his own personal secretary Meriwether Lewis to pick a team of men to make a journey to the Pacific ocean. 

Standards

• 4.3.CO Compare the motivations for and reactions to various expeditions into the Western territories.
• This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into how land acquisition and the resulting border changes of the U.S. impacted the people of the western territories prior to Westward Expansion.
  • 4.3.CE Analyze the effects of government policies in promoting United States territorial expansion into the west.
  • 4.3.P Analyze the role of technology and the environmental impact during the period of Westward Expansion.
  • 4.3.CC Recognize patterns of continuity and change in the experiences of Native Americans and Spanish-speaking people as the U.S. expanded westward.
• 8.3.CX Evaluate the economic significance of agriculture on South Carolina, the U.S., and the world.
• This indicator was designed to encourage inquiry into the continuities and changes of the experiences of marginalized groups such as African Americans, Native Americans and women, as the U.S. expanded westward and grappled with the development of new states.
  • 8.3.CC Analyze debates and efforts to recognize the natural rights of marginalized groups during the period of expansion and sectionalism.
• This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into the causes of American expansion, such as a growing and diversifying population and the expansion of the plantation economy. This indicator promotes inquiry into the relationship between sectionalism and political compromise, culminating in the Civil War.
  • USHC.2.CC Differentiate the patterns of continuity and change within the development of sectionalism and reunion.