How the Lewis and Clark Expedition Changed America

As famous astronomer Galileo Galilee once said, "All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them." When Thomas Jefferson planned the Corps of Discovery, the proper name of the Lewis and Clark expedition, its main purpose was to help increase American wealth through discovery of the unknown truths of the Louisiana Territory.1 Jefferson hoped that great treasures could be found in the territory, such as fur, land, and water routes that stretched all the way to the Pacific Ocean.2 Although it was not the main objective of Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark, Jefferson did make it a goal to share the land with the Indians, and to treat them with the same respect as they themselves would want to be treated.3 The successful completion of this objective would turn out to be extremely important in American history. Directed by their President, both captains went into the wild with the goal of completing the goal set by Jefferson. Although the expedition indirectly led to the destruction of many western Indian tribes, the relationships it produced and helped produce with the Indians had a major effect on the expansion of American commerce and American westward expansion.…