Which US President authorized the Lewis and Clark expedition?

Answer 1

Thomas Jefferson had dreamed of exploring the west for at least 20 years before he even became President. In 1783 he had even asked Clark's brother, George, to take on the challenge. The Louisiana Purchase would later alter the character of the planned expedition from an exploration of French territory to a first glimpse of lands that, in the view of many contemporaries, were essential to maintaining the agrarian, republican character of the nation. After finally purchasing the Louisiana Territory, and two weeks before inauguration day Jefferson asked Lewis to go on the journey.

In January of 1803, Jefferson requested $2500 from Congress to pay for the costs of the trip. Thomas Jefferson then commissioned Capt. Meriwether Lewis (his Secretary of State) to explore the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. This territory is what is now the northwest United States.

Answer 2

Thomas Jefferson had dreamed of exploring the West for at least 20 years before he even became President. In 1783 he had even asked William Clark's brother, George, to take on the challenge. The Louisiana Purchase would later alter the character of the planned expedition from an exploration of French territory to a first glimpse of lands that, in the view of many contemporaries, were essential to maintaining the agrarian, republican character of the nation.

The Louisiana Territory had been a land purchase transaction by the United States of America of 828,800 square miles of the French territory "Louisiane" in 1803. The U.S. paid 60 million francs ($11,250,000) plus cancellation of debts worth 18 million francs ($3,750,000), a total cost of $15,000,000 for the Louisiana Territory.

After finally purchasing the Louisiana Territory, Jefferson had requested $2500 from Congress to pay for the costs of the trip. However that money was used to provide for medicine, gifts for the Native Americans and camp equipment. Jefferson as well as those in the American Philosophical Society would provide minor donations of books, maps, and scientific equipment. To pay for supplies obtained from trading posts along the way Lewis and Clark used a government issued IOU. They also did a lot of bartering, especially with Native Americans.

Answer 3

Sacajawea (or Sacagawea) was born c. 1788. in an Agaidiku tribe of the Lemhi Shoshone in Idaho. In 1800, when she was about twelve, she and several other girls were kidnapped by a group of Hidatsa warriors during a battle. At about thirteen years of age, Sacagawea was taken as a wife by Toussaint Charbonneau, a French trapper living in the village, who had also taken another young Shoshone named Otter Woman as a wife. Lewis and Clark would winter at the present site of Bismarck, North Dakota, where they met her. Sacagawea was 16 or 17 when she and her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, joined the Lewis and Clark party on November 4, 1804. She became invaluable as a guide in the region of her birth, near the Three Forks of the Missouri, and as a interpreter between the expedition and her tribe when the expedition reached that area. She would give birth during the expedition to Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau on February 11, 1805, whom Clark later raised and educated. She also quieted the fears of other Native Americans, for no war party traveled with a woman and a small baby. She was with the Corps of Discovery until they arrived back in St. Louis on September 23, 1806. She was with the Corps of Discovery until they arrived back in St. Louis on September 23, 1806.