USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Lewis and Clark Expedition began in 1804, when President Thomas Jefferson tasked Meriwether Lewis with exploring the lands west of the Mississippi River that comprised the Louisiana Purchase. Lewis chose William Clark as his co-leader for the mission.

Detailed explanation-2: -Here they met a French-Canadian fur trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau, and his young Shoshone wife Sacagawea. Charbonneau at this time began to serve as the expedition’s translator.

Detailed explanation-3: -Jefferson directed Lewis and Clark to first and foremost find the elusive Northwest Passage, a body of water believed to connect the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.

Detailed explanation-4: -Students will learn that the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory in 1803 and President Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore west of the Mississippi River in 1804-though the land was already inhabited and politically complicated.

Detailed explanation-5: -Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–06) was a U.S. military expedition, led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark, to explore the Louisiana Purchase and the Pacific Northwest.