Table of Contents
What kind of person was Meriwether Lewis?
Meriwether Lewis, (born Aug. 18, 1774, near Charlottesville, Va. [U.S.]—died Oct. 11, 1809, near Nashville, Tenn., U.S.), American explorer, who with William Clark led the Lewis and Clark Expedition through the uncharted American interior to the Pacific Northwest in 1804–06.
How did Thomas Jefferson known Meriwether Lewis?
Meriwether Lewis, not knowing where he may be.” Jefferson gave two reasons for seeking the young Lewis: first his knowledge of the western country and the army and secondly, “A personal acquaintance with him, owing from his being of my neighborhood.”
What was Lewis job on the expedition?
Even before negotiations with France were finished, Jefferson asked Congress to finance an expedition to survey the lands of the so-called Louisiana Purchase and appointed Lewis as expedition commander.
What did Meriwether Lewis do as a child?
Lewis spent his childhood in Georgia building his hunting skills and spending most of his time outdoors. However, once he reached his early teens, he would be called back to Virginia under the guardianship of his father’s brother, to be given a formal education through private tutors.
Why did Thomas Jefferson pick Lewis and Clark?
Lewis solicited the help of William Clark due to Clark’s abilities as a draftsman and frontiersman, which were even stronger than Lewis’s. Jefferson hoped that Lewis and Clark would find a water route linking the Columbia and Missouri rivers.
What was the name of Lewis and Clark’s dog?
Seaman
Arguably, Captain Meriwether Lewis’s four-footed companion, a Newfoundland waterdog by the name of Seaman, eventually became one of the most famous members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Was Thomas Jefferson friends with Meriwether Lewis?
His father, William Lewis, and mother, Lucy Meriwether, were second cousins, and by naming their eldest son for his mother’s family, they signaled his association with two very prominent families of Central Virginia. Both families were well known to Jefferson.
What was the main purpose of Jefferson’s letter to Lewis?
Introduction. President Thomas Jefferson sent a secret message to Congress on January 18, 1803, asking for “the appropriation of two thousand five hundred dollars, for the purpose of extending the external commerce of the United States.” This money was used to fund the Lewis & Clark expedition.
What is a fact about Meriwether Lewis?
Meriwether Lewis (1774 -1809) was an American explorer of the frontier. He was the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which President Thomas Jefferson commissioned to explore and map the newly acquired Louisiana Territory. The Lewis and Clark Expedition is more formally referred to as the Corps of Discovery.
Who sold the Louisiana Purchase to the United States?
France
The Louisiana Purchase encompassed 530,000,000 acres of territory in North America that the United States purchased from France in 1803 for $15 million.
What happened to Lewis and Clark’s dog?
Capt. Lewis’s dog Seaman took after them, caught one in the river, drowned & killed it and swam to shore with it.” Seaman continued to hunt in this manner until he was severely injured by a beaver in mid-May 1805. Clark wrote: “Capt.