Please respond to the following discussion post by providing additional information regarding the Lewis and Clark Expedition and Independence of Texas. The assignment should be one page but is not an essay and does not have to be in essay format. It is simply a discussion question. You may use a reference but it is not required. Lewis and Clark were two partners that set out to explore the lands down the Mississippi River. Jefferson was mainly concerned about establishing a specific route from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean in order to obtain a portion of the fur trade that was profitable to Great Britain (OpenStax, 2019, 11.1). Upon their explorations, Lewis and Clark had taken journals of their findings such as minerals, plants, and animals. They had also made a point to visit Indian tribes to establish relationships on good terms for the future if white settlement came about (OpenStax, 2019, 11.1). Along with Lewis and Clark comes the known name of Sacagawea, who was along side Charbonneau. Charbonneau was a French man who assisted Lewis and Clark in scavenging the lands and find their way. Many people are mistaken to believe Sacagawea was the one who lead the two in their endeavors, when actually it Charbonneau, and Sacagawea acted mainly as an interpreter (OpenStax, 2019, 11.1). The grew went on to assert themselves in to many Native tribes to establish American power over the territory. Although, this did not always deem successful due to some tribes refusing to let the Americans on their land. Later, the territory explored by Lewis and Clark was accurately mapped, established, and claimed by the United States. Still, there were Native tribes which remained unknown to Americans (OpenStax, 2019, 11.1) Overall, their efforts to entrepreneur through the vast territories, of the now United States, may not have been founded or could have even caused mayhem if Lewis and Clark had not established the initial relationships with Native Americans to ease in to becoming American territory. In the nineteenth century, Texas was owned by Spain and America had a strong desire to acquire this land. Although, following Mexico’s independence from Spain in 1821, American settlers were invading in larger numbers in hopes to overthrow the Mexican nation and create a new American slave state (OpenStax, 2019, 11.3). This land offered adequate soil and climate for cotton and in turn increases the need for the slavery population. As mentioned in OpenStax (2019), “to many whites, it seemed not only their God-given right but also their patriotic duty to populate the lands beyond the Mississippi River, bringing with them American slavery, culture, laws, and political traditions”. This meaning that Americans saw it as their duty to invade this land and form it in to a productive state that will allow slavery as the main purpose. In 1829, the Mexican government sought out to abolish slavery and the Americans did not take to this idea well. Settlers would continue to cross the border illegally and were known as Anglo-Americans. Fifty five Anglo-Americans came together and demanded “the suspension of customs duties, the resumption of immigration from the United States, better protection from Indian tribes, the granting of promised land titles, and the creation of an independent state of Texas separate from Coahuila”. To their surprise, Mexico’s president agreed to all terms except the call for statehood (OpenStax, 2019, 11.3). Consultation delegates met, discussed the need for a proper form of government, and obtained independence from Mexico. They also established that slavery would not be prohibited in Texas (OpenStax, 2019, 11.3). The fall of the Alamo occurred shortly after when the president of Mexico, Santa Anna, and his troops invaded and took the mission over. Seeking for revenge, Texans gathered and waited until the Mexicans were vulnerable and attacked. Following, Santa Anna signed the peace treaty which recognized Texas as independent and the Rio Grande River as it’s southwestern border (OpenStax, 2019, 11.3). Lewis and Clark uncovered an astounding amount of land, now known as the West. According to Zinsmeister (2004), “crossing their known borders for the first time was equivalent to sending men to the moon; the expedition cost $40,000which as a proportion of federal spending would be more than $11 billion nowand it lasted four times longer than Columbuss voyage to the New World”. That speaks for itself that the Lewis and Clark Expedition was the most significant and impacted the Westward expansion, compared to the Independence of Texas. The travelers refused to turn back until they had camped on the Pacific Ocean, and if it weren’t for this, the land would not have been explored, therefore American would not have expanded the way it did in the nineteenth-century. However, Lewis and Clark would not have been able to complete all the tasks and scientific findings without the specifically chosen military soldiers. Zinsmeister (2004) states: “they not only acted as scientific investigators, but also as diplomats and promoters of trade”. The soldiers were basically driven to explore, find new land, and discover new ways of living for Americans. The term Manifest Destiny embodied all hopes and expectations of expansions in nineteenth-century America (Mountjoy, 2009). This effected the Independence of Texas because the process of gaining independence was exposing both the best and worst of the belief of Manifest Destiny (Mountjoy, 2009). The Americans sought to take over Texas due to the increasingly want to make it in to a new slave state. This in turn caused conflict with Mexico and caused the Alamo to occur, which resulted in many deaths (OpenStax, 2019). Manifest Destiny shown through with the Lewis and Clark Expedition because it’s the definition of why they began their explorations. Lewis, Clark, and their military soldier troops set out to achieve one thing: the discovery of further land, stretching to the Pacific Ocean (Zinsmeister, 2004). After they had returned, this influenced more people to adventure to other parts of the land to accurately map out findings and also journal on different scientific findings.
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