Lewis and Clark: Why Jefferson Chose Meriwether Lewis to Explore the Empire of Liberty

This is the story of the Corps of Discovery, the famous Meriwether Lewis and William Clark-led American Army expedition to explore and map a route across the American continent and to the Pacific Ocean. In this episode, Will tells the tale of why President Thomas Jefferson dreamed of exploring and settling the American West, who Lewis and Clark were, why Jefferson chose Lewis to lead the Corps of Discovery, and how the Virginia backgrounds of all three men shaped their outlook of the American West and the expedition itself.

Will also describes how Jefferson managed to get the funding for the expedition through a skeptical Congress, how the Louisiana Purchase changed the expedition in a major way, and how the travels of Scottish-born British adventurer Alexander Mackenzie impelled Jefferson and Lewis, then an Army officer and fellow Virginia Piedmont tobacco planter serving as his secretary in the White House, to act quickly.

Souix Elder, By Escapedtowisconsin - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4965690

Detail of Astoria Column, By Benjamin Zingg, Switzerland - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2236334

Thomas Jefferson, Tony Fischer, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

1765 Globe showing imagined Northwest Passage, By Minnesota Historical Society - Minnesota Historical Society, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5742730

Map of the North Part of America, By Manitoba Historical Maps - Map of the North Part of America on which is laid down Mackenzies Track from Montreal to the North Sea (1809), CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11477458

MacKenzie’s inscription: CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=288419

Jefferson Memorial, Graysick, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Monticello Entrance Hall, Frypie, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Handover Ceremony of Louisiana, Matysik, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Monticello, YF12s, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Western Frontier, Wildcat313, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Locust Hill Plantation, AgnosticPreachersKid, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Meriwether Lewis, By Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin - National Portrait Gallery, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=109994890

Lewis and Clark Mosaic, Pete unseth, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

George Drouillard: By Paul Hermans - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=180067412

Lewis and Clark Canoe Camp, Steve Shook from Moscow, Idaho, USA, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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