Western Expansion and Thomas Jefferson

The development of the 19th century depended highly on the Western Expansion.  When America acquired the Louisiana Territory, in 1803 it changed the plans Jefferson had in mind, and for the better.  828,000 square miles were now available to help shape and discover the rest of America.  Before Lewis and Clark set out on their expedition, they were taught many key pieces of information ranging from mapping, to botanical knowledge.  People such as Andrew Ellicott, Benjamin Rush, and Benjamin Smith Barton, were some of the important people that helped provide Lewis with all the tools he needed to collect the specimens Jefferson asked him to find as he traveled west.

Benjamin Smith Darby 

Andrew Ellicott 

Benjamin Rush 

If it weren't for these three influential and intelligent people the travels might not have been so successful.  Jefferson believed that the West would secure liberty for "millions yet unborn". Before the expedition many were against the idea of traveling west, until their findings made their way back to the White House in 1805.  

“Adams though not active in politics anymore since his retirement to his farm in 1801, remained deeply interested in the nation’s affairs.  He had supported the Louisiana Purchase, because he believed it would bind the West to the East in one union, but agreed with the the Federalists about the futility of the expedition, writing that there were so many “Travelers in our wilderness which have proven in the end to be mere delusions, that I give little attention to them’” (Wulf, 161).     

Animals including a prairie dog and a magpie made the long journey back and were initially kept in the White House for safe keeping.  The botanical specimens that were found were transported to Barton while some stayed with Jefferson to start Monticello. 

Prairie Dog 

Magpie

The word that Lewis and Clark started to identify with the west was "sublime".  Its the only word they felt that most effectively described the things that they saw and encountered on their journey.  Many poets, and writers began sharing the experiences Lewis and Clark had.  Wulf wrote in Founding Gardeners, "The sublime became America's language of national identity, with artists scrambling up mountains to capture the spectacular sights and poets celebrating landscape". Sublimity is something that become a part of the country’s world wide identity. Opening the country to the West, every plant and animal began to partake in the vast character the country was developing.  

What Jefferson did with the Louisiana Purchase demonstrated that he had the ability to make pragmatic political decisions. The discoveries of certain trees and animals showed strength and dominance that would come to our country. He promised that the West would assure the agricultural and republican future for the United states.  

“The West was the guarantee of the United states and it’s people remaining virtuous. It would secure liberty, Jefferson believed, for ‘Millions yet unborn’”(Wulf, 160).