The Necessary Risk

The Necessary Risk

            

            In July of 1803, Thomas Jefferson made a fifteen million dollar purchase of the entire Mississippi Valley from Napoleon. This purchase was "the most important and beneficial transaction . . . since the declaration of Independence," according to Jefferson's piers. Now, France, who was the greatest military power in the world, was out of North America. Jefferson, Washington, Franklin, Madison and Adams had been eager to explore the West and find out what is out past the Appalachian Mountains but there were a few failed attempts such as Michaux's. Now, Jefferson was more ambitious about sending someone out that he was sending his very own secretary and former U.S. soldier, Mariwether Lewis. Jefferson even wrote that the Louisiana purchase "increased infinitely the interest we felt in the expedition." Many people, including the Federalists, disagreed with the expedition. They feared westward expansion would cause the country to be so large that the central government would not be able to control it and that they were spending money that they did not have for a high risk of failure. Franklin, Washington, and Madison still contributed to the expedition because they knew that westward expansion would contribute to making America an agrarian republic and keep the country from becoming a manufacturing society. The exploration and expedition of Lewis and Clark might have been a risk, however, it was a necessary risk to fulfill a need of the country's future in farming, add many scientific and medical contributions, and unite the Western territories and Eastern states. 

            

            Thomas Jefferson did not send out Lewis without preparing him and organizing the trip. Jefferson told Lewis to observe, collect, document and classify everything of nature. Jefferson gave Lewis a "blank check" on behalf of the United States for supplies and anything that happened during the expedition. He also gave Lewis a list of instruction that took weeks to write out. In the midst of this risk, Lewis was also told to retreat rather than push forward if any threat occurred. Since it was just Lewis and Jefferson in the White House for two years prior to the expedition, Lewis had become Jefferson's most trusted man for the job rather than hiring some guy off the street that was willing to go. Furthermore, Lewis had been sent to be tutored by the leading naturalists and scientists to be sure to be trained well in the arts of mapmaking, surveying, anatomy, fossils, mathematics, and botany. Lewis was given medicine from the celebrated physician Benjamin Rush and learned how to collect, dry, and label plants, and preserve seeds by Benjamin Barton. Jefferson had organized this expedition well and had prepared Lewis better than anyone could hope to be.

            There were also so many discoveries that added plants and animals to be known as well as plants adding to the medical field. Lewis found and shipped back the black-tailed prairie dog, various types of corn grown by the Mandan Native American tribe, and the Mandan tobacco. The botanical specimens went straight to the the American Philosophical Society and to Barton, the botanist. Jefferson shared everything that came back to the White House to make sure the country grew in knowledge from the expedition even if the expedition had a lot to do with Jefferson's own passion for gardens and nature. Jefferson experimented and made one of the first raincoats by finding waterproof cloth. Being a two year expedition, Lewis and his men were able to learn and record how to survive in the new environment while also learning and perfecting the use of Dr. Rush's medicine that was provided for the trip. 

            Most importantly, the expedition of Lewis and Clark united the Western territories and declared the patriotism of the United States. Lewis and his men found the routes to the West and the crops that could be grown by farmers that would head west in the future. With the help of Sacagawea, relations were made with two tribes of Native American, the Mandans and the Shoshone.  The sublime of the Rockies and the vastness of the prairies became the patriotic symbol of America's freedom. Also, as Wulf says in her book, Founding Gardeners, "if the natural or picturesque style of unclipped trees, soft lines and irregularly planted groves were used in England to express ideas of liberty, then America's endless horizons, fertile soil and floral abundance would be the perfect articulation of the nation's vigor and strength" (Wulf, 167). 

            The information and excitement brought back to the Americans paved a way for people to desire to go westward and gain more land for farming or family growth. The great expedition of Lewis and Clark would lead up to the Oregon trail and ultimately the Transcontinental Railroad which would never have happened if Jefferson had not taken the risk to send Lewis out and find a route to the Pacific while learning what's out there. This expedition might have been a risk for the country but it was also a necessary risk at that. How grateful we should be to have had a president with such passion for agriculture and the future of our country rather than only getting caught up in the political realm of Washington.