Were Lewis And Clark Respectful To The Native Americans They Met On Their Journey?

Lewis and Clark were not respectful to the Native Americans they encountered on their journey. They killed a Native American unnecessarily, stole horses, and made unreasonable demands and threats.

The relationship between Lewis and Clark and the Native Americans is an extremely controversial topic. It is generally in question whether Lewis and Clark were respectful to the Indian tribes they encountered on their expedition. The answer is much more complicated than a simple yes or no, and the answer changes through each person’s opinion. From multiple pieces of evidence, I believe that Lewis and Clark were mostly disrespectful to the Indians with a few exceptions. The evidence for this position come from: a passage of a letter from Jefferson(document A), a diary entry of Meriwether Lewis(document B), a modified Time Magazine article(document C), and Lewis’s speech to the Otoe(document E). These documents help to support the notion that

On May 14, 1804 in the eastern city of Saint Louis, William Clark and Merry-weather Lewis set of on the westward adventure that would change America as we know it today. Their journey began on the Mississippi River, those rapids would propel Lewis and Clark into the "Corps of Discovery". Across the vast land that these men would soon travel lived the many native-american tribes. The Native people hunted freely across their western lands, lived their life as one with the ground they so carefully treaded on. Soon, the great American adventurers and the native people would meet, but one brought with them the foreshadowing of a new era. An era when American life would be greatly improved with new natural resources and plentiful free land, but only at the cost of ruining the native american people of their way of life. The Lewis and Clark Expedition expanded the knowledge and lifestyle of America but began the elimination of the original American natives way of life and culture.

Nelson. Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country: the Native American Perspective. Urbana, IL, University of Illinois Press, 2008.

Exploration has always been a central theme in the development of the United States. The Louisiana Purchase, in 1803, made the government more eager to expand west. The newly acquired lands were in need of exploration. A team needed to be established to survey and document the new territory. The Lewis and Clark expedition would answer the unknown questions of the west. The expedition would not have been successful without the leadership, determination, discipline of the Corps of Discovery, and the cooperation of the Native Americans. President Jefferson wanted the leader to have the same passion and intensity toward the discovery of the west as he possessed. Jefferson hand-

During the early 1800s, the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, bought the Louisiana Territory. This acquired piece of land came to be known as the Louisiana Purchase. The territory consisted of various Native Indian tribes which Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore. Based on the provided documents, the conclusion that can be made is that Lewis and Clark were not respectful to the Native Americans because not only did they kill members of their tribe, but they wiped out their culture as a whole. In document A, Thomas Jefferson, the current President at the time, sent a letter to Meriwether Lewis with specific instructions on how to approach the Native Indians which was in a placatory and friendly fashion (Document A).

Many Native Americans moved into the trans-Appalachian region creating a Middle Ground where there wasn’t colonial power yet. Europeans and Native Americans had trouble in coexisting due to the diseases brought by the Europeans and to their agricultural practices. On the Middle Ground, Natives and white people could be equal. In fact, they sought benefits from each other for the purpose of survival. The goal of the natives was to continue to trade metal goods and weapons with the Europeans because they saw trading as a way to survive. In the mean time, they Indians played English and French against each other. On the other hand, the increase of individual trading ended up harming the Native Americans’ structure of authority because they no

During the nineteenth century, in the developing America, Indians and white Americans had a very strained and stressed relationship. After the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, whites were granted land in the Northwest territory where Native Americans had already resided. Indians were beginning to realize that Americans were not the ideal companions, because they seized land, consumed mass amounts of resources without care, and did not treat the Earth as sacred as the Native Americans did. The Shawnee Prophet, Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh proposed a way for the Indians to regain the purity, and strength that they used to possess. Both men also wanted to clearly warn the Americans that if compromises were not made, there would be detrimental consequences.

Along the way the men ran into different people what we know as Indians. As Lewis and Clark traveled from state to state we were greeted by different tribes some more welcoming than others. The pair came baring gifts, however, the gifts were not always wanted. The men gave tomahawks, sheet iron, flannel, combs ,and many more items. In a result to their kindness a Indiana women named Sacagawea guided them through the “New Land”. Without her the men could not have made it as far as they did. Not only did she guide them ,but she would communicate with the other Indians and explain why the strange men were on their land. Sacagawea saved the pair’s life and helped the U.S. learn about the “New

Lewis and Clark’s expedition destroyed Native American culture by trying to civilize them and take away their culture. Jefferson’s letter to Lewis

When Jefferson sent Lewis, he told him that they should tell the natives to make friends with the American because they were going to pass to the Pacific Ocean, “it will now be proper you should inform those through whose country you will pass . . . that henceforth we become their fathers and friends”. This is a clear indicator that the Americans perceived the Indians to be a hostile community. Previously, when the Euro-Americans met with the Indians, they used to use ancient diplomatic protocols such as ceremonial gifts, displays of military powers and formal languages. However, due to the difference in understanding by the two, it used to result in conflict. Therefore, when Clark and Lewis understood the concept and symbols from the Indians, it was easy for them to agree on thus diplomacy was established. William Clark recorded a speech in which the chiefs called them father while they called the Indians children. This was a great result of diplomacy since to the Indians it expressed kinship.

In the 1997 film ´Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery´ Ken Burns the director told the story of the most famous voyage in U.S history which was led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. ALong with Lewis and Clark came trained soldiers, a slave known as, York and on the way came Sacagawea, the daughter of the Shoshone Tribe’s chief. Thomas Jefferson was very interested about the west and was very curious, Jefferson wanted to know about the land, plants, animals, and the Native Americans who lived there. It’s 1803 and the West is still unknown all people had back then was rumors and stories about the West. So, Jefferson chose Lewis and Clark to lead the expedition, the goal of their mission was to explore the Missouri River

This month our group is going to split up to cover more land. Lewis was heading up to the great falls. When I retraces the route back to the Yellowstone River. Ordway is leaving me to meet Lewis at the Missouri. Lewis had a encounter with a group of Indians called the black foot. He had to fight them and he put a peace medallion around their necks to show peace to the other Indians. The Shoshone Indians sold us horses. The Shoshone wanted to break up power of other indians so the french traded them weapons like muskets to protect them selfs from getting raided. This is the end of this journey Im going to explore more.

The team included a selected group of United States Army volunteers and they were under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark from May 1804 to September 1806. This famous story entails how the two Americans explored and acquired new territory. However, the history books leave out how Lewis and Clark were only able to find the new territory because of their friend Sacagawea. Sacagawea was a Lemhi Shoshone woman that helped Lewis and Clark’s expedition achieve their goal of exploring what is now known as the Louisiana Purchase. Sacagawea played a major role in Lewis and Clark’s expedition by using her valuable trait as a translator and her knowledge of the terrain. As well as, her “calming” presence on both the Native Americans and the expeditioners (who might have been hostile toward one another because they were strangers). Sacagawea is a notable historical female figure who did not receive due recognition for her help offered to the two Americans. Lewis and Clark. Sacagawea did not receive acknowledgement of her work and effort up until the early 20th

The outcome of this expedition was that Lewis and Clark discover new plant,people,and animals. When Lewis and Clark began to travel back home in the year of 1806 They thought it was best if they split up to get back home because they wanted to explore more of the land. In the article Lewis and Clark it say that ‘ On the way back in 1806, Lewis and Clark split up to explore more of the territory and look for a faster route home”. ( Perry, Douglas. "Lewis & Clark Expedition." National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives and Records Administration) During the journey back home Lewis and his group were in danger because a group of Blackfeet Indians wanted to steal from him in late July, later in the journey he killed two Blackfeet Indians. Later in his journey home he was shot by one his own men in a hunting accident. Later Lewis group and Clark group ment in the Missouri River and made the rest of the trip home to St. Louis