University:
Arizona State University
Course:
HST 200 | Historical Themes
Academic year:

2024
Views:

447

Pages:

1
Author:

Thuyoul US

Lewis and Clark Europeans have assumed for ages that there was an all-water path across the continent of North America. The nation in possession of this "Northwest Passage" would have access to the Pacific Ocean and, more crucially, a reasonably speedy passage to the Pacific, allowing for commerce with Asia. It was years before American explorers took up the quest of discovering it that the Spanish, French, and British sought. In fact, Alexander Mackenzie, an officer of the British North West Company, a fur trading company, had tried to find the passage just before Lewis and Clark left on their trip for the U.S. government. Mackenzie reached the Pacific and even thought, mistakenly, that he had found the headwaters of the Columbia River, but he was unable to locate an accessible water path that would have required less challenging portages- that is, places where boats would have to be hauled overland. A lot of Americans, including President Thomas Jefferson, also hoped to discover a Northwest Passage and allow American trade and power to reach the Pacific. Jefferson's ambition of acquiring the Lovisiana Territory from France was accomplished in April 1803, therefore doubling the size of the United States. Events outside the country's control made the acquisition feasible. Napoleon of France gave up trying to restore a large French Empire in America after the slaves' successful insurrection against the French in the Haitian Revolution. He was therefore open to selling up the enormous Louisiana area. President Jefferson moved swiftly to find out exactly what he had purchased and evaluate if it might be used for profit. Jefferson's primary goal was to establish American authority over the region, which was already well-known to French and British explorers. In order to prepare the way for future White colonization, it was crucial that the United States investigate and chart the area.