The Corps of Discovery Webquest

Learners

This project is for 7th grade social studies students. 

Teacher Introduction

          In this Webquest, the students are to create a model of the path that the Corps of Discovery took to carry out its exploration. They are to create a large, flat map on which they should show the trial the Corps followed with little models of the important people on the mission like Sacagawea and York. The model should contain little index cards explaining every feature on the model. For example, if Sacagawea, Toussaint, and York are going on the path then each of then should have their own index card. The places on the map should also be explained.

  

“The Corps of Discovery”

The Lewis and Clark Expedition

 

 

After the Constitution came up with the idea of expanding westward; it was an intriguing one. Thomas Jefferson oversaw the period of the United States called the Westward Expansion. One of the first steps in this procedure was the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana territory was important; America had control of one side of the Mississippi River; the other side was controlled by the French. In those days, there were no planes and everyone traveled by water in ships so the control on New Orleans meant the control over the Mississippi River meaning control over trade. Jefferson was captivated by the idea of mapping the area west of the American Territory. He wanted to send Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on an expedition west but it was completely secret because it could have been considered trespassing. Thomas Jefferson wanted control of the Louisiana territory so he sent James Monroe in 1802 to Napoleon to offer 10 million dollar for New Orleans. Napoleon was desperate for money but he didn’t accept this deal, instead he offered to sell all of the land 828,800 square miles west of the Mississippi River for 15 million. In 1803 after the deal was accepted the size of America doubled and the Corp’s Mission took on a new objective to explore the lands and inform the Native Americans about the deal with Napoleon and how now the whole land was now American.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s expedition was known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition which was funded scarcely by the Congress. The Congress gave them $2,500 for the whole exploration trip and they went with 31 men who were mostly soldiers. They were aided by Sacajawea and their group became known as the “Corps of Discovery”. Sacajawea was the Shoshone wife of Toussaint Charbonneau who was the guide for the Corp. Sacajawea was like a peace symbol with the Native Americans since she traveled with her little child, not to mention the work she did as a guide and translator.  The Corp was supposed to travel up the Missouri River in search of a northwest passage, or a water route to the Pacific Ocean or in other words all the way throughout the US. On the way they met up with many Native Americans. They were accompanied by Seaman, a Newfoundland and a slave named York. York was William Clark’s slave and obviously he was black and the Native Americans hadn’t seen anyone black before and thought he was part bear or that he was some sort of god. They carried camping equipment, weapons, Presents for Native Americans, medicine, and clothing.

The Corp traveled in a keel boat, one collapsible boat designed specially for Lewis and two smaller open boats. For land they hoped to trade items with the Native Americans in exchange for horses. They started at St. Louis up the Missouri River. From there, they traveled six hundred miles before they saw any Native Americans. On the way the Corp was supposed to record new animals and plants they found. They found 178 plants and 122 species and subspecies of animals. William Clark recorded and sketched many of these animals; he also mapped the area they covered. The actual cost of the expedition was $39,000; way more than the $2,500 that the Congress had agreed on. Sacajawea died in 1812 and her son grew up under William Clark’s care. York asked for his freedom from William Clark but was whipped. The “Lewis and Clark Mission” was carried out after the Louisiana territory became a part of America. In short, in this expedition the western US was mapped and the land was explored.

Helpful Websites

Teacher Process

·    Step 1: Present the project to the students and give them 3 days to complete their research.
·    Step 2: Let the students complete their sketches in their project and make a basic outline of their project. Monitor the students to see that the facts that they are compiling are legitimate and according to fact. Give them 4 days to outline the project.
·    Step 3: Watch that the students are on the right track and provide them with the materials for their model. This part of the project should take 2 days.
·    Step 4: Give your students a day to polish up and make sure the project is suitable.
·    Step 5: The students should be ready to hand the project in and the project should be ready to put on display.