5 5 5 the united states goes west

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Genre

Expository
nonfiction

Comprehension
Skills and Strategy

• Generalize
• Fact and Opinion
• Graphic Organizers

Text Features

• Captions
• Maps
• Headings

by
Adam McClellan

Scott Foresman Reading Street 5.5.5

ISBN 0-328-13575-5

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Reader Response
1. Based on Lewis and Clark’s travels, what do you think
early trips to the west were like?
2. Describe three ways the Louisiana Purchase changed
the United States and Native Americans. Use the
graphic organizer below to organize your ideas and
then make one statement from your information.
Change:

Change:

Change:

Statement:

3. On page 20, how can the prefix co- help you figure
out the meaning of the word coexist? List and define
three more words with the prefix co-. Use the words
in sentences.

by
Adam McClellan

4. What do you think might have happened if Napoleon
did not allow the United States to buy the Louisiana
Territory? Explain your answer.

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A New Nation
In 1776, thirteen American colonies declared their
independence from Great Britain. They fought the
American Revolution against Great Britain, and in
1780 Great Britain surrendered. A new nation was
born—the United States of America.
In 1783 a treaty gave the United States the thirteen
colonies—now states—and other territory west to
the Mississippi River. Great Britain kept its lands in
Canada. Spain controlled most of the territory south
and west of the United States. Part of the territory
west from the Mississippi was called Louisiana.

Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for
photographic material. The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to
correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.

This 1784 map shows the
borders of the new nation.

Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman,
a division of Pearson Education.
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Background (Bkgd)
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S.A./Corbis; 5 ©Bernstein Collection/Corbis; 6 ©Bettmann/Corbis; 7 Corbis;
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10 ©Bettmann/Corbis; 11 (Inset) ©Bettmann/Corbis, 11 (Inset) ©Bettmann/Corbis,
11 (Bkgd) ©Historical Picture Archive/Corbis; 12 Mapquest.com, Inc.; 13 ©Bettmann/
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ISBN: 0-328-13575-5
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3


When President Thomas Jefferson took office in
1801, he had a great interest in exploring lands to
the west. He knew that the future of his country
depended on control of this territory.
As long as Spain controlled the west, Jefferson
was not worried. However, Spain’s hold on its
colonies seemed to be slowly slipping. Jefferson was
sure that the United States could make a deal with
Spain to gain Louisiana.
In 1802, Jefferson received shocking news. The

Spanish had handed Louisiana over to the French!
This changed everything. At the time, France was
becoming the strongest country in
Europe. If the French had plans for
North America, it would be very
hard for the United States to
grow westward.

Thomas Jefferson was greatly concerned when Spain
handed Louisiana to the French. Suddenly, expanding
westward became more difficult.

When Napoleon Bonaparte
took control of France
in 1799, he wanted to
increase France’s strength
in North America. Taking
over Spanish territory there
gave France control of
important ports.

4

5


The port of New Orleans in the early nineteenth century
was an important trading and shipping center.

In 1803, James Monroe went to Paris to try to buy

New Orleans from the French. Jefferson told him,
“. . . all hopes are fixed upon you. . . .”

6

The Louisiana Purchase
French control of Louisiana gave Jefferson
another worry: the Mississippi River. The United
States and Spain agreed that American settlers
could sell their goods in the important port of New
Orleans.
No one knew what the French would do now that
they controlled Louisiana. Jefferson feared that they
would block American boats from using the port of
New Orleans. This would cause damaging economic
results.
With that in mind, Jefferson sent James Monroe
to Paris to make a deal with the French. Monroe was
to offer to buy New Orleans. The U.S. government
would offer to pay almost nine and a half million
dollars for the city.
7


When Monroe got to Paris on April 12, 1803,
he was in for a surprise. Facing a possible war from
England and other concerns, France was losing
interest in controlling Louisiana. The day before
Monroe arrived, the French government had made
an offer to the U.S. agent in Paris. They said the

United States could have all of Louisiana for the
right price. Monroe and the agent signed a treaty
agreeing to buy the entire Louisiana territory. The
territory cost the United States only 15 million
dollars.

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Exploring the New Lands
Jefferson had already
made plans to explore the
Sir Alexander Mackenzie
west. He wanted to find
an easy water route to the
Pacific Ocean. He was inspired by the explorations
of Sir Alexander Mackenzie. In 1793, the Scottish
fur trader had discovered a route through western
Canada to the Pacific. Mackenzie’s route was
traveled almost all the way by boat. Jefferson hoped
to keep British traders from gaining control of the
fur trade near the Pacific Coast. He also was curious
about the plants and animals in the lands west of
the Mississippi.

9


Jefferson put together a small group named the
Corps of Discovery. The group had about thirty men.
The journey was to be led by two men who were
already known for their skills in the wilderness:
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.
Jefferson had planned for the trip to take
place no matter who owned the territory. Now,
the Louisiana Purchase gave the explorers a new
purpose. They would map out the country’s new
lands and make contact with Native Americans who
made their homes there. Many of these people had
never heard of the United States.
Members of the Corps of Discovery included skilled
frontiersmen, hunters, woodcutters, and interpreters.
They met with many groups of Native Americans.

Meriwether Lewis
was a U.S. army captain.
He worked closely with
President Jefferson to plan
a westward expedition.

William Clark was a
Virginia-born U.S. army captain.
He was recruited by Lewis to
help lead the expedition.

Lewis and Clark led the journey west.

10

11


The explorers planned to follow the Missouri
River as far west as they could and then find a way
to the Pacific Ocean. In the fall of 1803, the Corps
of Discovery arrived at St. Louis, on the Mississippi
River near the point where the Missouri and
Mississippi Rivers join. They spent the winter near
there. They collected and sorted supplies and worked
at becoming fit for the tough journey ahead. The
following spring, the explorers ventured out.

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Sacagawea greets her
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St. Louis Expedition
sets out, May 1804.

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Pacific Ocean,
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In early August, the explorers came across
members of the Oto, a group of Native Americans.
Lewis gave a speech explaining that the French and
Spanish no longer ruled their land. They would now
be part of the United States. The Oto leader thanked
Lewis for his speech, and Lewis gave him gifts. The
speech was repeated each time the explorers met

a new group of Native Americans.

River

AT L A N T I C
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MEXICO
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Westward route of Lewis
and Clark, 1804–1805
Return route, 1806

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New Orleans

Louisiana Purchase
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Gulf of Mexico
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200
200

400 Miles

400 Kilometers

The journey west spanned thousands of miles. It began in
St. Louis, on the Mississippi River, and led to the Pacific Ocean
and back.

The Corps of Discovery met with many
Native American leaders on their journey.

12

13


Near the end of October, the explorers came to
a group of villages that belonged to the Mandan
people. The villages were on the Great Bend of the
Missouri River in what is now North Dakota. Here,
they suffered the long winter. In his diary, Clark
scrawled that the temperature was 45 degrees below

zero on a bitter December day. The Mandan gave
the explorers a warm place to spend the winter.
The explorers made friendly contact with many
Native Americans in the west, including the Shoshone,
the Nez Perce, and the Walla Walla. They traded
horses, food, and other supplies with these people.

The expedition spent the winter at the Mandan villages

along the Missouri River.

14

15


In the summer of 1805, the explorers ran into
a huge barrier, the Rocky Mountains. It took two
months to cross the mountains and find another
river to follow to the Pacific.
In November, they finally reached the Pacific
Ocean. The team spent a cold, rainy winter in what
is now Oregon. On March 23, 1806, they turned east
and headed home.

16

The Louisiana Purchase was a big step toward
making this country what it is today. It opened up
new lands and erased a foreign power from the map
of North America. The Lewis and Clark expedition
inspired Americans to look west for their future. These
key events in our history also came with problems.
The Corps of Discovery had to cross the rugged Bitterroot
Range, which is part of the Rocky Mountains.

17

Settlers traveled up and down rivers
on flatboats loaded with freight.

Native Americans and the West
It didn’t take long for people in the East to begin
moving west. On their return trip down the Missouri
River, Lewis and Clark met traders with boats loaded
with freight, hoping to trade with Native Americans
in the new territory.
As it turned out, however, Native Americans had
an uneasy relationship with the settlers.
18

The U.S. government promised
land to Native Americans.

19


Many hoped that Native American tribes and
settlers would coexist peacefully. Unfortunately, by
the late 1820s, the government started a policy of
keeping Native Americans separated from settlers.
They did this by using land gained in the Louisiana
Purchase.
Beginning in 1830, many tribes were forced off
their homelands in the south. They were marched
westward to a new “Indian Territory” west of the
Mississippi River, in what is now Oklahoma. Areas
such as this came to be called reservations.

This also affected the Native Americans already
living in the territory. Settlers began moving into the
area, but this land was not vacant. Native Americans
lived and hunted there. As new settlements grew,
Native Americans were forced from their homes.

Native Americans, forced to leave their lands
in the east, made their long and difficult
journey to the Indian Territory in Oklahoma.

The Native Americans packed up their homes.

20

21


This situation caused fighting between the new
settlers and local Native Americans. To resolve the
conflict, the government and Native American
nations signed treaties setting aside certain lands for
the settlers and other lands for the Native Americans.
The treaties promised that Native Americans
would have their lands forever. This didn’t happen.
Instead, more settlers arrived to overrun the tribal
lands, causing more conflict.
Within a hundred years of Lewis and Clark’s
expedition, the Native American groups these men
had met were all forced onto reservations.
The reservations made up only a small

part of the lands on
which they once
lived. Jefferson’s
hopes for peace had
died. Lewis and Clark
unknowingly opened
up the west for one
group of people and
closed it for another.
The choices Thomas
Jefferson made in his first
years as president forever
changed the United States’
shape, size, and history.

22

A pioneer family moves all of their
belongings in a wagon going west.

23


Reader Response

Glossary
economic adj. related
to money, business, and
trade
freight n. transported

goods
independence n. the
condition of being free
from the control of
another country

scrawled v. wrote quickly
and sloppily

1. Based on Lewis and Clark’s travels, what do you think
early trips to the west were like?

vacant adj. empty

2. Describe three ways the Louisiana Purchase changed
the United States and Native Americans. Use the
graphic organizer below to organize your ideas and
then make one statement from your information.

ventured n. did
something risky, often
related to travel

Change:

Change:

Change:

overrun v. to spread

through quickly
Statement:

3. On page 20, how can the prefix co- help you figure
out the meaning of the word coexist? List and define
three more words with the prefix co-. Use the words
in sentences.
4. What do you think might have happened if Napoleon
did not allow the United States to buy the Louisiana
Territory? Explain your answer.

24