Jefferson sent a secret message to Congress in January 1803 requesting $2,500 to explore America's western territory. The funny thing is: France, Spain and England were all privy to Jefferson's ambitions to purchase the Louisiana Territory. Why, then, did Jefferson feel the need for secrecy in this matter? Probably because purchasing land from a foreign country was not mentioned in the "Powers of the Executive Branch" portion of the Constitution. Also, the Federalist Congressmen were not exactly Jefferson's biggest fans.
Anyway...the Corps of Discovery is the official name for the Lewis & Clark Expedition. This excellent website contains intriguing insights from their trip. This week you need to spend at least thirty minutes (at one time or throughout the week) perusing this site. Explore the links, read the paragraphs and look at the pictures. Once you've spent at least thirty minutes looking it over, comment on what you thought was the most interesting. Be sure to include the # of words and how many minutes you spent on this site.
The thing I found most interesting on this sight was the pipe tomahawk. This object half of it was the peace pipe half of it was the ax of war. It is really weird because the peace pipe part of this object is peaceful and the ax of war part of this object is the exact opposite. When I first saw this I thought it was weird but as I started reading it said it was a symbol of the choices the Europeans and Native Americans had when they met. They were used to trade but also used as diplomatic gifts. Lewis insisted that at least fifty pipe tomahawks were to be taken on their journey. (116 words)
ReplyDelete(30 minutes) Sorry...forgot to put that on there!
DeleteThe most interesting part about the website was the pipe tomahawk. The way it has a peace side, or a war sides goes to show how quickly the Americans and the Natives can decide whether or not they like the people or not. It’s also very interesting how the Europeans put their own designs on it while following the Natives weapons with the whole axe thing, seeing as how the Americans usually used guns. I also think its smart of Lewis and Clark to pack fifty of the Pipe Tomahawks. It goes to show that they didn’t know exactly what to expect on their journey, but they knew enough about the Natives that they were going to be prepared for a battle or peace with the tribes.
ReplyDeletewords 127
time: about 35 min
The thing that i found interesting was the pipe stem. I think it is neat what all they used to make it. There were feathers, horse hair, porcupine quills, woodpecker head and scalp, sinew, down feathers, cotton, ribbon, and beads! That is a lot of stuff to make a pipe. It goes to show you that the Native Americans were very crafty and smart. The Native Americans knew how to use the stuff around them, the stuff God gave them. They didn't waste anything. This pipe was used and made by the Plains Indians. This pipe was used during peace ceremonies with Lewis and Clark. It has very intricate details and seems like it would have taken a long time to make. The pipe was beautiful. (127) (30 minutes)
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The thing I found most interesting was the pipe tomahawk. If you think about it, it directly contradicts itself. It has one side that is supposed to symbolize peace, but with that it has the axe of war, which is supposed to symbolize war, so I don't exactly know what they were thinking. It really does show how quickly relations could go from peaceful to all-out war. This really shows how smart Lewis and Clark were, because it gave the Natives the choice and, I think made it easier to trust them, because they weren't being forced into anything, and that point of view can make the difference between peace and war. 113 words.... about 35-40 minutes
ReplyDeleteI think that the most interesting thing on that website was the mortar used by the native doctors. It is used to make medicine and thing like that, which is not that interesting. The thing that is interesting to me is how they decided what kind of medicine to make. It said that they thought illnesses were caused by evil spirits. They would use drums and things like that to summon the spirits. Then they would bring herbs with fragrance. That was supposed to attract the good spirits and turn off the evil ones. It seems kinda stupid to think that now days, but at least they believed in something.
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I think that the most interesting thing on that website is the Gifts with a Message. It talked about them giving the Indians gifts. The gifts to the Indians really meant lot to them it showed your probity toward them. Lewis and Clark liked giving them manufactured gifts because they wanted to open fiendly relationship as well as help advance their culture or way of doing things. They traded things like kettles and beads. Thomas Jefferson wanted to introduce the natives to merchanized agriculture. These was apart of Jefferson’s plan to teach them ciliazation. Thomas wanted them to give out corn mills to help carry out that plan. So they gave them out and the Indians were grateful for them. About a year later though they took the metal of them and used them for weapons. (136 w)(30 min.)
ReplyDeleteWhat I found most interesting on this site is the Blunderbuss. I have seen this weapon at the Smithsonian. This gun looks like a regular shotgun but it is way more powerful. Lewis and Clark were fortunate to have so many weapons, especially the Blunderbuss because of its force. The Blunderbuss was named after the Dutch word "thunder gun." To me, this name suits this gun. If someone aimed this gun at another person, it was their intention to kill. However, by shooting the gun into the air when arriving at Indian camps or villages, this let them know that Lewis and Clark meant business and were well armed. (109) 30 minutes
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting thing on the website was the "Jefferson Cipher." He really went to great lengths to keep this thing a secret. He kept the expedition a secret. Messages from him to Lewis and Clark are kept a secret. He also had an affair with one of his slaves. We have found out that he loves secrecy, and that he has a lot of methods for keeping things he wants kept confidential, safe. Even though he never used the system, he still had this all figured out. That is pretty cool and a little odd at the same time. How long had he had this figured out and how many times did he use the cipher? What else do we NOT know about Thomas Jefferson? (121 words, 35 minutes.)
ReplyDeleteHe is the Great American Enigma!
DeleteI find many of the Native Americans' beliefs interesting. They had lots of superstitions about spirits and animals. One that drew my attention was the way warriors dressed for battle. Their outfits had symbols of past deeds and tribal identity, which is normal. The military dress was made from animal skins, which is fine. What's weird is that they believed the animal would lend its qualities to the wearer of its skin. Also, the strongest shirts had hair from relatives to show the wearer's responsibility to his family. All this says a lot about Native American religion. It is unlike anything we are familiar with today. They were a very superstitious people with a lot of respect for nature and strange beliefs about it.(124 words)(35 min.)
ReplyDeleteThe main thing that I found interesting was all the peace stuff that both the Americans and Native Americans had. The Americans had peace medals. The Native Americans mostly used pipes. There were two different types mentioned one was the pipe bowl and the other was the pipe stem. To add Lewis and Clark into a tribes society they held a pipe ceremony. They accepted the promise to share aid in war, wealth, and revenge injustice. After the ceremony the pipe was given to them so they would not forget their promise. The Europeans also had a pipe tomahawks. They represented the choice between peace or war. (107 words) (33 minutes)
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting thing that I saw on the website was the bear claw necklace. It looks really dangerous to wear and it looks really manly. When you wore a bear claw necklace it was a mark of identity for a warrior or chief and if wanted to wear it, you had to earn it. These symbols were a part of the culture of the Great Lakes, Plains, and Plateau tribes. These claws are decorated with beads about the thick end near which they are pierced through their sides and strung on a throng of dressed leather and tied around the neck. I think the bear claw necklace would have been really difficult to make but they probably made a lot of them back then so it became easy to them. They were really talented in arts and crafts. (139) (30 mins)
ReplyDeletei think the most interesting thing that i saw on the website was Jeffersons Cipher. Thomas Jefferson new that on the journey he would be out of touch with his travelers. Thomas Jefferson thought that fur traders and indians would carry the messages back to him. Thomas Jefferson created a key word cipher to Lewis. Lewis was to write down every thing that happened on the journey like notes and observations that he saw, and put into cipher.Though the scheme was never used it showed a lot about how much Thomas Jefferson cared about the long and dangerous journey. (100 words)(35)
ReplyDeleteThe thing I found the most interesting on this was website was the pipe tomahawk. I thought it was the most interesting because each side of the pipe tomahawk were used for 2 opposite things. The pipe part of the pipe tomahawk was a peace pipe. The other half was an axe of war. These two things are the complete opposite of each other so I thought it was weird that they were connected into one thing. The pipe tomahawk was made for being trade objects. They were often used as diplomatic gifts. The pipe tomahawk represents the choices the Europeans and Indians faced when they met each other. Lewis wanted at least 50 tomahawks taken on his journey. (119 words) (30 minutes)
ReplyDeleteI think that the most interesting thing in the webpage was the Blunderbuss gun. I think it’s kind of odd that there was only two if them on the expedition since it was supposed to be very well balanced weapon. So I guess that blunderbuss means thunder gun in Dutch. The gun looks almost as if it wouldn’t be accurate because of the way the muzzle opens up. I also wouldn’t want a heavy gun to carry around all the time on the expedition. Since the blunderbuss is so short and it apparently had “brute force and power” I guess it could sort of be the shotgun of the 1800’s. (110)(30+ minutes)
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