History is always the most fun when it sports a wonderful narrative, and the story of the Lewis & Clark expedition offers a textbook example: their three-year journey was full of adventure, treachery, romance, daring, optimism, and incredible twists of fate. Bringing history to life, this program combines excellent re-enactments (intercut with maps), illustrations, and interviews with two historians. Thomas Jefferson's “agrarian dream” that all Americans would be self-sufficient farmers was furthered when the U.S. purchased the Louisiana Territory from cash-strapped France for $15 million, effectively doubling the size of the nation. With a fair bit of surveying needing to be done, Captain Meriwether Lewis and his co-commander, William Clark, were chosen to head an expedition. As the men crossed the United States via waterways, they kept detailed journals, maps, and even scientific sketches that would prove invaluable. In addition to Lewis and Clark, the program looks at the essential role the Shoshone woman Sacagawea played in ensuring the success of the expedition. Fast-paced and engagingly narrated, this would be a fine resource for any U.S. history curriculum. Recommended. Aud: I, J, H. (E. Gieschen)
Westward Strategy: The Louisiana Purchase & The Lewis & Clark Expedition
(2001) 25 min. $59.95 (teacher’s guide included). Rainbow Educational Media. PPR. ISBN: 1-56701-297-3. Volume 17, Issue 4
Westward Strategy: The Louisiana Purchase & The Lewis & Clark Expedition
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