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Hist 3459: Variable Topics in U.S.
History:
Lewis and Clark: An American Odyssey
This course examines the mission of the Corps of Discovery (1803-06),
whose journey is synonymous with Meriwether Lewis, William Clark,
and the young Indian guide, Sacagawea. No other instance of
nineteenth-century American exploration is better known or more
often taken to exemplify American enterprise, fortitude, and
adventure.
And an adventure it was.
But a more complete picture of the
expedition reveals not just Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea,
but a large and diverse cast of characters, all variously
involved in creating, supporting, meeting, or resisting the
expedition's progress. From this more complete picture and
its different perspectives emerges a complex and subtle story
of a human enterprise whose significance lies in both its
accomplishments and its failures.
Consequently, the expedition of the Corps
of Discovery affords an opportunity to explore one
episode in America history at length and develop a
deep and rich understanding of it. And because
of the time we'll take with the expedition's journals
and other related documents - with scholarly writing on a variety of related topics -
and with the process of reading these primary
and secondary sources and rendering them intelligible -
we'll be able to practice the historian's skills,
to develop our knowledge, and to share it with
each other as we develop our own virtual community of Lewis-and-Clark scholars.
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Last Modified: Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Page URL: http://genedweb.morris.umn.edu/hist3459/index.shtml
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