Question

Directions:

The passages that follow are three accounts of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s trip through the West. Two are firsthand accounts, and one is a secondhand account. Read each passage and then answer the questions below. Write your answers on the lines and then print this page.

Passage A
Lewis and Clark’s Trip
In the early 1800s, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark took their famous trip through the West. Lewis and Clark crossed the Rockies and reached the Pacific Ocean. Along the way, they made maps and kept records of animals and plants they saw. A Shoshone woman named Sacagawea accompanied Lewis and Clark and their group. She was very helpful in getting the explorers safely through Native American territory and across the mountains. Lewis and Clark saw the Rocky Mountains for the first time, from a distance, on May 26, 1805.

Passage B
Passages from Meriwether Lewis’s journal
May 26, 1805 “these points of the Rocky Mountains were covered with snow and the sun shone on it in such manner as to give me the most plain and satisfactory view.” Lewis also noted: “the joy I . . . felt in the first moments in which I gazed on them.”

Passage C
Summary of an original journal entry kept by a member of Lewis and Clark’s group, May 4–28, 1805
“By now Lewis and Clark were growing ever more anxious to catch sight of the Rockies, the mountain barrier they knew they would have to cross. In the last week of May, Lewis saw the mountains for the first time. He was filled with joy, immediately tempered by a realization of the challenge that lay ahead. The captains were eager to reach the Rockies, but progress was slow along the frequently bending river, which was now shallow and filled with jutting rocks.”


1. Which two passages are firsthand accounts? How do you know?



2. Which passage is a secondhand account? How do you know?


3. In Passage A, is the author’s perspective with regard to Lewis and Clark’s trip through the Rockies neutral or positive? Why?



4. In Passage B, is the author’s perspective with regard to Lewis and Clark’s trip through the Rockies neutral or positive? Why?



5. How is the author’s perspective in Passage C different from that in Passage B?

Answer 1

Passages B and C are firsthand accounts of Lewis and Clark's journey because they come from the explorers' own journals, whereas Passage A is a secondhand summary. The author's perspectives in the passages vary, with Passage A and B being positive and Passage C showing a positive outlook mixed with the awareness of upcoming challenges.

Step-by-step explanation:

The two firsthand accounts are Passage B, which is an excerpt from Meriwether Lewis's journal, and Passage C, which is a summary of an original journal entry by a member of Lewis and Clark’s group. We know these are firsthand because they are direct reports from people who were part of the expedition. On the other hand, Passage A is a secondhand account, providing a summary of the journey without being a direct observation from the explorers themselves.

In Passage A, the author's perspective is positive towards Lewis and Clark’s trip, highlighting the successful assistance by Sacagawea and the accomplishments such as crossing the Rockies and mapping the area. Similarly, Passage B, which is a firsthand account, also portrays a positive perspective, revealing Lewis's joy upon seeing the mountains, indicating their admiration for the new landscapes. Passage C, while also positive, introduces a sense of apprehension about the challenges ahead, differing from Passage B's unadulterated joy.

Jefferson's instructions to Lewis and Clark on their expedition were to find an all-water route to the Pacific Ocean, assert U.S. claims to the Pacific Northwest, explore and map the territory, document its natural resources and wildlife, and establish trade with Native American tribes.