Louisiana Purchase and Lewis & Clark Quotes

Louisiana Purchase and Lewis & Clark Quotes

They Said It

"It is the case of a guardian, investing the money of his ward in purchasing an important adjacent territory; and saying to him when of age, I did this for your own good."

- Thomas Jefferson, rationalizing his unconstitutional authorization of the Louisiana Purchase22

"An integral part of the economic life of the age, the greatest colony in the world, the pride of France, and the envy of every imperialist nation."


- Historian C.L.R. James, describing Saint-Domingue on the eve of the Haitian Revolution23

"These are the vilest miscreants of the savage race, and must ever remain the pirates of the Missouri, until such measures are pursued, by our government, as will make them feel a dependence on it."


- Captain William Lewis, on the Teton Sioux24

"Ocian in view! O! the joy!"


- Captain William Clark, upon reaching the Pacific25