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Lewis and Clark Expedition Pocket Compass
Grade Range: K-12
Resource Type(s): Artifacts, Primary Sources
Date Posted:
7/21/2008
In the spring of 1803, Meriwether Lewis began to purchase scientific and mathematical instruments for a pending expedition into the northwestern region of North America. Among the items he purchased from Philadelphia instrument maker Thomas Whitney were three pocket compasses and this silver-plated pocket compass.
National Standards
Historical Thinking Standards (Grades K-4)
United States History Standards (Grades 5-12)
Era 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
2: How the industrial revolution, increasing immigration, the rapid expansion of slavery, and the westward movement changed the lives of Americans and led toward regional tensions
3: The extension, restriction, and reorganization of political democracy after 1800
4: The sources and character of cultural, religious, and social reform movements in the antebellum period