Teaching Critically About Lewis and Clark

Book excerpt: The Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery is often presented as an exciting adventure story of discovery, friendship, and patriotism. However, this same period in U.S. history can be understood quite differently when viewed through anticolonial lens and the Doctrine of Discovery. How might educators critically interrogate the assumptions that underlie this adventure story through their teaching? This book challenges dominant narratives and packaged curriculum about Lewis and Clark to support more responsible social studies instruction. The authors provide a conceptual framework, ready-to-use lesson plans, and teaching resources to address oversimplified versions of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Indigenous perspectives, along with contemporary issues, are embedded in each lesson to encourage active and critical engagement with history and the legacies of conquest those living in what is now called the United States have inherited. Book Features: Offers a new look at social studies curriculum about the Corps of Discovery—and Manifest Destiny—through the Doctrine of Discovery. Includes examples of how Indigenous peoples have long engaged in philosophical, legal, and political challenges to the principles of the Doctrine.Provides social studies lesson plans for elementary and secondary classrooms.Offers useful curriculum materials to help teachers present a deeper examination of this topic.