Grand Lodge of Missouri
MASONIC EDUCATION
Masonic Traverlers: Lewis and Clark By Brother Chuck Clampitt Etana Lodge 333, Mt. Etna, Indiana When Thomas Jefferson became the 3rd President in 1801, the United States consisted of everything east of the Mississippi River with the exception of Florida. While most of the area west of the Appalachian Mountains was unsettled, two “western” states, Kentucky and Tennessee, had been admitted into the union. Jefferson, a farmer, plantation owner, and idealist, thought as the population of the United States
Winter 2021
increased, the purest form of republicanism occupationally was the farmer. The farmer in Jefferson’s opinion was hard working, independent, loyal to defend his country, and believer in a small Federal Government. As such, land, and cheap land would be necessary in order for this agrarian society to continue and prosper. As luck would have it, providence knocked at Jefferson’s door. France and England had been engaged in a series of wars going back to the French and Indian War which began in 1754. By the time Jefferson was inaugurated, Napoleon Bonaparte controlled France and it had » become obvious to him that developing the large
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