America 250: From Independence to Discovery
Follow the Story from 1776 to the Lewis and Clark Expedition

United States Capitol

📍 Location: East end of the National Mall, Washington, DC
🟢 FREE |
What to do & see:

• Tour the Capitol building and Rotunda, and learn how early laws, debates, and governance structures enabled territorial expansion and the growth of the young nation.

• Book a tour 

Why it matters to Lewis & Clark:

• The Lewis and Clark Expedition was born from decisions made at the highest levels of government. Funding approvals, presidential authority, and congressional oversight—centered in the U.S. Capitol—made Jefferson’s vision of western exploration a national priority and turned the expedition into an official mission of the United States.
   

​The Federal City 
📍 Location: Washington, DC
🟢 FREE |
What to do & see:

• Explore the intentionally planned capital envisioned by George Washington and shaped by Jeffersonian ideals. Designed in 1791 by Pierre Charles L’Enfant under Washington’s direction, the city features a grid system crossed by broad diagonal avenues, prominent sites for government buildings, and a grand central axis—the National Mall—meant to express the ideals of the new American republic.

Why it matters to Lewis & Clark:

• Washington, DC is where the Lewis and Clark Expedition was conceived, authorized, funded, and set in motion.