Is Exploration a Good Thing?

Is exploration a good thing? It depends on how you interpret it. There has been exploration that discovers new worlds and those that have spread diseases from one country to another. There have been explorers like Christopher Columbus and Lewis and Clarke. Those explorers were looking for land but there have also been explorers that have caused mayhem and they explored for the wrong reasons. Francisco Pizarro was a Conquistador from Spain that brought small pox to North America in 1533(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incas).

            Exploration is “The investigation of unknown regions.”(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Exploration)  Christopher Columbus was an Italian navigator who lived from 1451 to 1506. His voyage and exploration across the Atlantic Ocean led to European awareness of the American continents. Columbus “initiated the process of Spanish colonization which foreshadowed general European colonization of the ‘New World’.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus)  Columbus introduced the European culture into the Native American Culture of North America. From the Native’s hunting and gathering culture to the European’s Economy and structure, they made what we know as America today. Lewis and Clark’s job was to explore the unknown of the west in 1804. Along with Sacagawea they discovered that the west was occupied by many different tribes, but they had successfully gained understanding of the west. Lewis began writing in a journal and his first entry was this: "Left Pittsburg this day at 11 o'clock with a party of 11 hands 7 of which are soldiers, a pilot and three young men on trial they having proposed to go with me throughout the voyage."(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition) This Expedition was the reason why we are spread to places like California and Oregon. Due to this we developed the Oregon Trail which helped the pilgrims travel across the country by wagon. Thanks to Exploration we have new land, new hope, and a whole new life.

            “The Inca civilization (or Inka civilization) began as a tribe in the Cuzco area, where the legendary first Sapa Inca, Manco Capac founded the Kingdom of Cuzco around 1200.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incas) They kept quiet and had their own system of classes and a king. They were a much evolved civilization until the Spanyards visited America and brought one of the deadliest diseases to visit the Americas. They brought small pox. A slave on one of the ships was carrying it and since small pox had already hit Spain so they are immune to the disease. Since they visited the village they brought the disease with them and it wiped out the entire population. They were fighting them in a small war and they wanted the gold in the civilization. This ended in the wiping out of the Incas and the transfer of smallpox was the first example of biological warfare. Sue to the exploration of the society they caused deaths and encouraged biological warfare.

            Exploration is good and bad and it can help and destroy societies. Exploring is one of the things that humans do and it goes along with our curiosity. We found the new world and we destroyed not to long after. Exploration has positive and negative factors that go along with it ut in the end it happens by choice. When you look around you will find and when you find you discover. That is the whole point behind exploring different areas and new regions. Just make sure you know what you’re doing.

CITATIONS:

·         "Inca Civilization." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incas >.

·         "Christopher Columbus." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 09 May 2010.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus>

·         "Lewis and Clark Expedition." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 09 May 2010.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition>