When exploration is mentioned the scene that comes to mind is of a small boat paddling its way through new waterways with the man in the boat sketching a new map. While this is one of the two types of exploration, it is not the only one. The other type is internal exploration. This deals with the exploration of knowledge. Not a day has gone by in history that either one or both of these types of exploration has occurred. Large periods of great discoveries are called Renaissances and they change history. From Columbus to Brunelleschi there are so many people associated with exploration. Exploration, no matter where it is, who it is by, or what is being explored, is a good thing.
Even though external exploration is much more well-known to the world than its brother, internal exploration, it is shadowed by what internal exploration has accomplished for the world. The most famous man related to internal exploration is Filippo Brunelleschi. His most famous work that involved delving deep into exploration internally was the Florence Cathedral. Brunelleschi’s legacy began after he had stormed out of Florence for losing to his rival, Ghiberti, in a competition to create bronze doors for the baptistery. He sought refuge in Rome for ten years with his friend, Donatello. He became intrigued by the dome of the Pantheon and studied how it stayed up. When Brunelleschi returned to Florence the new competition in architecture was to create a dome for the Cathedral. His work was commissioned for by the Medici family, a very wealthy banking family. He had already built a state orphanage under the patronization of the Medici, bringing back the architecture of the classical eras. Even though he had proven that he was the most ingenious architect in Florence, he himself was not satisfied. The dome needed to be completed. The project called for designs that either needed to be resurrected or created entirely original. Vasari commented on the dome, “It's as though the sky is envious as it keeps on shooting thunderbolts down at it, believing that its height has almost exceeded the height of air” (http://www.italyguides.it/us/florence/the_dome_of_brunelleschi.htm). He was an explorer; his mind was like an entirely new country that had never been trod upon. Through this exploration and ravenous hunger for knowledge, Brunelleschi created perspective. This type of art prompted great revolutions in paintings even after Brunelleschi passed away. Brunelleschi’s internal explorations were perhaps the best thing to ever happen to the western world. 
In the sense of external exploration the man most well-known is Christopher Columbus. Columbus’s initial motivation for venturing out into the ocean was to prove that, by traveling via the waters, a water-based trade route could be established from Iberia to the Indies rather than cutting through Arabia. This would give Spain control of the spice trade, a profit of wealth. Queen Isabella I and he was off on his exploration. Even though the original plan would have been a magnificent break-through in exploration, the actual discovery was accidental yet superior. Columbus ended up in the Bahamas. In his captain’s log Columbus wrote, “At two o'clock in the morning the land was discovered, at two leagues' distance; they took in sail and remained under the square-sail lying to till day, which was Friday, when they found themselves near a small island, one of the Lucayos, called in the Indian language Guanahani” (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columbus1.html). Columbus had thought he had made it to where he had wanted and proven the water route. But he had actually done something even more amazing: he had stumbled very close to the Americas. Many years later, circa 1502, Columbus made his fourth and final expedition. His instructions were, “You will make a direct voyage, if the weather does not prevent you, for discovering the islands and the mainland of the Indies in that part which belongs to us” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2059418). It was still believed that Columbus had been sailing all the way around the world for all of his journeys. Even though Columbus was a great explorer and what he thought he discovered impacted the world, what he had really discovered would rock it on its axis. Columbus thought he had proved that the world was a sphere, but he had not reached the Indies. Still, by discovering the Americas and examining inhabitants, Columbus impacted the world in a way even he could not fathom. The types of explorations of Columbus and Brunelleschi were on two opposite sides of the spectrum but neither is less important than the other.
Another example of external exploration was the Louisiana Purchase. In hindsight, the way this exploration took place was a bit unconventional. In 1803 the United States bought a mass of land off the hands of France. The United States did not know what it had bought and France had no idea how much land it had given away. Thomas Jefferson was the President of the time and he directed the expedition of Lewis and Clark and told them “…to explore this, the only line of easy communication across the continent, and so directly traversing our own part of it” (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/lewisandclark/transcript56.html). The Purchase had been made and no one knew what the land actually looked like and that is where exploration plays a huge role. By exploring the newly acquired land and charting maps, the United States of America as they are known today were seen. It was a great accomplishment, following in the footsteps of Brunelleschi and Columbus, showing the world how important it is to explore. "BBC - H2g2 - Christopher Columbus - Explorer - Part Three." BBC - Homepage. Web. 07 May 2010. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2059418>.
"Christopher Columbus." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 08 May 2010. .
"File:Cuarto Viaje De Colón.svg." Wikimedia Commons. Web. 07 May 2010. <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cuarto_viaje_de_Col%C3%B3n.svg>.
"File:Florence Dome Drawing.jpg." Wikimedia Commons. Web. 07 May 2010. <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Florence_dome_drawing.jpg>.
"ItalyGuides.it: The Dome of Brunelleschi - Filippo Brunelleschi's Dome , Florence Italy." ItalyGuides.it: A Sightseeing Revolution - Italy Travel. Web. 08 May 2010. <http://www.italyguides.it/us/florence/the_dome_of_brunelleschi.htm>.
"Lewis & Clark (Rivers, Edens, Empires: Lewis & Clark and the Revealing of America, Library of Congress)." Library of Congress Home. Web. 08 May 2010. <http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/lewisandclark/lewis-landc.html#56>.
"Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance . Renaissance . Brunelleschi." PBS. Web. 08 May 2010. .
"Medieval Sourcebook: Christopher Columbus: Extracts from Journal." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 07 May 2010. <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columbus1.html>.
"Transcript: Jefferson's Secret Message to Congress (Rivers, Edens, Empires: Lewis & Clark and the Revealing of America, Library of Congress)." Library of Congress Home. Web. 07 May 2010. <http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/lewisandclark/transcript56.html>.
Good thesis statement and good sources, but you don't entirely explain how your sources prove your thesis valid. You paper doesn't entirely demonstrate that exploration is "good". Consider just the case of what the expeditions of Columbus and the Spanish after him did to the native peoples of America.
ReplyDelete