European Disease in the New World Essay -- American America History

European Disease in the New World Humans possess an innate curiosity that drives us to explore the unknown. Documentation of exploration by sea goes as far back as 3200 B.C., when Pharaoh Snefru brought 40 ships from Byblus to Phoenicia, followed by the first recorded expedition of exploration from Egypt in 2750 B.C, (http://www.mariner.org/age/histexp.html). Events such as these would eventually give way to a period of vigorous exploration known as the Age of Exploration. At the height of the Age of Exploration in the early fifteenth century, European nations became poised to expand their influence to the rest of the world. Due to their remarkable programs of sustained and systematic exploration, they were well equipped for countless expeditions driven by the desire for fortune and conquest, often disguised by a religious agenda. What resulted in their efforts, however, was not the enlightenment of a people, but rather, the transformation, and in some cases, the destruction of the cultures that these Europeans "disc overed." They brought more than materials, technologies, and i...