Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Columbus, More and Renaissance Thought. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page research paper that considers the influence of Columbus and More on Renaissance culture. As a history term, the Renaissance refers, approximately speaking, to a period beginning in the mid-fourteenth to the early sixteenth centuries, during which western Europeans "rediscovered aspects of the Classical past that simulated new ideas about man's place in the universe" (Abulafia, 2008, p. 37). These new ideas ignited an avalanche of change in every aspect of European society. Both Christopher Columbus and Sir Thomas More were part of this change and this discussion explores how their lives and writing influenced the perpetuation of new ideas and the spirit of the Renaissance. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khcolmor.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
mans place in the universe" (Abulafia, 2008, p. 37). These new ideas ignited an avalanche of change in every aspect of European society. Both Christopher Columbus and Sir Thomas More
were part of this change and the following discussion explores how their lives and writing influenced the perpetuation of new ideas and the spirit of the Renaissance. When Columbus
first met Native Americans, he recorded his reactions in his journal. He describes them as a friendly people, handsome, with "well made" bodies, and whose custom was to go naked,
save for various colors of body paint (Columbus, 1996). In his writing, there is the implicit assumption that the natives will be converted to Christianity, but Columbus recommends "gentle" rather
than forced conversion and he also states the opinion that they are an "ingenious" people who "would e good servants" (Columbus, 1996). Columbuss discoveries, particularly his discovery of Native
American populations who lived far differently from Europeans, ignited a storm of debate, as the "great question" being considered in Europe in 1500 was: "were these primitive men and women
really human or were they beasts in human form" who were "conveniently created" by God to serve as slaves and "subordinates" to European conquerors (Abulafia, 2008, p. 37). In his
writing, Columbus vacillates between viewing the American natives as subjects of either the Chinese or Japanese emperors, as he thought he had found a shorter route to Asia, or as
"survivors of the Golden Age described by Classical authors, when mankinds lived free of materialistic concerns about wealth and property" (Abulafia, 2008, p. 37). Peter Martyr, an Italian courtier serving
at the court of the Spanish monarchs, proposed that Europeans "might learn something from such societies," which "know neither weights nor measures, nor that source of all misfortune, money" (Abulafia,
...