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David Livingstone Research Paper

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David Livingstone was born in early 1813, to parents of low position in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, and grew up with several siblings in a single tenement room. His father was a passionate member of a missionary society, he taught a Protestant Sunday school where he took a literal interpretation of the Bible. However, this was not enough to sustain a life any higher than that of poverty. Due to this Livingstone had to work 14 hours a day in a local cotton mill from the age of 10 to 26. Here the experience left him with a rare respect and empathy for workers and worker-slaves. In 1836, he began his studies in medicine and theology in Glasgow where he then decided to become a missionary doctor. 9 years later he married the daughter …show more content…

At the end of the 1850s, he resigned from the London Missionary Society to devote more time to exploration. He received a commission from the Royal Geographic Society and this helped fund an exploration up the River Zambezi. This exploration encountered many difficulties and was perceived to be a failure by many. In 1866, Livingstone returned to Africa for a mission to discover the source of the Nile. He never quite attained this goal, but regardless this helped to fill in details about the great Lakes of Lake Tanganyika and Lake Mweru. Livingstone also helped identify Lake Malawi and Lake Ngami. Unfortunately on this expedition he again lost helpers due to illness or desertion. After suffering a variety of tropical illnesses throughout his life, Livingstone died of dysentery in 1872, aged 59. He passed away knelt in prayer. By faith David was one of the greatest Christian missionaries by travelling to the unknowns lead by his determination to preach the Gospel to those who did not have the opportunity or abilities to do so. His determination lead to the further knowledge, communications and connections between Africa and

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