Juan Perez: Spanish Explorer

The beginning of the Spanish Exploration begun in 1492 when Christopher Columbus set out on his first voyage with Spanish explores and conquistadors to conquer the Americas. The motives for the Spanish exploration was the three G’s gold, god and glory stated in source B. His objective was to not only to conquer the Americas but sail west until he reached Asia or The Indies, where the riches of gold and pearls awaited him and his men. Some of the difficulties connected to the exploration was the lack of knowledge of the oceans also the Spanish had beliefs that there were sea monsters lurking the deep but disease and starvation didn’t help the journey. Even more problems occurred such as wild natives, cannibals, reefs and shoals also storms,

Christopher Columbus discovered America or “the new world.” He was a navigator, explorer, and colonizer.

Explorer and conquistador Hernando de Soto was born c. 1500 to a noble but poor family in Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain. He was raised at the family manor. A generous patron named Pedro Arias Dávila funded de Soto's education at the

For thousands of years mankind has felt an insatiable desire to explore. Many people groups from around the world have discovered and conquered new lands. The Spanish Conquistadors are among these. In the 1500s, there were many compelling incentives luring them to gain control of the Aztec Empire in New Spain (Mexico). What impelled the Conquistadors to conquer the Aztecs was a desire to spread the teachings of the Christian church, to gain wealth allowing them to establish roots in New Spain, and to develop relationships between the Aztecs and the continental Spaniards.

As an adult he moved to Cadiz and became a Squire, he was taught to hunt and handle weapons such as swords and Spanish guns that looked like rifles. Because of this he was recruited to fight against the Moors in Granada from 1487 to 1492. Nevertheless he was considered of a person without importance when he took his first expedition in 1493 on Christopher Columbus’s second voyage to the new world. This voyage started in the harbor of Cadiz and led to the Canary Islands, which is where the last touch of land was had before amassing the large body of water that is the Atlantic which eventually led to Espanola. This particular voyage took roughly twenty two days to cross the Atlantic. Aurelio Tio, a historian of the time from Puerto Rico describes Juan Ponce De Leon before he began his journey, “He [Juan Ponce] was a squire without a source of wealth, a veteran of the Conquest of Granada, in search of fame, honor, adventure, and fortune, like the

Born in 1460, Juan Ponce de Leon was made to be an explorer. Coming from a poor yet noble family in Santervás de Campos, Spain, Juan Ponce de Leon wanted to explore and obtain more money. He served as a page on the court of Aragon where he learned social skills, military tactics, and religion. He served in the military and fought using the military tactics he had acquired in the previous years. He became a conquistador shortly after his time in the military. As all conquistadors do, Juan Ponce de Leon sought for fame and fortune; he sought to explore and go to the New World. Ponce de Leon was very determined to explore and discover new treasures and riches. In this essay, we will discuss who Juan Ponce de Leon was and what he did, what Florida was like in the 16th century, and why the public should know more about Ponce de

Christopher Columbus is mainly known for being the one to uncover America. He had been labeled as a brave voyager who discovered new land, and started settlement there.

Francisco Pizarro was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. He conquered the Incan Empire in Peru. He was very successful in doing so. Another thing he did was help and accompany Vasco Núñez de Balboa discover the Pacific Ocean. His goal was to have fame and fortune. He was important because of his role in Peru.

Rationale: Anyone who has studied history of the Americas’ knows that it was founded by Christopher Columbus in 1492 however, he could not have explored the whole continent by himself. Who are the other Spanish explores and what are they famous for?

Juan Ponce de Leon was born in Spain in 1460. Looking for fame and fortune, he started his career as an explorer by assisting in Christopher Columbus’s second expedition. Later on, he started his own expeditions to search for gold. On his various expeditions, he is known for building settlements in Puerto Rico and finding Florida while on the search for the fountain of youth.

Juan Ponce de Leon was the first European known to have visited present-day United States in 1513. He also discovered Florida and the Bahama Channel, and colonized Puerto Rico according to the Mariners Museum website. In 1502, he left on a voyage with Frey Nicolás de Ovando and arrived at Santo Domingo. He lived there from 1502 to 1504 and was named the island’s captain by Ovando. De Leon then moved to Salvaleón and lived there from 1505 to 1508. In 1506, he made a request to travel to and conquer Borinquen. After receiving permission from Ovando, he started a settlement there and renamed it San Juan de Puerto Rico. On March 3rd 1513, he left Puerto Rico with 3 ships to explore north of Cuba. On March 27th 1513 he sighted mainland Florida.

Before Cuba became a nation, Cuba was first a Spanish colony. In 1492, Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer, claimed Cuba as a colony of Spain after he was sent by the Spanish monarchy to find a route to Asia, specifically Southeast Asia. Columbus enlisted the help of the native people in Cuba, known as the Taino, to find consequential resources on the island for Spain. The Tainos’ willingness to aid Columbus caused the native people to become enslaved under Spanish rule. Despite the encouragement from Hatuey, a Taino leader who tried warning fellow Taino the horrors of Spanish subjugation, uprisings to remove the Spanish failed. In 1570’s, the economic success of the farming industry fueled Spain to import Africans to work as slaves.

In today’s world, we have many famous explorers that we study in text books. One person that is lesser known is Hernan Cortez. Hernan Cortez was born into a lesser noble family in the year of 1485. He was born by the name of Hernan Cortez Pizarror (aztec-history,com). Hernan was destined by his parents to become a lawyer. Setting his own path, Hernan Cortez became a conquistador instead at the age of nineteen. Denying his orders to not set sail, Hernan took eleven ships and more than five hundred men to the Mexican Coast (biography.com). Later becoming a ruler and a criminal, he died December 2, 1547.

Hernan Cortes was a fierce conquistador from Spain that grew up in a noble family. In 1504, he headed out for Hispaniola but ended up in Cuba in 1511. Cortes convinced the Cuban governor to let him be the leader and general of an expedition to Mexico. He then established Veracruz, and was elected official General. Cortes scorched his ships. His men were skeptical about

During a time when there were many expeditions to the new world, Hernan Cortez was a man who set out to expand Spain’s grasp on newly discovered land. The Governor had scheduled for Cortez to explore the newly discovered Mexico area in a small expedition. It was ultimately canceled, but Cortez still set out on February 18th, 1519 with Spanish men to the new land.