Juan Ponce de Leon was born in Tierra de Campos de
Palacia, Spain in 1840 to a family known for its noble status; he later enlisted as a soldier and fought in the war in Granada. He then left
his military life to become an explorer like Columbus; years later, Ponce was named the governor a part of Spain
after the notable feat of subduing an Indian rebellion. He was officially sent
on an exploration in 1508 by the King and Queen of Spain, on orders to retrieve the gold found in Puerto Rico. When he arrived back, Ponce was named
governor of Puerto Rico where he settled with his wife and daughter.
He then voyaged onto another exploration for the crown where he looked for more gold while also investigating the fountain of youth. In 1512, the explorer received a contract from the crown that
stated any land he discovered would be his for the next three years,
but expected to pay for it all himself. The
next year, Ponce led three ships to the island of Bimini. On Easter Sunday the explorer arrived to an island that no sailor had ever seen before, now believed to be
the coastline of Florida. They sailed down the coastline until they
landed on the Florida mainland on May 23. They encountered Native Americans and all were involved
with several skirmishes with both sides were hit with
casualties The Spanish took eight Native hostages but nevertheless, were attacked again by the Native Americans,
with the Spanish taking down four of their canoes.
Please do not plagiarize! Zero points earned!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI realize the main motive of all expeditions is the search of gold in order to stimulate the economy of Europe and earn glory to the country.
ReplyDeleteMost of the explores that went to the expeditions were looking to either rule the land or see what they could take form the Americas to help out their home lands economic problems.
ReplyDeleteThis story seems to have a connection with my explorer Pedro Menendez de Aviles because he was also sent to Florida as well by the King.
ReplyDeleteI think that this explorer was too dreamy. He was sent with the purpose to find gold for the crown; however, began to look for the said "fountain of youth". I do give him credit for the finding of Florida, nevertheless. It seemed as if the relationship of both the natives and Ponce de Leon was going fine. I wonder what happened.
ReplyDeleteHe was clearly ambitious to find gold and land to conquer, if I interpreted your post correctly. However, I'm wondering if he was capable of handling all finances and expenses of the expedition himself, or if he came across certain obstacles?
ReplyDeleteHe was capable, and he did.
DeleteJuan Ponce was similar to my person, Hernan Cortes, that was seeking for success.
ReplyDeleteFor whatever reason I do think he is a great explorer bhis motives for exploring seem a bit greedy to me
ReplyDeleteI saw a few of my peers talk about greed in their comments. But you might want to ask yourself if it is greed if their primary reasons in the americas was economic success.
ReplyDelete