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Spanish 10th essay Ponce De Leon
Don Juan Ponce de Leon "To bad he had to kick the bucket!"
	Don Juan Ponce de Leon was a Spanish conqueror and explorer. He was born around 1460 in San Tervas de Campos, Spain. Ponce de Leon lived during an age of great discovery and excitement. Ponce de Leon is well known, claiming and naming what is now Florida, the discovery of Puerto Rico, and his never-ending search for the old time classic, the Fountain of Youth!
On November 19, 1493 Ponce de Leon was one of the first Europeans to see the small island of Borinquen, the Indian name for Puerto Rico. Ponce de Leon sailed to Puerto Rico in 1506 with two hundred men to the island and found out that it had rich gold deposits. He enslaved the natives, and forced them to mine gold for him. Ponce de Leon left Puerto Rico and returned again in 1508 this time he brought with him only fifty men. On this voyage his ship went through a terrible storm that caused him to run onto the rocks on two occasions. The crew was forced to throw over much of their supplies in order to keep the ship from sinking. After Ponce de Leon finally arrived in Puerto Rico he became the governor of the island. This caused him to become very wealthy, and the most powerful man on the island, who only received orders from the kind himself!
In 1511 King Ferdinand ordered Ponce de Leon replaced as governor by Diego Columbus. Life for Ponce de Leon would have been difficult if he stayed in Puerto Rico since much of his power over the island was taken when his rank was taken away. It was at this time that Ponce de Leon began his search for the Fountain of Youth. Many historians feel it was not only to discover the LENGENDARY waters, but also for the gold and silver that was supposed to be at the sight of the fountain. Ponce de Leon explored many regional islands in his search for the Fountain of Youth, including the Bahamas and Bimini.
It was during Ponce de Leon's search for the Fountain of Youth that he came to a land that he eventually named, La Florida or "land of flowers". He made two visits to this new land. On his first visit the native inhabitants were friendly to Ponce de Leon and his men.
I, Francisco de Bobadilla was a colonial administrator and Spanish conquistador. I was a Knight of the Order of Calatrava and an Castilian of the Royal House . I was sent as a judge to the island of the San Salvador, where I arrested Columbus for Corruption in his government. I served as governor of Indies for 2 years .
Christopher Columbus and Alvez Nunez Cabeza de Vaca were both explorers for Spain, but under different rulers and different times. The more famous, Christopher Columbus, came before de Vaca’s time. Columbus sailed a series of four voyages between 1492 and 1504 in search for a route to Asia which led accidentally to his discovery of new land inhabited with Indians. Christopher sailed under the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella for his journey to the “Indies,” whom he was loyal to by claiming everything in their name. De Vaca , followed in Christopher’s footsteps and journeyed to Hispanionola for Spain’s emperor, Charlves V, the grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella. Both, Columbus and de Vaca composed a series of letters addressing the main issue of their journey to the new land, but both were expressed in a different manner, included different material, and were motivated to write for dissimilar reasons.
The nature of the Narvaez expedition was intended to be like that of any other Spanish exploration to the New World. Panfilo de Narvaez, who was selected as governor of Florida and who financed the expedition, was also appointed the commander in chief by emperor Charles V. Cabeza de Vaca was appointed royal treasurer of the voyage for his brightness and noble character. The Spaniards were to conquer the land of Florida in the name of the Charles V and the nation of Spain. They expected to take on and overcome any natives who got in their way and to reap all of the wealth and materials of worth that they came across. When the ships arrived at the western coastline of Florida, they were greeted with a storm. This was just a sign of things to come for the fleet. The storm forced the ships to land at a different bay than what they planned on. From this point the governor wanted to move inland and explore the terrain. Meanwhile he also wanted the ships to sail along the coast until they reached the correct bay. This commenced the downfall of the conquest.
Reading both passages of the two explorers, Christopher Columbus and Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, gives a great description of how the world was back in the 1500s. Now, although both were Spaniard explorers, each had different experiences and discoveries. One of the differences is how they approached exploring the new world. For instance, Columbus went to find new land in the west, while Cabeza de Vaca went as an expedition to already found lands. In addition, Columbus had a lot of success, while Cabeza de Vaca since the beginning, because of Narváez, “endured many disasters” (Baym, et al., 2013, p. 28). Furthermore, Christopher Columbus considered most important to find more land, and especially the route to reach Asia.
Juan Ponce de Leon is most recognized as the Spanish explorer who discovered Florida. However this was not his only achievement or contribution to the Spanish empire. Prior to discovering Florida he helped fight off the last of the Moors in Granada, he prevented the Indians from attacking the Spaniards in Hispaniola, he served as the first governor of Puerto Rico, discovered other geographical features off of Florida’s coast all while never giving up on his quest for gold or to gain the same recognition as Christopher Columbus.
Columbus was describing in his letter how beautiful this land "the mountains and hills, and plains, and fields, and land, so beautiful and rich for planting and sowing....", and he was also describing the people who lived there.Columbus’s letter meant to be private, but it became public to people later because of Columbus discovered. Columbus was trying to impressed Luis de Sant’ Angel of things that he saw in the land. Columbus was trying to be persuasive by describing and writing what he observed.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus was a self-made man who worked his way up to being the Captain of a merchant vessel. He gained the support of the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, for an expedition to the Indies. With the support of the Spanish monarchy, he set off to find a new and faster trade route to the Indies. Upon the arrival of his first voyage, Columbus wrote a letter to Luis de Santangel, a “royal official and an early supporter of his venture,” in February 1493 (35). The epistle, letter, entitled “Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage” was copied and then distributed in Spain before being translated and spread throughout Europe. The Letter is held in such regard with the people as it is considered the first printed description of the new world. Through his description of the nature of the islands, Columbus decided the future fate of the islands. His description of the vast beauty of the nature around him, declares both the economic and nationalistic motivations for colonizing the new world.
Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513 discovered Florida and was later met by a southern Indian tribe that would cut Leon’s triumphant moment short. A second attempt to colonize in America was led unsuccessful by Panfilo de Norvaez in 1528. Many men were lost at sea and others were among the Indian people. The first Spanish expedition in 1539 to what would later be known as Florida was an invasion that would be soon attacked twice by natives. Herman de Soto and his group of men in 1542 were defeated along with the rest of the Spanish attempts. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was another explorer in 1540 that attempted to bring back any rare goods to Spain. The army traveled through the southwest and to the Great Plains, returning empty-handed.
Puerto Rico was “discovered” by Christopher Columbus, on November 19, 1493.There he discovered the native, Taino.
Since it was mid-spring, he decided to name it La Florida, meaning “flowery”, because of the vegetation he predicted was going to grow. Although, some say he didn’t even discover it since there were many sailors exploring the area, making constant journeys near Florida, some say one of them may have even found Florida before he did. Let’s also not forget about the natives that were there only a couple thousand years before him. After he found Florida, Ponce De Leon returned to Puerto Rico. When he got there, he found the whole island in chaos.
To the "politically correct," the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America is no cause for celebration. And even before 1992 began, their protests resulted in a significant victory: the naming of an American Indian as co-grand marshal in the 1992 Rose Parade. Parade officials caved in to critics, who denounced the tournament committee when it first named as grand marshal Cristobal Colon, a direct descendant of Christopher Columbus. But the actual target of those critics was not simply Colon; it was Western civilization.
years did Cervantes find a patron. It was then that he had the time to devote
The "discovery" or infiltration of the island of Borinquen (or Puerto Rico as it was later renamed) in 1493 by Spain resulted in the decimation of the native Taino population. With the loss of an immediate source of cheap labor to work the fields for their sugar cane industry, they introduced African culture into the region by importing slaves to replace the Taino field workers. In addition to the introduction of African culture into Puerto Rico voluntary immigration brought further divergence from the native population of the island through the influx of foreigners of European descent. The prosperous sugar and coffee industries during the Spanish rule attracted foreigners seeking economic prosperity from area such as France, Italy, Spain (primarily Corsica and Mallorca) and other areas in Europe. The arrival of the foreigners resulted in the "whitening" (Gonzalez) of the racial mixture of the island’s inhabitants.
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo - A Voyage of Discovery. "Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo." National Parks Service. National Parks Service, 08 Feb. 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2014. .
In September 1493, Ponce de Leon went on Columbus’ 2nd voyage as one of the 200 “gentlemen volunteers.” His boat reached the Caribbean in November 1493. He and his other sea mates visited several islands before arriving at their primary destination in Hispaniola. During his time in Hispaniola, Ponce de Leon was assigned many jobs like crushing rebellions and to establish new towns. Once Ponce de Leon had settled in and gotten more responsibility and power, he was allowed to explore Puerto Rico for gold and other good things for trade. During his exploration, he got a good understanding of the geographic features of the land and did confirm the presence of gold. His exploration was a success and he was appointed governor of San Juan Bautista (Puerto Rico). He was later instructed to extend the land and look for more gold. While Ponce de Leon went out to explore, he used a system called Encomienda, which allows you to use natives to work for you. He used his slaves to grow crops and help mine for gold. During his time exploring the land, Diego Colon (Columbus’ son) had arrived in Hispaniola as acting Viceroy. This caused a political struggle between Colón and Ponce de León. Colón's position as Viceroy made him more powerful than Ponce de Leon so Ponce’s position in San Juan was not