King Juan Ponce: The Age Of Discovery

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Many explorers came to America in the 1500’s and the 1600’s. This time period was called The Age of Discovery or the Age of Exploration. Many Europeans came to The New World for gold, slaves, more land, and to find a trade route to Asia. One of the many explorers that came was Juan Ponce de Leon. Juan Ponce came to the New World to find gold and more land. Juan Ponce was the first European to land in Florida and he named it and colonized it. The result of Juan Ponce’s previous expedition was that he became governor of Puerto Rico. Juan Ponce was born in 1460. He was born into a poor yet noble family. Ponce served as a page at the court of Aragon. He eventually became a soldier in his lifetime. While he was still a soldier he fought against the Moors in Granada. Juan Ponce built settlements in Hispaniola (Haiti and The Dominican Republic). In Juan Ponce’s lifetime he built a small financial empire, he also was the governor of Puerto Rico. Juan Ponce’s expedition landed somewhere on the western side of Florida peninsula. He was soon attacked by Calusa Warriors. Ponce was wounded in the …show more content…

Juan Ponce was sent out to find gold and more land. King Ferdinand sent Juan Ponce to go find more land and gold. Juan Ponce went out to find gold and land for King Ferdinand when he came back the king wished to reward him for his service. The king encouraged Juan to continue to look for more lands and gold. Ponce was encouraged also by the Spanish crown. He was also sent to a Caribbean Island called Bimini where he was sent to find “The Fountain of Youth.” He soon returned to Puerto Rico bringing his wife and children. He also established a successful settlement in Hispaniola, by using a large number of slaves. Even though Juan Ponce was gaining on the island he had a struggle with the son of Christopher Colombus and the Spanish Crown, which resulted him to losing his governorship of Puerto

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