Ponce De Leon Research Paper

Ponce De Leon lived the live any ordinary person dreams of; discover three new lands, sustain a happy marriage, have three kids, accumulate a small fortune, even die a heroic death. Juan Ponce De Leon was born in 1460 in Santervas de Campos, Spain, into a destitute yet noble family. As a minor, he trained as a page in the court of Aragon, where he learned social skills, religion, and military tactics. As an adolescent, he trained as a knight and fought at the Moors in Granada. He was first introduced to sailing when he volunteered to accompany Christopher Columbus on his second expedition to Hispaniola in 1493 at the age of 33. He soon set out to be a Spanish explorer and was sponsored by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. When he

From 1500-1508 he built successful settlements in Hispaniola (now Haiti and Dominican Republic) with Christopher Columbus. In 1504 he became governor of the eastern part and held the position for three years. In 1507 he sailed back to Spain, where married a woman named Lenora and had three children. In 1508 he traveled to Puerto Rico to search for riches. Once he found enough gold, he went back to Hispaniola to meet his family. He and his family soon went back to Puerto Rico (borinquen at the time) to settle it further. Ponce De Leon was then named governor and held the position for one year. He was thrown from the position by Diego Columbus, Christopher Columbus’ son, and lived in a small house with his family for three years. In 1512, King Ferdinand sent him out to search for an island called Bimini (now part of the Bahamas) to search for more gold. Rumors say that he was also looking for the Fountain of Youth, which some said was hidden there. Ponce De Leon also struck a deal with the king. The deal was any uninhabited place he found, he would become governor of. In March, 1513, Ponce De Leon led the expedition to Bimini from Puerto Rico with 200 men and one ship. A month later in April 1513, Ponce De Leon sighted land. He knew he didn’t find Bimini but thought it was just another island instead of Americas mainland. 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. It was attacked by the Tainos