Introduction
Hernando de Soto was a Spanish conquistador and an explorer of the mid 1500’s. He discovered the Mississippi River and helped in the conquest of Central America and Peru.
Hernando de Soto was born around 1500 in Spain. He was a member of The explorer Francisco Pizzaro’s expedition in the 1530’s and helped to conquer Peru. Then he set out again in 1539 to North America where he discovered the Mississippi River. On May 21, 1542, Hernando died of fever in Ferriday, Louisiana.
(Portrait of Hernando de Soto, 1538)
Primary source
Early Life
Hernando de Soto was born in Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain. He was born in a well-known family, but they struggled for money. A man named Pedro Arias Dávila made it possible for Hernando to go to university. His father and mother wished for him to become a lawyer so that the family would be supplied with money. However, De Soto was drawn to the riches and fame of the west Indies, and decided to become an explorer. He was then invited to join the expedition led by Dávila
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to the West Indies, in 1514. Hernando de Soto was then put as the captain of one of the cavalry exploration teams. Travelling from Panama to Nicaragua and then Honduras, Hernando showed his competence as a trader and explorer, gaining large profits because of his demanding and bold trading techniques. Exploration Conquest of Peru On Francisco Pizzaro’s expedition to conquer and explore Peru in 1532, Hernando de Soto was appointed second in command.
During the exploration of Peru, de Soto found a road that lead to the city of Cuzco, the capital of Peru.
Hernando was a vital part in organising and commanding the attack on Cuzco, which the Spanish came out on top of. Hernando de Soto returned to Spain in 1536 where he married Dávila’s (His sponsor who allowed him to go to university) daughter. De Soto’s profits from the conquest of the Incan Empire amounted to around 18,000 ounces of gold.
Discovery of the Mississippi River
Even though De Soto had settled down and was living comfortably, he was drawn to the stories of Cabeza de Vaca’s exploration of Florida and other places. He sold all his possessions and assembled a 10 ship fleet expedition to North America. De Soto had a crew of 700 men all chosen for their fighting
abilities. In 1538, April 6, Hernando de Soto departed from Spain. They eventually landed at Tampa bay, Florida, after stopping at Cuba along the way on the 25th May, 1539. Over the next couple of years De Soto and his men explored and travelled, all the way battling and enslaving Indians. Moving on from Florida, De Soto travelled to Georgia and then Alabama. After winning a tough battle against Indians in Tuscaloosa, He and his men travelled West, discovering the start of the Mississippi River in the process. This was the first time a European expedition had discovered it. (Painting of De Soto’s discovery of The Mississippi River, 1541) Primary source Death Shortly after the crossing of the Mississippi, De Soto was hit with fever. On May 21, 1542 Hernando died of fever in Ferriday, Louisiana. His body was sunk in the river that he discovered. At this stage almost half of his original 700 had been wiped out, either by sickness or in battle. Luis de Moscoso Alvarado was appointed as the new captain of the expedition. (Painting of De Soto’s death, 1541) Primary source
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De Soto was born somewhere around the year 1500 in Jerez de los Caballeros in Extremadura in what is now Spain (Milanich & Hudson 26). Contemporaries of de Soto would include Cortez, Balboa, and Francisco Pizzaro with whom he would share a great adventure. De Soto's ancestors had been part of the reconquista and as aristocrats many had been knighted for their part in driving the Moors from the Iberian Peninsula (Milanich & Hudson 26). Hernando would have played no part in the expulsion of the Moors; however, family legacy would have played no small part in developing his frame of reference. It is thought that by the time do Soto was fourteen he was on his way to the new world.
From the foothills of Barcelona in Spain, a man came to be. Full of strength, honor, wisdom, and courage, this man was named Hernan Cortes. He, as the Spaniards would say, was a god among men. Legend says he had cat-like reflexes, and also had the mind filled with strategies. He may not have been the tallest person in the crowd, but he had the most will to achieve greatness. He is one of Spain's most influential, if not the most, conquistadors.
We finally get to stop from our long journey in search of gold and silver in the American wilderness. My leader is Hernando De Soto a Spanish explorer who has lead several successful expeditions. He is a very determined and driven man letting nothing get in his way. He was born October 21,1496 in Extremadura, Spain. He first came to the New World in 1541. He went on to explore Central America and accumulated a considerable amount of wealth through Indian slave trade. After growing restless back in Spain, he was given the right to conquer Florida and the North American Mainland. In late May 1539, Hernando landed on the West coast of Florida where we all started on this journey.
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Hernando de Soto was born in Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain. Hernando de Soto explored for Spain. In the early 1530s, while on Francisco Pizarro’s expedition, de Soto helped conquer Peru. In 1539 he set out for North America, where he discovered the Mississippi River. While exploring Peru, in 1533, Hernando came upon a road leading to Cuzco, the capital of Peru’s Incan Empire. He played a fundamental role in organizing the conquest of Peru, and engaged in a successful battle to capture Cuzco. While de Soto became a wealthy man after his conquest of Peru, he stayed restless and desired to increase his wealth. Evidence of gold in the southeastern part of North America consequently spurred Hernando to organize an expedition in hopes to find another
Cervantes was born on September 29, 1547 in a town near Madrid called Alcala de Henares, Spain. He was the fourth son of seven children. His father was a surgeon and his mother died when he was young. Since his father was a medical doctor his family had to travel to many towns in Spain. During his youth and adolescence he was taught by Jesuits. Not much about his education is known but when he was about twenty-one years old in 1568, he went to Madrid where Juan Lopez de Hoyos, a Jesuit, was his tutor. Cervantes did not attend to university, but he read broadly, this greatly influenced his writings.