The Spanish Explorers
Last Updated    12/27/2007      12/26/2007     12/17/2007

The Spanish were interested in wealth. from India and the Far East.
In the late 1400s, they gained their freedom from the Moors.
By 1492, Spain was a Christian country.
Ferdinand and Isabella ruled Spain.
they entered the trade route race.

    
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was a navigator from Genoa.
He believed he could reach Asia by sailing west.
He tried to get financing from different nations.
The Portuguese, French, and English monarchs turned him down.
Queen Isabella of Spain agreed to support his plan.

The 1st Voyage
1492 August, Columbus sails from Spain in the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
The crew grew fearful the longer they were at sea.
They threatened to mutiny.
Columbus promised they would turn back after three days.

The Discovery
On the second day they spotted  an island in the Bahamas.
Columbus called the people living there Indians.
He spent several months sailing around the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola.
People were smoking cigars in Cuba.
1492 December 1492, the Santa Maria ran aground.
They used the wood to build Fort Navidad..

The Return
1793 January, Columbus and the Nina and Pinta sail back to Spain.
He brought gold, parrots, cotton, plants and animals and some Native Americans.
He was received as a hero.
He was named Admiral of the Ocean Seas.

2nd Voyage
Six months later he led a fleet of 17 ships and 1500 men on another voyage.
1493 October 13, Columbus leaves the Canary Islands.
Columbus explored and named several Caribbean islands.
He named Dominica, Guadeloupe,  Montserrat, Nevis, St Kitts, San Martin, Saba, and Saint Eustatius.
He landed at Puerto Rico where he rescued to boys.
1493 November 11, Columbus returns to Hispaniola.
The fort is in ruins.
It was destroyed by Taio people.
Columbus builds Isabelle about 60 miles away.
It was a poorly chosen location and lasted a short time.
Columbus left and explored Cuba and Jamaica.
He returned to Hispaniola. and then returned to Spain.

3rd Voyage
1498 May 30, Columbus leaves from Sanlucar, Spain.
Columbus explored Trinidad, the coast of Venezuela, the Orinoco River.
1498 August 19, Columbus returns to Hispaniola. and finds the people are not happy.
Columbus will not baptize natives.
The law forbade enslavement of Christians.
He had to hang crew members for disobedience.
People accused him of mismanagement.
On his return, Columbus was arrested.
He was accused of atrocities to the natives.
Columbus personally appealed to the King and Queen.
They restored his wealth and financed a 4th Voyage.

4th Voyage
1502 May 11, Columbus leaves Cadiz in search of the Strait of Malacca to the Indian Ocean.
June 15, landed at Martinique.
June 29, arrived at Santo Domingo but he was denied port.
The new governor refused to listen to Columbus's warning about a hurricane.
29 of 30 Spanish treasure ships were sunk.
Columbus explored Central America.
Columbus and his crew were stranded on Jamaica for a year.
The governor of Hispaniola refused to rescue Columbus.
Help finally arrived even without the governor's help.
1504 November 7, Columbus  returns to Spain.

Death
1506, Columbus dies convinced he had found Asia.
He died of a heart attack brought on by arthritis.


The Treaty of Tordesillas
Spain was worried that Portugal might take what Columbus had discovered.
1493, Pope Alexander VI drew the papal line of demarcation.
The line went from the North Pole to the South Pole.
It was 300 miles west of the Azores Islands.
Spain was to have non-Christian lands west of the line.
Portugal was to have non-Christian lands east of the line.
The Portuguese did not like the way the lands were divided.
1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas moved the line 500 miles farther west.
1502, Pedro Alvares Cabral discovered Brazil.
Portugal was then able to claim Brazil.
England, France, and the Netherlands explored and claimed land where they wished.

The Conquistadors
Spain sent conquistadors to find gold and explore new lands.

Amerigo Vespucci
He was a Florentine geographer.
1497-1504, during four voyages Vespucci explored the Atlantic coast of South America.
He wrote letters to Lorenzo de Medici about the voyages.
1508, King Ferdinand commisioned him to start a school for navigators.
Magellan was one of his students.



Ponce de Leon
1506, Ponce de Leon was governor of Puert Rico.
1512, Coulubus's son, Diego, won the right in court to be governor.
Ponce de Leon obtained titl to explore north of Cuba.
1513, Ponce de Leon sailed from Puerto Rico to explore Florida.
He sailed south along the Atlantic coast.
He sailed around the Florida Keys.
He sailed north along the Gulf coast of Florida.
1521, Ponce de Leon organized a colonizin expedition.
the expedition was attacked by Natives when the landed.
Ponce de Leon was wounded in the shoulder with a poisoned arrow.
The expedition sailed back to havan where Ponce de Leon died.

Vasco Nunez de Balboa
1500, Balboa was a member of an New World exploring expedition.
1502, he settles in Hispaniola where he fails as a planter and pig farmer.
1509, stows away on an expedition to Panama.
1510 September, Balboa founds Santa Maria after defeating 50 natives.
Balboa becomes Mayor of Santa Maria
He then becomes governor Veragua after removing Enciso.
Balboa gathered lots of gold from the natives.
1513, Balboa crossed the isthmus of Panama.
He was the first European to see the Great South Sea.
King sent a new governor and Enciso was mayor.
1514, Balboa resigns as governor.
The new governor had Balboa arrested and he had to pay reparations to Enciso.
The king then recognized Balboa's valuable services.
The governor was required to release and exonerate Balboa.
Balboa married the govwernor's daughter.
1517-1518, Balboa had four ships built for a new expedition.
he was instructed by the governor to return home.
On the way Pizarro arrested Balboa.
He was charged with treason.
1519, Balboa was found guilty and beheaded.


    
Hernado Cortes
1519-1521, Cortes invaded Mexico.
He destroyed the Aztec Empire ruled by Montezuma.
The Spanish spread small pox among the natives.
Cortes took large amounts of gold from the Aztecs and sent it back to Spain.

Ferdinand Magellan
Magellan was a Portuguese noble.
He sailed on early Portuguese voyages to India.
Portugal controlled the eastern route to the Indies.
Portugal would not allow him to look for a western route to the Indies.
1517, Magellan offered to help Spain find a western route.
1519, Magellan set sail from Spain.
He had a fleet of five shod a crew of 256 men.
1520 October, Magellan sails around the tip of South America.
He renamed the Great South Sea the Pacific Ocean.
Magellan lost two of his ships.
Drinking water was spoiled and the biscuits wee full of worms.
The crew ate rats, sawdust. and grilled leather.
three months later the reached the Mariana Islands.
The crew was suffering from scurvy, and they had no food.
After resting, Magellan set sail for the Philippine Islands.
Magellan became involved in a local war and he was killed.
Two ships were lost and more crew members were killed.
The last ship sailed across the Indian Ocean and around Africa.
1522, the last ship, loaded with spices, arrived in Seville, Spain.
There were only 18 men left.
They had sailed around the world.

Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
In November 1528, a shipwreck brought Cabeza de Vaca ashore at present day Galveston Island.
From 1528-1536, Cabeza de Vaca lived among the Native Americans.
He was the first European to explore what is now Texas and the Southwest.
He endured slavery and served as a trader.
He was recognized as a great healer and spiritual leader.
By the end of his long journey, Cabeza de Vaca became became a passionate defender of Indian human rights.

Francisco Pizarro
1532, Pizarro invaded Peru.
In five years, he conquered the Inca Empire.
Pizarro took silver and gold from the Incas.
The built the city of Lima on the coast.

Hernando de Soto
1539, de Soto sailed from Ciba to Florida and explored west.
He did not find gold.
He did discover the Mississippi River.

Francisco Coronado
1540, Coronado led an army from Mexico into the southwest of the United States.
He reached the Grand Canyon, but found no treasure.

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo
1542, Cabrillo explored the Pacific coast to Drake's Bay near San Fransico.

Bibliography
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"Cabeza de Vaca." Le Relacion. 27 Dec. 2007. http://www.library.txstate.edu/swwc/cdv/about/index.html.

"Ferdinand Magellan." Wikipedia On Line Encyclopedia. 25 Dec. 2007. 27 Dec. 2007.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Magellan.

"Francisco Pizarro." Wikipedia On Line Encyclopedia. 22 Dec. 2007. 27 Dec. 2007.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Pizarro.

"Francisco Vázquez de Coronado."  New Perspectives on the West. 2001. 27 Dec. 2007. http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/coronado.htm.

Greenblatt, Miriam, and Lemmo, Peter. Human Heritage A World History. Columbus, Ohio: McGraw-Hill, 2001.

"Hernan Cortes." Wikipedia On Line Encyclopedia. 18 Dec. 2007. 27 Dec. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hern%C3%A1n_Cort%C3%A9s.

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