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http://www.neta.com/~1stbooks/defen1.htm
Hispanic Exploration & Conquest of
North America (1492-1541)
Some scientists have estimated that perhaps as early as 40,000
years ago people discovered the American continent. for approximatley 39,500
years, they expanded into the far reaches of both North and South America
and built great civilizations. We do not know what they called themselves
or how many of them there were. Some we know as the Anasazi (New Mexico),
the Maya (Central America), the Inca (Peru), the Toltec (Mexico), and the
Aztec (Mexico).
In 1492, the isolation of these people was ended when Cristobal
Colon, under Spanish ptronage, entered their world through the Caribbean
basin. He called the land "the Indies," and he called the people "Indians"
because he thought that hehad discovered a westward route to the riches
of the Easwt Indies. Colon returned triumphantly to Spain and the wave
of Eurpean exploration and search for riches in this "other world" began.
Colon made three more trips to the area of his discovery
and explored portions of modern day Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas.
Although he came to realize that he had not discovered the Indies he had
originally sought, he did find enough gold and produce from the mining
and agricultural colony which he established at Hispaniola (now known as
Santo Domingo) to excite the rest of the Western world.
The only other European nation competing with Spain to find
a sea routeto the Indies was Portugal. In 1498, Vasco de Gama reached
India by rounding the southern tip of Africa and sailing across the Indian
Ocean. As a result of the achievements of Columbus and de Gama, the Pope
divided the Wesern Hemisphere between Spain and Portugal. For almost the
next one hundred years, Spain enjoyed a virtual monopoly in the exploration,
settlement and development of North and South America.
Juan Ponce de Leon, became the first of the Spanish "advancers"
(adelantados) of Colon's discoveries. In 1508 he exlored Puerto Rico; Jamaica
in 1509; and cuba in the years following 1511. This Caribbean exploration
ended in 1513 when Vasco de Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama
and became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean.
That same year, de Leon discovered Florida. The Spanish
explorers paused to evaluate their new discoveries and to plan a major
expansion of their efforts.
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