Juan Ponce de Leon - The First European to Reach the USA

-
Juan Ponce de Leon was a Spanish explorer and nobleman who also became the first Governor of Puerto Rico under the Spanish Empire. He was the first European to reach Florida (now in the USA), which was also the initial exploration of the mainland USA (area south of Canada and north of Mexico).

Early Life

Juan Ponce was born in 1474 in the now-Spanish province of Valladolid. During his youth, he took part in the fights against the Muslim rule of Granada for the re-conquest of Spain. 

A portrait of Juan Ponce de Leon
Juan Ponce was the first governor of Puerto Rico


Arrival in the Americas

After the re-conquest of Spain in 1492, the chance of a military expedition in Spain ended for Juan Ponce. Therefore, he decided to go abroad to test his luck. He joined Christopher Columbus for his second voyage to the New World in 1493, along with 1200 men. After visiting several islands, their fleet reached the final destination of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic and Haiti).

The Tainos (indigenous people of Hispaniola and other Caribbean areas) were very rebellious, and Juan received orders in 1504 to maintain peace in the region. He did so after a massacre in Higuey (easternmost Hispaniola). After this achievement, he was later appointed the frontier Governor of this newly conquered province.

In 1508, he took an expedition to modern-day Puerto Rico with the permission of the Spanish king to find gold. The mission was quite successful, but he had to return after a few months with his companions due to a shortage of food and other commodities. Later in 1509, Ponce was appointed governor of San Juan Bautista (now the capital of Puerto Rico). He continued his efforts to explore gold in this area. In 1511, Juan Ceron replaced Juan Ponce as governor after a long political and legal battle with Diego Colon (son of Christopher Columbus). He was made Viceroy of the Spanish West Indies on the orders of a court in July 1509. 

Discovery of Florida

In 1511, there were rumors in Spain about the undiscovered islands northwest of Hispaniola. Spanish king Ferdinand was eager to discover this area for Spain. Ferdinand wanted to reward Ponce for his services and made a contract with him in 1512. According to this contract, Juan Ponce received special rights to discover the islands of Benimy and its neighboring islands for the next three years. In case of success, he would remain governor of these new islands for his entire life. 

In March 1513, Ponce set out with 200 men and three ships from Puerto Rico. On 27th March, they reached the island of Great Abaco (northern Bahamas). On 2nd April 1513, Ponce and his men arrived at another island, which he named La Florida (land of flowers) due to an abundance of flowers. There, the Spanish clashed against the Calusa Native Americans and lost some of their men in several skirmishes. Later, they sailed to the southwest of Florida and reached the Dry Tortugas islands on 21st June. Then they arrived at Grand Bahama on 8th July and Puerto Rico on 19th October 1513. 

Quest for the Fountain of Youth

drawing of men in green area with a fountain
Juan Ponce discovered Florida while searching for Fountain of Youth

According to a legend, the discovery of Florida by Juan Ponce was not only for gold and expansion of the Spanish Empire, but he was also in pursuit of the Fountain of Youth. It was an imaginary fountain with stories that its water restores the youth of an aged person. Juan Ponce was also getting old and wanted to bring back his passing youth. Though there was no such fountain, Juan Ponce achieved a historic milestone in this process; the discovery of the Continental USA for the Europeans. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reasons for the Fall of the Umayyad Dynasty

-
Umayyad Caliphate was the second Muslim Caliphate that emerged after Rashidun Caliphate. However, it is commonly known as Umayyad Dynasty due to its centralization on the Umayyad clan of the Quraysh tribe of Makkah.  At its peak, the Umayyad Dynasty ruled the  Middle East, North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, Persia, and Central Asia . It makes it the largest Muslim dynasty and one of the largest empires in human history. Umayyad Caliphate also kept the unity of the Islamic Caliphate as more than one Muslim dynasty appeared soon after the fall of the Umayyad Dynasty. But despite these prominent political and military achievements, Umayyad Dynasty could only last for around 90 years. The Abbasids took the throne from them in 750 AD (Later, Umayyad ruled the Iberian Peninsula from 756 to 1031 AD). Fall of Umayyad Dynasty - Main Reasons Surprisingly, such a vast and politically powerful umpire could only last 90 years. There are several reasons behind the fall of t...
Read more

Reasons for the Fall of the Abbasid Caliphate

-
Abbasid Caliphate was the third Muslim Caliphate after the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphates. It was also the second Muslim dynasty after Umayyad Dynasty, as the rulers during this dynasty belonged only to the Abbasid family.  The Abbasids took the throne in 750 AD after the fall of the Umayyad Dynasty . They ruled almost the entire Muslim world (directly or indirectly) for more than 500 years till 1258 AD. In 1258, Mongols occupied Baghdad and assassinated the last Abbasid caliph Mustasim, thus effectively bringing  the downfall of  the Abbasid Caliphate. Though Abbasids remained caliphs for over 500 years, the gradual decline of their empire started almost from the beginning. The following are the top reasons behind the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate. Fall of the Abbasid Caliphate - Main  Reasons Differences with Shia Abbasids and Shia were together during the Hashemite movement, which overthrew the  Umayyad Caliphate . But differences between t...
Read more

Muslim Migration to Abyssinia - Difficulties and Significance

-
Migration to Abyssinia is a significant event in Islamic History. Through this migration (Hijrah), several Muslims saved themselves from the persecution of the  Quraysh tribe of Makkah. The helpful experience of this migration paved the way for a far more fruitful Muslim Migration to Madinah, which later proved to be the basis of the formation of the Islamic Caliphate. Situation Before Hijrah Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) started preaching Islam secretly in 610 AD. After three years, he publically started teaching Islam and declared his prophethood. Quraysh became furious at his teachings as it was against the way of their forefathers. They started mistreating those few people who accepted Islam, and life became difficult for Muslims in Makkah.  First Hijrah to Abyssinia At that time, Muslims heard about a kind-hearted king of Abyssinia (now in Ethiopia and Eritrea), Najashi . On seeing the difficulties of people and the cruelty of Quraysh, Muhammad (PBUH) allowed ...
Read more