Bio and story of Juan Ponce de León

XanderC · Posted: 25/05/2015 09:38 Post subject: Bio and story of Juan Ponce de León

https://youtu.be/D95r3s-iobg - Learning About Ponce de León

Juan Ponce de León
Former Governor of Puerto Rico
Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. He became the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown. He led the first European expedition to Florida, which he named.

Born: 1474, Santervás de Campos, Spain
Died: July 1521, Havana, Cuba
Nationality: Spanish
Height: 1.50 m
Buried: Cathedral of San Juan Bautista, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Children: Luis Ponce de León, Isabel Ponce de León, Juana Ponce de León, Maria Ponce de León

Synopsis

Born in Spain in 1460, Juan Ponce de León led a European expedition to discover the mythical fountain of youth, instead finding the southeast coast of what would become the United States. He gave Florida its name and went on to become the first governor of Puerto Rico.

Early Years

Juan Ponce de León was born into a poor, yet noble family, in San Seravas, Spain. He served as a page at the court of Aragon where he learned social skills, religion, and military tactics. He soon became a soldier, fighting the Moors in Granada. Similar to other conquistadores, Ponce de Leon sought fame and fortune in exploration. It is believed he began as part of Christopher Columbus' second expedition in 1493. During his later explorations, he employed the skills and tactics he’d learned as a warrior to subdue and control the native peoples of the Caribbean.

Hispaniola and Puerto Rico

In the first decade of 1500, Ponce de Leon built settlements in Hispaniola, (modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic), started farms and constructed defenses in hopes of establishing an island colony. His efforts paid off and he prospered well selling produce and livestock to Spanish ships returning to Spain. After helping suppress a native Carib uprising in Hispaniola, Ponce de León was named the provincial governor of the eastern part of the country in 1504. On a return trip to Spain, he married and eventually had three children.

Hearing persistent reports of gold on nearby Puerto Rico, Ponce de León was officially sent by the Spanish crown to explore the island in 1508. Some accounts speculate his ambitions may have led him to unofficially explore the area two years earlier. He took 50 soldiers and a single ship, settling near what is now San Juan. A year later, he returned to Hispaniola, having found much gold and opportunity. The expedition was deemed a success and he was named governor of Puerto Rico.

The Spanish crown instructed Ponce de León to continue settlement of the island and step up gold-mining efforts. He soon returned to Puerto Rico, bringing his wife and children. Similar to his work on Hispaniola, he established a successful settlement with a large number of slaves as labor. Some historical accounts make mention of his nonviolent treatment of the native population, but the overall effect of enslaving native Tainos and the introduction of diseases like smallpox and measles was disastrous to the native population. In a struggle between the son of Christopher Columbus and the Spanish Crown in 1509, Ponce de Leon lost his governorship of Puerto Rico through political maneuvering by his rivals.

The Fountain of Youth and the Naming of Florida

Though the Spanish crown had given some ground to Ponce de Leon’s rivals, King Ferdinand wanted to reward him for his services. In 1512, the king encouraged him to continue searching for new lands in hopes of finding yet more gold and expanding the Spanish empire. Around this time, Ponce de Leon learned of a Caribbean island called Bimini on which it was rumored there were miraculous waters that were purported to be a “fountain of youth.” The fable was familiar on both sides of the Atlantic alleging the spring was in the Garden of Eden, which many believed was located in Asia, (early Spaniards believed America to be Asia.) Though the pursuit of a fountain of youth is often cited as the motivating force behind the expedition, Ponce de Leon was able to strike a substantially lucrative deal with the Crown to mount this expedition. He would hold exclusive rights and be declared governor for life to any lands he came across. Conspicuously, there was no mention of a fountain of youth in the crown’s orders.

In March, 1513, Ponce de León led an expedition, at his own expense, of three ships and over 200 men to Bimini from Puerto Rico. In a month's time, he and his men landed on the east coast of Florida. Not realizing he was on the mainland of North America, he thought he had landed on another island. He named the region Florida because he discovered it at Easter time and named it Pascua Florida (Spanish for “feast of flowers) because of its lush floral vegetation. Though often credited with “discovering” Florida, Ponce de Leon merely landed in an area that had been inhabited by people for a considerably long time. In addition, he was not the first European to explore the area. Spanish slave expeditions had raided the Bahamas on a regular basis for years prior and there is evidence that some made it as far as the east coast of Florida.

Upon returning to Puerto Rico, Ponce de Leon found the island in chaos. A neighboring tribe of Caribs had burned the settlement to the ground and killed several Spaniards. His own house was destroyed and his family narrowly escaped death.

In 1514, Ponce de Leon returned to Spain where he reported on his discoveries and was named military governor of Bimini and Florida, securing permission to colonize those regions. The Spanish crown also ordered him to organize a small army to subdue a native uprising on Puerto Rico which had continued in his absence. He left Spain with a small fleet in May, 1515. Historical accounts of his encounters with the Caribs on Puerto Rico are vague, but it seems there were a series of military engagements with no clear outcome. Ponce de Leon broke off hostilities upon learning that his major supporter, King Ferdinand, had died in Spain and he quickly returned to protect his claims and titles. He stayed two years, finally received assurances that his financial empire was secure. He returned to Puerto Rico.

Return to Florida and Death

In February, 1521, Ponce de Leon left Puerto Rico for Florida. Records of the trip are scarce, but some accounts describe a poorly organized trip. The expedition landed somewhere on the western side of the Florida peninsula where it was soon attacked by Calusa warriors. Ponce de Leon was wounded, possibly by a poison arrow in his thigh. The expedition sailed back to Cuba where he soon died in July, 1521.