Ponce de Leon was born on 1460 in San Servos. In 1493 he joined Columbus on his 2nd voyage to the Americas. After that he settled on a Caribbean island named Hispaniola. In 1506, he discovered an island named Borinquin which he later renamed Puerto Rico. From 1510 to 1512 he governed the island. This alone was not enough to satisfy Ponce de Leon. He was determined to get the king to grant him men and ships to search for the infamous "fountain of youth". On his search for the fountain he sailed to what he thought was the island of Bimini, but was instead present-day Saint Augustine, Florida. On April 2nd he named the land Florida because he 1st spotted it on Easter Sunday or "flowery Easter". In 1521 he set out to colonize Florida. Ponce de Leon brought domestic animals and about 200 men with him. When his ship landed on the West Coast of Florida Ponce de Leon was severely injured by attacking Native Americans. The group sa

iled to Cuba where Ponce de Leon died in 1521.

Of all the expedition done in the newly discovered land, the Spaniards accomplished the most. They defeated the Aztec's and settled much of the Caribbean Islands and South America.

Hernan Cortes was born on 1485 in Medellin, Extremadura. In 1504 he decided to sail to Santo Domingo. In 1511 Diego Velazquez and Hernan Cortes took over Cuba. Cortes became the mayor and Velazquez the governor. In the spring of 1519 Cortes set off from Cuba on his expedition of eleven ships, five hundred and fifty soldiers, sixteen horses, and fourteen pieces of artillery. The ships reached Mexico far south of their destination so they sailed along the coast of the Yucatan. In March of 1519, the expedition reached the Mexican town of Tabasco. There Cortes learned from the native inhabitants of the very powerful Aztec Empire and their ruler Montezuma II. While Cortes was in Tabasco he took many prisoners, including a young native girl called Malinche. He later baptized her and gave her the name Marina. After leaving Tabasco the fleet landed a little north of San Juan, on Good Friday, where Cortes established a town that they called La Villa

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Approximate Word count = 796
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)