1. The Spanish Conquerors
Lesson 4

2. European Interest Reasons why: fame and fortune religious beliefs
Grants- money given by the king
The soldiers and explorers became known as “conquistadores” or conquerors

3. Juan Ponce de Leon
One of the first explorers to push past Hispanola and explore further.
He had sailed with Christopher Columbus during his second voyage
He was hoping to find the mythical land of Bimini, and a magical “fountain of youth”
Ponce de Leon did discover the land which he named “La Florida” which means “flowery” in Spanish.

4. Hernando Cortes
The Spanish sent Cortes in to find gold in the land of the Aztecs.
Cortes took 650 soldiers and 16 horses, which were amazing to the Aztecs.
The Aztecs thought he was a god named Quetzalcoatl, and treated him as such.
Cortes took Motecuhzoma, their chief, captive, and went to war with the Aztecs.
Within a year, Cortes had managed to destroy the entire Aztec empire.

5. Panfilo de Narvaez
Narvaez was sent by the Spanish to pick up where Ponce de Leon left off in Florida.
His purpose was to explore and conquer land along the gulf coast.
Narvaez was a horrible explorer, and only 4 of the 242 of his men survived the journey.

6. Golden Cities
The four survivors from the Narvaez expedition reached the Spanish held lands in Mexico with fabulous stories of their journey.
They told of meeting Native Americans who told them of seven cities full of gold, silver and jewels.
The Spanish immediately sent explorers to find these cities.
These expeditions were not sucessful.

7. Hernando de Soto
In May of 1539, De Soto began an expedition focusing on the southeast region.
He explored what is now Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
De Soto was also the first European to see the great Mississippi River.
In May of 1542, De Soto died of a fever, and his men threw his body into the Mississippi River to hide his death from the Native Americans.
De Soto claimed all of what is now the southeasetern United States for Spain.