1. By: Henry, Maciah, Natalie, and ZaNario

2. Personal Information Juan Ponce de Leon was born in 1460 in Santervas, Spain Juan was born to a noble family. Before Juan was a solider he was a hunter. When he was young, he was a page for Don Pedro Nunez de Guzman. He left his position as a page to become a soldier to fight in the war against the Muslims or the “Moors”. After the Spanish defeated the Moors Juan was jobless. After he lost his job he left with Christopher Columbus on his second exploration to the New World. Juan wanted to find gold there along with other riches.

3. Expeditions In 1493 he went to the New World with Christopher Columbus. In 1504 the Spanish beat the Tainos Indians east of Santo Domingo. Claiming the land for Spain and naming it Higuey because that is what it was originally called. Juan was then made a commander for the Spanish Forces. After that they battled the Native people in Santo Domingo, then later taking over the rest of the eastern part of Hispaniola. He was then named Lieutenant Governor of the land owned by Spain in Hispaniola In 1506 he and 200 men set sail to Puerto Rico to find gold and colonize, leaving Hispaniola.

4. Expeditions con. No one knows the exact year but between the years of 1511-1513 Juan left Puerto Rico to find the legend of the Fountain of Youth after being replaced as governor by Christopher Columbus’s son Diego Columbus. Instead of finding the Fountain of Youth he sighted Florida. He then went back to Puerto Rico to get the money to explore Florida. It was approved and he went to start settlements in Florida. When he started the settlements in Florida the Natives didn’t want Spanish on their land so they attacked them and Juan was struck with a poisonous arrow in the thigh later dying from the poison.

5. Purpose of his Expedition To the New World- Because he lost his job as a soldier, so he left with Christopher Columbus on his second expedition to the New World. They ended up in Hispaniola. To Puerto Rico- He and 200 men went to Puerto Rico to find gold and riches, leaving Hispaniola. To find Fountain of Youth- He set sail to find the Fountain of Youth, known to be on an island called Bimini. After searching the island he sighted Florida returning to Puerto Rico. Expedition to Florida- This was his last expedition. He traveled to Florida to Start settlements. The Natives didn’t was them on their land, so they attacked the Spanish. Juan got struck by an arrow and later died from the poison. All of his explorations were financed by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain

6. Obstacles He probably has the obstacles that all sailors have like storms and diseases. But his biggest obstacle was the Natives. He treated them almost like slaves, encomienda was what it was called. It was a type of slavery but they taught them and taught them the ways of god. Also he killed them when he invaded their towns and villages.

7. The Importance of His Discoveries He found new land and claimed it for Spain, and back then the more land you had the more power you had. He probably found new routes to trade because of his discovery of Florida.

8. The Impact of their Exploration The impact of his exploration is that if it wasn’t for his tries to find the Fountain of Youth other explorers would probably waste their time trying to find the Fountain of Youth and not finding other places that we know of today. Also if it wasn’t for his exploration to find the Fountain of Youth he wouldn’t have sighted the beautiful place called Florida.

9. Other Interesting Facts Arquebus- A heavy gun invented in the fifteenth century. Page- A young boy who serves the king or queen in a royal court. Noble-Belonging to royalty or having a high rank. His family is that he was married Leonora His daughters are Juana, Isabel, Maria, and his son's name was Luis. He was the first Spanish explorer to explore Florida Henry thinks in Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides he thought he saw an explorer that looked like the Juan Ponce de Leon leading the “Spanish Armada” while Captain Jack Sparrow and Blackbeard were looking for the Fountain of Youth

10. Travel Routes

11. Sources http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/de_leon/de_leon1.htm http://www.notablebiographies.com/Pe-Pu/Ponce-de-Le-n-Juan.html http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/d/deleon.shtml http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/de_leon/de_leon1.htm http://www.notablebiographies.com/Pe-Pu/Ponce-de-Le-n-Juan.html http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/d/deleon.shtml Books-Juan Ponce de Leon by: Claude Hurwicz, Juan Ponce de Leon by: Jane Sutcliffe, A World Explorer: Juan Ponce de Leon by: Wyatt Blassingame