Isabella Ponce De Leon: Land Discovery

History is something that has shaped the world and the people that inhabitant the world into what they are today. Curiosity is imperative to the development of the world and new discoveries. Without that trait, history would be very different than what we know of today’s history. Throughout the course of history many encounters occurred that would lead to events that considerably shaped history. In the 15th century when curiosity became notably present around the world, countries wanted to expand and explore what else was out across the vast oceans and mountains. A well-known land discovery was made by Portuguese explorer, Christopher Columbus in the 1492 when he discovered the Americas after being sent on a chartered voyage by Queen Isabella

He was a well-respected explorer and conquistador, as he was chosen to accompany Christopher Columbus on his second voyage in 1493 in pursuit of the New World. After reaching the Caribbean and reaching Hispaniola which is now present-day Dominican Republic. Like many explorers, he had to do explore ideas of how to treat or deal with natives in the New World. As many conquistadors shared the same view of natives, so did Ponce De Leon. After exploring the island and endless the uses that the natives could provide, in 1504 he began a campaign with the main goal to suppress the natives on the northern part of the island (Galegroup.com). Due to a very successful campaign in the eyes of Spain and somehow successfully suppressing a rebellious native uprising, Ponce De Leon was named provincial governor. Exploring new ideas and places was something Ponce De Leon was intrigued with and very passionate about. When Ponce De Leon heard rumors or news of something he would jump right into exploring the validity of those assertions. This came true when Ponce De Leon heard word through rumors about the possibility of gold on a neighboring island. After a native brought back what was thought to be a piece of gold to Santo Domingo, he was completely focused on finding that gold as soon as humanly possible. Soon after, around 1508 the Spanish Crown sent Ponce De Leon on an expedition to explore the island of Puerto Rico

Through exploration, he led to the discoveries of a few major islands and part of North America in the New World. Encounters he was involved in were not very positive for the most part but they have all played a key role in understanding the nature of experiences faced by explorers and especially conquistadors during the 15th and 16th centuries. Exchanges he made throughout his lifetime seemed to highly benefit him and contributed a great extent to his success in the world of