Early Spanish & Portuguese Explorers (College Board AP® US History)

Early Spanish explorers

• Other explorers followed Christopher Columbus to the New World

• Juan Ponce de Leon

  • Led the first expedition to the Americas in 1508

  • Founded the first European settlement in Puerto Rico

  • Discovered and named Florida

•  Núñez de Balboa

  • In 1513, Núñez de Balboa was the first European to cross the land of the New World and see the Pacific Ocean

  • He Crossed the Isthmus of Panama and established a settlement

• Hernan Cortés

  • Cortés traveled to Mexico in 1509

  • He led an expedition which conquered the Aztec Empire

  • He was part of the first phase of the Spanish colonization of the Americas

• Fernando Pizarro

  • Pizarro traveled to Peru  in 1526

  • Here, he conquered the Inca Empire

• Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

  • From 1528−1536, Cabeza de Vaca traveled through Texas and Mexico

  • He lived with Indigenous People and learned their language and customs, eventually recording his findings in a book

• Francisco Coronado

  • Francisco Coronado searched for the “Seven Cities of Cibola”

  • From 1540–1542, he traveled through Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, and the Gulf of California 

  • He was the first European to see the Grand Canyon

• Hernando de Soto

  • Hernando de Soto explored Peru and Central America

  • In 1541, he was the first European to see the mouth of the Mississippi River at the Gulf of Mexico

Early Portuguese explorers and Prince Henry the Navigator

Prince Henry the Navigator

• Prince Henry was exploring in the 1420s

• He never crossed the Atlantic Ocean

• He was considered the “Father of Navigation” for his studies and discoveries that included technology:

  • Caravel – small, easily maneuverable ship

  • Compass – determines direction

  • Hourglass – measures time to calculate the position of a ship while at sea

  • Quadrant – determines latitude

• His expeditions and studies of technology made westward exploration possible

Vasco de Gama

• Vasco de Gama was the first European to sail to India, traveling around the tip of Africa

• His first voyage was in 1497 to the Cape of Good Hope

• He established the “Route of Spices” a network of sea routes which linked the East with the West. These routes  expanded trade.

Bartholomeu Dias

• In 1488, Dias became the First European to reach the Indian Ocean by traveling around the southern tip of Africa

• His travels and discoveries led to the establishment of the sea route between Europe and Africa.

Ferdinand Magellan

• Magellan was the first European to travel to Europe around the tip of South America through the Strait of Magellan, across the Pacific, and on to Asia

• He led an expedition from 1519−1522 which was the first European expedition to circumnavigate the globe

• Magellan died during this voyage which lasted 1,082 days