Biography of Juan Ponce de Leon Essay Example

Juan Ponce de Leon was born in 1460-1474 in Santervas, Spain. He was the only child of Padre Ponce de Leon, Fourth Lord of Villagarcia and Leonor de Figuranora, despite them being noble they were mildly poor. As a young child he became a page in the Court of Aragon where he was taught basic social and military skills, but later in life he was mentored by Don Pedro Nunez de Guzman who taught him the majority of his religious and military tactics (“Biography: Juan Ponce de Leon for KIds”). Juan fought in the campaign against the Moors and gathered a large amount of fame and money with his multiple victories. After his 10 year conquest against the Muslims, he earned the favor of the King and Queen, who wanted to convert the Muslims to Christianity. 

Around 1493 he went on Christophers Columbus' voyage to the Americas. He served as an accomplice to Columbus and was mentored by Columbus for many years (Biography.com Editors). He explored the Americas, particularly Hispaniolia (Dominican Republic and Haiti) and Puerto Rico. Around 1500, after many years of exploring, he started to set up a colony on Hispaniola. With the help of Columbus, he enslaved many of the native peoples there, setting up the beginning of the Spanish trade slave and the exploitation of Latin Indigoinous peoples, something that didn’t end for over 200 years after their ‘discovery’. With the establishment of slave farms and slave mines, Columbus and Leon made Spain a large sum of money and power in the Americas, earning them the King and Queen's trust and blessing to continue to colonize and enslave Latin America. 

In 1502 he met and married an innkeeper's daughter named Leonora. Together they had 4 children Maria, Isabel, Luis and Juana. There is not much information about the lives of his children, but it is likely to believe that his son would have taken care of Juans estate after his death and his daughters would have been married off to fellow nobles. We do know that his children stayed in Spain with his wife Leonora. 

In 1506, Juan started his exploration of Puerto Rico, soon finding an abundance of gold and other valuable resources. 2 years later he went back to Spain to ask for the King’s blessing to establish a colony in Puerto Rico, he was then announced as Governor of Puerto Rico (“Biography: Juan Ponce de Leon for KIds”).  He enslaved the Native people there (the Tainos), the treatment of these slaves were horrendous. Women and young girls were subdued to rape whilst the men and young boys were beatened and tortured if they tried to speak up. The Spanish also brought many diseases and due to the unhygienic living conditions they were forced into, the diseases spread very easily, killing 90% of the Tainos (“Biography: Juan Ponce de Leon for KIds”). 

But many years later, after a long career in Spanish politics, Juan started a fight with Christopher Columbus’ son which ended his reign as Governor of Puerto Rico, but the king still allowed Juan to explore the Americas due to his financial success (Biography.com Editors). During this expedition is when he ‘found’ Florida, it was during Easter/spring time so the land (he thought to be an island) was covered in beautiful vegetation. So he named the land Florida, as we know it today. Juan took many captives as guides to learn more about the land (Landry). When Juan chose to colonize the land, he didn’t expect for the Natives to put up such a huge fight. The civilization in Florida was extremely advanced and civilized, Florida holding up to 300,000 native peoples (Landry). After failing to find profit and colonize the land of the Calusa, he went searching up north for the next 8 years, but he met his end when he died to colonize Calusa in 1521.

He was attempting to take over and colonize the land again for fish profit and sea ports, also most likely hoping to sell the Native people of Calusa. But once again the Calusa fought back and Juan Ponce de Leon was struck with a poison arrow and died in July of 1521. The people of this area were not barbarians nor uncivilized, they had a formal government and economic structure. The Calusa people were very skilled in the land they inhabited and that was something Juan most likely wanted to and was going to take advantage of, like he did to many of the Native tribes he came across. 

In conclusion, Juan Ponce de Leon helped set up incredible financial success in Latin America for Spain, but lead to the genocide and torture of Natives. This man did not find these areas, instead he took advantage and colonized the Native people and land for his own political power and money. He was not a great explorer, he was a great colonizer who killed hundreds of thousands and lead to the slavery of millions. Though many sources would disagree, his legacy was not the discovery of Florida, his legacy is the formation of the slave trade and the affects it had for centuries. Native people were not allowed to celebrate their culture or religion, this started way back when they were being colonized in the 16th century (“The Spanish and New World Slavery · African Laborers for a New Empire: Iberia, Slavery, and the Atlantic World  · Lowcountry Digital History Initiative”) and didn’t end until very recently. Though it helped the Spain economy greatly, it ruined the lives and economy of the Native people who were turned to slaves. This man was not a hero, he was a colonizer and a slave owner.