By Mary Lynn Bushong /
1Who was the first explorer of America? Do you know? Some people think it was Christopher Columbus. Some people think it was a Viking named Leif Eriksson. Others credit a Chinese monk named Hoei Shin.
2The first explorers from Spain were led by Columbus. He was sent by Isabella, the queen of Spain. His job was to find a shorter way to get to China. It took months to get to China by sailing around Africa. Columbus thought he could get there by sailing due west.
3When Columbus sailed west in 1492, he did not find China. He found the island of Haiti. He thought the land was really India and called the natives, Indians. He soon found out that he was wrong. That did not matter. He saw that the land was good and the people had gold. He went back to Spain and told the queen. She was very happy with him. He made three more trips back to the New World.
4Many people in Spain wanted more money. Some thought they could get rich quick in the New World. One of those men was Vasco Balboa. During his search for gold in 1513, he crossed Panama. On the other side he saw the Pacific Ocean. He claimed it for Spain.
5That same year, Ponce de Leon began to explore Florida. He called it that because of all the flowers. He tried to start many settlements. He also looked for something. He tried to find the Fountain of Youth, but he never did.
6The king of Spain saw that the New World was full of riches. He wanted more gold. He was fighting wars at home and needed the money.
7To help get more gold from the New World, soldiers called "conquistadors" were sent in. Their job was to stop the natives from fighting the Spaniards. The soldiers killed thousands of people, but sickness killed even more. Some of the soldiers were led by a man named Cortez.
8In 1519, a man named Ferdinand Magellan began to sail around the world. He took five ships. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean and sailed around the bottom of South America. Then he sailed northwest again. The ships got to the Philippine Islands where Magellan was killed in a fight with the natives. After three years, only one of the ships made it home to Spain again.
9Hernando De Soto did not just look for gold in the New World. He looked for cities of gold. In 1539, he began to search for the seven golden cities of Cibola. He wanted to add the gold to Spain's wealth. He died during the search. A man named Coronado took over the search in 1540. Neither of the men ever found the fabled cities. They did explore a lot of America's Southwest.
10Spain claimed much of the land in Central America and Florida. They did not make colonies in the colder parts of America. That was left to England, France, and a few other countries. Copyright © 2008 edHelper
Date ______
Class Period ______/
Spanish Explorers of America
1. / Why did Spain send Columbus on his voyage west?/ 2. / De Soto looked for the:
A.Fountain of Youth
B.Golden Valley
C.Seven cities of Cibola
D. Pirate treasure
3. / Magellan was a hero when he got back to Spain.
A.False
B.True
/ 4. / Ponce de Leon gave Florida its name because of the:
A.Beaches
B.Fountain of Youth
C.Flowers
5. / Why did Spain need gold?
/ 6. / What explorer saw the Pacific Ocean first?
A.Balboa
B.Cortez
C.De Soto
D.Magellan
7. / Why were soldiers sent to the New World?
/ 8. / More natives died from sickness than in battle.
A.False
B. True