THE NAME OF LA FLORIDA Juan Ponce de León first saw Florida shores on April 2 1513 Easter was coming so he named the land Pascua Florida or Floral Easter It became known as La Florida No written records exist to confirm the popular legend that Ponce was searching for a fountain of youth Juan Ponce de León 1474-1521 All of Spain’s explorations and early colonizing were linked to spreading the Roman Catholic faith The Spanish king and conquistadors saw themselves as agents of the Catholic Church in America viewing other sects as a threat to the true religion They believed that having left the Catholic Church Protestants were guilty of rebellion and could expect no mercy as Felipe II had written 6 A carving showing a Spanish priest and Native Americans planting a cross
These beliefs help explain the cruel behavior of many of the early explorers including Christopher Columbus Many Europeans believed that Native Americans held the wrong ideas about religion which needed to be changed On Hispaniola the West Indies island Columbus first colonized slavery harsh punishment and European diseases wiped out 200,000 of the 250,000 Arawak within 20 years When Columbus and his sailors came ashore the Arawaks ran to greet them carrying food water and gifts Other explorers and settlers followed the example set by Columbus These included Hernán Cortés in Mexico Francisco Pizarro in Peru English settlers in Virginia and Massachusetts and Dutch colonists in New York The Spaniards were mainly searching for God gold and glory That meant converting Native Americans to Catholicism finding gold and silver to take back to their king and winning fame and honor for themselves But another very important goal was finding land for people to live on 7
Between 1519 and 1521 Hernán Cortés was defeating the Aztec empire in what is now Mexico He founded a colony there Nueva España meaning New Spain which lasted 300 years By 1531 Francisco Pizarro had begun to conquer the Inca empire in present-day Peru Within a few years Mexico and Peru with their rich deposits of gold and silver were major sources of Spanish wealth and power in the New World As time passed it was necessary to build more fortresses and towns in La Florida From the 1550s on French pirates raided Spanish ships loaded with gold and silver Soon English pirates such as Sir Francis Drake were doing the same The waters off Florida and the West Indies were favorite marauding spots Aztec pyramids date back to the 1400s They originally served as religious centers and today stand in archaeological parks throughout Mexico 8
Within a few years Spain had built missions and small forts to protect them around the tip of Florida to the Gulf Coast In 1573 a royal proclamation from the king gave missionaries an important role in exploring and settling new lands Franciscan priests arrived to staff the missions and baptized thousands of Native Americans Francisco Pizarro 1471-1541 In the early 1600s Spain was considering abandoning La Florida but the missionaries argued that the converts needed their spiritual leadership They appealed to Felipe III and convinced him not to leave SPANISH LAST NAMES Spanish last names usually consist of the father’s last name followed by the mother’s last name As a shortened form only the father’s last name is used Therefore Pedro Menéndez de Avilés is known as Menéndez There are exceptions to this rule For example Francisco Vásquez de Coronado is known as Coronado his mother’s name 9
