By: Diana Olalde Sydnie Gleason Hernando de Cortez Hernando de Soto Vasco Nunez de Balboa Christopher Columbus

Hernando de Cortez Velásquez commissioned Hernando Cortés to explore, trade, and search for Christian captives in the Yucatán but Cortés did not want to explore, trade, and search for Christian captives. Rather, his goal was nothing less than the conquest of Mexico. Hernando Cortes took part in conquests of Cuba and Hispaniola, and received more land an native slaves as a result. He became an important man in the colony of Cuba, and he became mayor of Santiago. Was a Spanish conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century. Cortés was part of the generation of Spanish colonizers that began the first phase of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In 1519, he was elected captain of the third expedition to the mainland, an expedition which he partly funded. In 1518 Velázquez put him in command of an expedition to explore and secure the interior of Mexico for colonization. Accompanied by about 11 ships, 500 men, 13 horses and a small number of cannons, he landed in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mayan territory. Map depicting Cortés's invasion route

Hernando de Soto Was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who, while leading the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States, was the first European documented to have crossed the Mississippi River. He led an expedition up the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula searching for passage between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean to enable trade with the Orient, the richest market in the world De Soto's expedition led the Spanish crown to reconsider Spain's attitude towards the colonies north of Mexico. He claimed large parts of North America for Spain. The Spanish concentrated their missions in the state of Florida and along the Pacific coast

Vasco Nunez de Balboa Was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World. He traveled to the New World in 1500 and, after some exploration, settled on the island of Hispaniola. He founded the settlement of Santa Maria la Antigua del Darién in present-day Colombia in 1510, which was the first permanent European settlement on the mainland of the Americas. Balboa joined an expedition to South America in Several years later, in 1510, Balboa enjoyed a change in fortune when he became acting governor of Darien. From there he led expeditions into Panama, conquering some Indians while allowing other, more friendly, Indians to open gambling casinos. Vasco Nunez de Balboa A Spanish conqueror and explorer, he was the first European to sight the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean. He sighted the ocean on Sept. 25, 1513, from a mountaintop in what is now Panama. Four days later, Balboa waded into the ocean and claimed it and all its shores for Spain. His discoveries prompted Spanish exploration and conquest along the western coast of South America. In 1500 he sailed with Rodrigo de Bastidas on a voyage of exploration along the coast of present- day Colombia. Balboa’s Voyages

Christopher Columbus Was an Italian explorer who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, hoping to find a route to India in order to trade for spices. He made a total of four trips to the Caribbean and South America during the years The First Trip: Columbus sailed for King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Spain. On his first trip, Columbus led an expedition with three ships, the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa and about 90 crew members. The Second Trip: On a second, larger expedition (Sept. 25, 1493-June 11, 1496), sailed with 17 ships and 1,200 to 1,500 men to find gold and capture Indians as slaves in the Indies. Columbus established a base in Hispaniola and sailed around Hispaniola and along the length of southern Cuba. He spotted and named the island of Dominica on November 3, The Third Trip: On a third expedition (May 30, 1498-October 1500), Columbus sailed farther south, to Trinidad and Venezuela (including the mouth of the Orinoco River). Columbus was the first European since the Viking Leif Ericsson to set foot on the mainland of America. The Fourth Trip: On his fourth and last expedition (May 9, 1502-Nov. 7, 1504), Columbus sailed to Mexico, Honduras and Panama (in Central America) and Santiago (Jamaica).