Juan Ponce De Leon

Lexile: 1000

Juan Ponce de Leon was born in 1460 to a wealthy family in Spain. He later served as a page in the royal court. Some historians believe that Ponce de Leon may have been part of Christopher Columbus’ second voyage in 1493 which would explain how Ponce de Leon arrived in the New World for the first time. Ponce de Leon became a captain in the West Indies and was later named governor of the eastern part of Hispaniola in 1502. Hispaniola was the name the Spanish gave the island in the Caribbean that is now the Dominican Republic and Haiti. In 1508, Ponce de Leon left Hispaniola for the island of Puerto Rico in search of gold that was rumored to be found there. After landing in Puerto Rico, Ponce de Leon began a successful Spanish settlement in what is now San Juan. Once he returned to Hispaniola, he held the title of governor of Puerto Rico until he was removed from office by political rivals.

In 1513, Ponce de Leon led a large expedition to Florida. Legend states that Ponce de Leon was looking for a fountain that was supposed to have the power of rejuvenating any- one who drank from it. Supposedly, the Indians who lived on the island of Bimini (now the Bahamas) referred to this fountain as the Fountain of Youth. While we now know that wasn’t Ponce de Leon’s main reason for his expedition, the legend may have been part of his plan. Ponce de Leon landed on the east coast of Florida in between modern day St. Augustine and Melbourne; however, the group didn’t know they were in North America. In fact, they thought they had landed on an island. He named the area “Florida” because of all of the tropical plants and flowers. Ponce de Leon went back to Spain after discovering Florida to get permission to colonize the area. Unfortunately, Ponce de Leon was shot by an Indian’s arrow while leading a group of 200 men to Florida and died from his wounds in 1521. Today the city of Ponce in Puerto Rico is named in his honor.

Juan Ponce De Leon

Using evidence from the text, explain the main idea of this passage.

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List a character trait that you think Ponce de Leon would have had. Use an example from the passage to explain why you chose that trait.______

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Conquistador is the Spanish word for a Conqueror. From this passage do you think Juan Ponce de Leon fits that description? Use evidence from the text to explain your answer.______

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