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In the 1300's, people in Europe read a Marco Polo's travels to Cathay.
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People in Europe began to look to the seas and beyond. Others wanted to spread Christianity far and wide.
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Columbus led his first expedition westward.
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Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama found such a route and sailed all the way to India.
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King Henry VII sent Cabot on a voyage to the west. The Cabot landed on the far northern Atlantic coast of North America - probably the island of Newfoundland.
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Columbus reached South America.
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Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama found such a route and sailed all the way to India.
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Several European nations competed for land and colonies in the New World.
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Spain was taking control of mush of South and Central American. Many Caribbean islands, inculding Cuba and Hispaniola.
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Juan Ponce De Leon explored and settled the island of Puerto Rico.
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Taking notice in Spain, King Ferdinand authorized Ponce De Leon to explore lands north of Cuba.
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Ponce De Leon set out with ships and crew. His expedition landed on the east coast of Florida. A name Ponce De Leon derived from the Spanish word "flowers".
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One Spanish official who had his eyes on the mainland nore of Florida was Lucas Vazquez De Ayllon. He had seen some of the Atlantic Coast-line of this region on an expedition.
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Spain was the most powerful nation in the world. Spanish explorers had claimed huge tracts of land in the New World.
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Giovanni Da Verrazano wrote a repoort of his voyage and exploorations to King Francis I of France.
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King Francis I of France sent Italian navigator Giovanni Da Verrazano westward. Verrazano first reached land at North Carolina's Outer Banks.
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Ayllon led a group of over 500 men, women, and children to a river he called :Jordan:.
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The 150 remaining colonists returned to HIspaniola.
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From there, De Soto's soldiers marched northward to a site near present-day Tallahassee, Florida. There they spend the winter.
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Hernando De Soto sailed with a military expedition from Havana, Cuba to the west coast of Florida.
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From there, De Soto's soldiers marched northward to a site near present-day Tallahassee, Florida. There they spend the winter.
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The Atlantic coastal region that is today part of the southeastern United States had seen a flurry of Spanish activity.
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With possession of Florida fairly secure and greater wealth to the south, Spaniards focused their attention southward.
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Ribault's Huguenots attempted to seettle near present-day Port Royal, South Carolina.
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Frace sent a colony under the command of Jean Riibault to North America.
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Despite the reportedly favorable conditions at Port Royal, the colonist gave up and returned to France.
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Spain sent troops under Pedro Menendez De Aviles to Florida. Just south of Fort Caroline, Menendez built a fort at St. Augustine.
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An expedition set out for Chesapeake Bay from the West indies to set up a Catholic mission. A mission is a settlement designed to convert people to a particular religion.
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Juan Pardo and Hernando Boyano led a small group of men to the South Carolina coast.