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Christopher Columbus was looking for a shorter route to Asia on his voyage. Instead of going to Asia, he ended up in America. He is credited for discovering the New World and finding Native Americans, "exotic" fruits and vegetables, different animals, and a completely different lifestyle.
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Pineda initally went to America to find a water passage to the Pacific Ocean. He ended up mapping the Gulf of Mexico and having a report of the region. This is important to know because then the Spanish knew what was happening in America and it changed how the Europeans saw the world.
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Cortes conquered what is now Mexico, the Aztec Empire. This was like a "New Spain." When he returned to Spain, he brought 99 tons of gold. He is important to history because he discovered parts of the world no one knew of.
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De Vaca and Narveaz were sent on an expedition from Florida to Mexico for Spain. They were stranded in Florida.
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De Vaca and his men build ships while in Florida and try sailing south to Cuba. They end up going west towards the Gulf Coast and are washed up in Galveston. They meet Indian tribes around the coastal plains including the Karankawas and Jumanos.
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The purpose of this journey was to find gold. During the journey, Esteban was killed for all his demands. Fray Marcos said that the 7 cities of gold were real.
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Coronodo was searching for the 7 cities of gold. His guide for the search was someone named Turk who said he knew a place full of gold. Eventually, they found out he was lying and killed him. He discovered the Palo Duro Canyon and Grand Canyon and he's important to history because he confirms what Esteban and Fray Marcos said.
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His leader was De Soto but he died of diseases and people thought the was a God so they didn't bury him but instead, threw him in a river. This river was later known as their biggest discovery, the Mississppi River.
