Vasco Núñez De Balboa Research Paper

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Vasco Núñez de Balboa was born in Jerez de los Caballeros of Spain in the year of 1475. Balboa was inspired by hearing about the successful voyage of Christopher Columbus; in 1500 he became a Spanish Conquistador and set off to the Americas on Rodrigo de Bastidas’ expedition to search for gold and pearls. They arrived and explored the coast of present day Colombia before heading to Hispaniola (modern day Haiti) for years. Balboa became an unsuccessful farmer during this time, and ended up having to stowaway on a ship in 1510 heading to San Sebastian. They discovered that it had been mostly destroyed by angry Native Americans. Therefore, he convinced others to travel southwest with him, and in 1511 he established the first stable European settlement in South America—Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien. Balboa’s most important accomplishment was being the first European to see the Pacific Ocean in 1513 on an expedition in Darien, Panama. Pedro Arias de Avila became governor of Darien, and an enemy of…show more content…
In 1511 he founded the first stable European colony of Darien. Upon returning to San Sebastian, the men found that it had been destroyed by the Native Americans, and knew that they needed to leave because the natives continually attacked them. Balboa had gained popularity with the crew of Fernandez de Enciso and persuaded them to head southwest towards Santa Maria. The Spanish men found 500 Native American soldiers at the land, and fought a close war in order to gain control of the area. Balboa then founded the settlement in 1511 and named it Santa Maria la Antigua del Darien for the Spanish. Balboa was then elected by the people alongside Martin Samudio to be governor of Darien for the years to come. The accomplishment of gaining power and establishing the first stable European colony was great for Balboa, and earned him much respect for future
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