Hernando de Soto summary

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Hernando de Soto, (born c. 1496/97, Jerez de los Caballeros, Badajoz, Spain—died May 21, 1542, along the Mississippi River), Spanish explorer and conquistador. He joined the 1514 expedition of Pedro Arias Dávila (1440–1531) to the West Indies, and in Panama he quickly made his mark as a trader and explorer. By 1520 he had accumulated a small fortune through his slave trading in Nicaragua and on the Isthmus of Panama. He joined Francisco Pizarro on an expedition to conquer Peru in 1532, returning to Spain in 1536 with great wealth. Commissioned by the Spanish crown to conquer what is now Florida, he departed in 1538 in command of 10 ships and 700 men. On that expedition he explored the extensive region that was to become the southeastern U.S. and discovered the Mississippi River for Europeans. Overcome by fever, he died in Louisiana and was buried in the Mississippi River.

Florida Summary

Florida, constituent state of the United States of America. It was admitted as the 27th state in 1845. Florida is the most populous of the southeastern states and the second most populous Southern state after Texas. The capital is Tallahassee, located in the northwestern panhandle. Geographic

government Summary

Government, the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated. Most of the key words commonly used to describe governments—words such as monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy—are of Greek or Roman origin. They have been current for more than 2,000 years and have not

Peru Summary

Peru, country in western South America. Except for the Lake Titicaca basin in the southeast, its borders lie in sparsely populated zones. The boundaries with Colombia to the northeast and Brazil to the east traverse lower ranges or tropical forests, whereas the borders with Bolivia to the