Vasco Nunez de Balboa By Jeff

Vasco Nunez de Balboa lived a troubled childhood, but did his cloudy past have an effect on his well-known accomplishments? Did he use this to his own advantage? This report will answer all of these questions and more. This essay will cover the subjects of Balboa's early life (before he matured and was the leader of his ships) and a general description of his accomplishments in his later life. Also, this essay will tell what affect his early life had on his major accomplishments and if he used this aspect to his advantage. Born in Jerez de los Caballeros in 1475, Balboa had a childhood filled with labor and duties. He was uneducated and knew little of any thing. Despite this, he got many different jobs and gave his salary to his own family who was very poor at the time. His dad could have been a nobleman, but had neither influence nor wealth. His first job was a servant in a rich man's house, followed by many other small jobs in his community where he made small amounts of money that he gave to his family. While he was working, many ships were sailing to and from the "New World." These ships fascinated Balboa, and he loved listening to sailor's tails of things that were different in this extraordinary new place. Many ships were taking people from his community aboard, so he decided it would be interesting and fun to sail on one of these ships and to explore the "New World." Also, the opportunities for fame and wealth in this new place attracted Balboa. In 1501, he joined a Spanish expedition to South America commanded by a man named Rodrigo de Bastidas. He was told that he and his crew would sail the north coast of South America along the coast of Uraba in current-day Columbia. The ship sailed most of this distance but the expedition lacked enough people to make a settlement in this area. They landed in Hispaniola in 1502. There, Balboa tried to be a farmer but was unsuccessful and could not find a good career so he decided to raise pigs. This concluded Balboa's early life which was less successful than his later life. After he realized he was in a financial crisis and knew he had to get away, he sailed south to Columbia on a journey headed by a man named Encisio. They settled in Cartegena but were not successful and needed help. Balboa suggested that the settlement headed west to a place he had visited before. He knew this place had good resources for food and gold. Nicuesa established this new colony, called Santa Maria de la Antigua in present-day Panama in 1510. There were fights between Enciso, who was the current leader, and Nicuesa, who was the old leader. As a result, Nicuesa was shipped on a dilapidated boat, which disappeared forever. Balboa was appointed interim governor in 1511 by the king. Later, he was appointed supreme commander of the colony in 1513. Enciso brought charges of usurpation against Balboa when he arrived in Europe. Balboa knew he had to pull a miracle to escape punishment. Balboa left the settlement with about 200 Spaniards and over one thousand Indians in 1513 in search of a treat body of water he had heard about from an Indian companion. His party encountered dense jungles, swamps, violent natives, and rough mountain terrain as the crossed the isthmus of present-day Panama. He successfully defeated many tribes of natives without losing any men from his party. Sometime in late September, Balboa single-handedly climbed to the top of a mountain and for the first time saw the giant body of water the natives had told him of. He called it the "South Sea."(Magellan actually named the ocean the "Pacific Ocean", but Balboa was the one who discovered it.) Four days later, his party reached the ocean and claimed it all for Spain. Also, he and his men found many riches including gold and pearls. He also successfully returned to Antigua with many slaves. The king appointed a man named Avila as the governor after hearing of Balboa's accomplishments. Avila suspended Balboa's authority because of his previous charges shortly after he arrived, but Balboa's tale lived forever. After he was arrested and removed from office, he gained much popularity and fell in love with Avila's daughter in 1516. Avila did not like Balboa and framed him for disobedience and treason, which resulted in a friend's betrayal. He was found guilty of treason and passed away in 1519. This report has given a brief account of Balboa's life and major achievments, but his early life also had many affects on his brilliant late life. An example of this is he might have been motivated to be more important than a person of better fortune because he never had the chance to be pampered and treated well like a child with more money. This would lead to him wanting to be recognized and known by people, which would make him happy. Because he had to work so hard and often had to help his family out. Another effect of his early life on his later accomplishments is that he was probably stronger than a normal child because he had to work so hard and often to help his family out. He was curious about voyages to the New World when sailors told stories to him about things from Spain located in this mysterious place. This motivated him to take action and become a sailor. When he arrived in this new place, he was most likely prepared for dangers that could confront him when he was in the New World since he was more exposed to the outside world when he had to work at a young age. Balboa used all of these things to his own advantage when he was on his actual voyage because he confronted many things, which made him use these skills he had already acquired at a young age. To conclude this report, the author would like to ask the reader a question: If you were in Balboa's shoes and had the chance to go on this once-in-a-lifetime but knew there would be dangers when you were traveling, would you accept?