Early Exploration

In the late 15th century, Pope Alexander VI, to moderate competition between Spain and Portugal for new territory, established a boundary line separating the areas open to Spanish and Portuguese claims. As a result, Portugal was excluded from founding colonies in the West Indies and to the north.

At first Spain had the Caribbean area to itself. It colonized the most attractive islands, and began settling the Isthmus of Panama in 1509. Florida was discovered by Juan Ponce de León in 1513; Mexico was conquered by Hernando Cortez beginning in 1519. Journeys of exploration into the interior of the continent were led by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1528–36, by Hernando De Soto in 1539–42, and by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1540–42. Hernando de Alarcón sailed up the Gulf of California in 1540, and the California coast was claimed for Spain by Juan Cabrillo in 1542.

Meanwhile the northern European nations were searching for a northwest passage to Asia. John Cabot in 1497 reached North America in the vicinity of Newfoundland and claimed the land for England. France sent Giovanni da Verrazano along the north Atlantic coast in 1524, and Jacques Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence River in 1535, beginning a bitter rivalry between England and France for possession of eastern North America.