What was Juan Ponce de Leon's motivation for exploring Florida?

Answer 1

There is a widely circulated legend that Juan Ponce de Leon explored Florida because he was searching for the (nonexistent) Fountain of Youth, but historians generally agree that this was not the case. The likely explanation for the explorations of de Leon is that he was searching for gold, and contributing to the expansion of the Spanish Empire, for which he worked. Florida did become a Spanish colony, but was eventually seized by the US during the Spanish American War.