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Hernando de Soto (c. 1496-1542), the famous Spanish adventurer who was the first European to explore deeply into North America in the Age of Exploration, is important for several reasons. One would be the daring of his danger-filled journey into unknown lands, which may be inspiring to anyone exploration-minded. Another, more negative reason is the effect that his explorations seem to have had upon many Native tribes in America: not only did they learn to fear the "white men"; they also began to suffer a reduction of their populace due to the European diseases carried by de Soto's expedition. All of these effects had a strong impact upon the next generation of explorers and colonists.

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10y ago

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