THE FIRST EUROPEAN CHARTING OF FLORIDA AND THE ADJACENT SHORES

Abstract

The question of when Florida and the adjacent North American shores were first discovered and charted by European explorers has plagued historians from the sixteenth-century to date. Currently, Juan Ponce de Leon is generally accorded this honor in his 1513 discovery voyage, although there are claims that earlier illegal and unreported European adventurers may have sighted or touched the shores of Florida prior to 1513.