Francisco de Orellana, Discoverer of the Amazon River

Francisco de Orellana (1511–November 1546) was a Spanish conquistador, colonist, and explorer. He joined Gonzalo Pizarros 1541 expedition that set out from Quito headed east, hoping to find the mythical city of El Dorado. Along the way, Orellana and Pizarro were separated. While Pizarro returned to Quito, Orellana and a handful of men continued traveling downriver, eventually discovering the Amazon River and making their way to the Atlantic Ocean. Today, Orellana is best remembered for this journey of exploration. Fast Facts: Francisco de Orellana Known For: Spanish conquistador who discovered the Amazon RiverBorn: 1511 in Trujillo,  Crown of CastileDied: November 1546 in the Delta of the  Amazon River (Today  Parà ¡Ã‚  and  Amapà ¡, Brazil)Spouse: Ana de Ayala Early Life Francisco de Orellana was born in Extremadura sometime around 1511. Its reported that he had a close relationship with Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, although the exact relationship is not entirely clear. They were close enough, however, that Orellana could use the connection to his advantage. Joining Pizarro Orellana came to the New World while still a young man and met with Pizarros 1832 expedition to Peru, where he was among the Spaniards who overthrew the mighty Inca Empire. He showed a knack for supporting the winning sides in the Civil Wars among the conquistadors that ripped the region apart in the late 1530s. He lost an eye in the fighting but was richly rewarded with lands in present-day Ecuador. Gonzalo Pizarro’s Expedition Spanish conquistadors had discovered unimaginable wealth in Mexico and Peru and were constantly on the lookout for the next rich native Empire to attack and rob. Gonzalo Pizarro, Franciscos brother, was one man who believed in the legend of El Dorado, a wealthy city governed by a king who painted his body in gold dust. In 1540, Gonzalo began outfitting an expedition that would set out from Quito and head east in the hopes of locating El Dorado or any other rich native civilization. Gonzalo borrowed a princely sum of money to outfit the expedition, which left in February of 1541. Francisco de Orellana joined the expedition and was considered high-ranking among the conquistadors. Pizarro and Orellana Separate The expedition did not find much in the way of gold or silver. Instead, it encountered angry natives, hunger, insects, and flooded rivers. The conquistadors slogged around the dense South American jungle for several months, their condition worsening. In December of 1541, the men were camped out alongside a mighty river, their provisions loaded onto a makeshift raft. Pizarro decided to send Orellana ahead to scout the terrain and find some food. His orders were to return as soon as he could. Orellana set out with about 50 men and departed on December 26. Orellana’s Journey A few days downriver, Orellana and his men found some food at a native village. According to documents that Orellana kept, he wished to return to Pizarro, but his men agreed that returning upriver would be too hard and threatened to mutiny if Orellana made them, preferring instead to continue downriver. Orellana did send three volunteers back to Pizarro to inform him of his actions. They set forth from the confluence of the Coca and Napo Rivers and began their trek. On February 11, 1542, the Napo emptied into a larger River: the Amazon. Their voyage would last until they reached the Spanish-held Island of Cubagua, off the coast of Venezuela, in September. Along the way, they suffered from Indian attacks, hunger, malnutrition, and illnesses. Pizarro would eventually return to Quito, his troop of colonists decimated. The Amazons The Amazons—a fearsome race of warrior women—had been legendary in Europe for centuries. The conquistadors, who had become used to seeing new, marvelous things on a regular basis, often looked for legendary people and places (such as Juan Ponce de Leà ³ns fabled search for the Fountain of Youth). The Orellana expedition convinced itself that it had found the fabled Kingdom of the Amazons. Native sources, highly motivated to tell the Spaniards what they wanted to hear, told of a great, wealthy kingdom ruled by women with vassal states along the river. During one skirmish, the Spanish even saw women fighting: they assumed these were the legendary Amazons who had come to fight alongside their vassals. Friar Gaspar de Carvajal, whose first-hand account of the journey has survived, described them as near-naked white women who fought fiercely. Return to Spain Orellana returned to Spain in May 1543, where he was not surprised to find that an angry Gonzalo Pizarro had denounced him as a traitor. He was able to defend himself against the charges, in part because he had asked the would-be mutineers to sign documents to the effect that they did not allow him to return upstream to aid Pizarro. On February 13, 1544, Orellana was named governor of â€Å"New Andalucia,† which included much of the region he had explored. His charter allowed him to explore the area, conquer any bellicose natives, and establish settlements along the Amazon River. Return to the Amazon Orellana was now an adelantado, sort of a cross between an administrator and a conquistador. With his charter in hand, he went looking for funding but found it difficult to lure investors to his cause. His expedition was a fiasco from the start. More than a year after gaining his charter, Orellana set sail for the Amazon on May 11, 1545. He had four ships carrying hundreds of settlers, but provisions were poor. He stopped in the Canary Islands to refit the ships but wound up staying there for three months as he sorted out various problems. When they finally set sail, rough weather caused one of his ships to be lost. He reached the mouth of the Amazon in December and began his plans for settlement. Death Orellana began exploring the Amazon, looking for a likely place to settle. Meanwhile, hunger, thirst, and native attacks weakened his force constantly. Some of his men even abandoned the enterprise while Orellana was exploring. Sometime in late 1546, Orellana was scouting an area with some of his remaining men when they were attacked by natives. Many of his men were killed: according to Orellana’s widow, he died of illness and grief shortly after that. Legacy Orellana is best remembered today as an explorer, but that was never his goal. He was a conquistador who accidentally became an explorer when he and his men were carried off by the mighty Amazon River. His motives were not very pure, either: he never intended to be a trailblazing explorer. Rather, he was a veteran of the bloody conquest of the Inca Empire whose considerable rewards were not enough for his greedy soul. He wished to find and loot the legendary city of El Dorado in order to become even wealthier. He died still seeking a wealthy kingdom to plunder. Still, there is no doubt that he led the first expedition to travel the Amazon River from its roots in the Andean mountains to its release into the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way, he proved himself as shrewd, tough, and opportunistic, but also cruel and ruthless. For a time, historians deplored his failure to return to Pizarro, but it seems that he had no choice in the matter. Today, Orellana is remembered for his journey of exploration and little else. He is most famous in Ecuador, which is proud of its role in history as the place from which the famed expedition departed. There are streets, schools, and even a province named after him. Sources Ayala Mora, Enrique, ed. Manual de Historia del Ecuador I: Epocas Aborigen y Colonial, Independencia. Quito: Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar, 2008.Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. â€Å"Francisco De Orellana.†Ã‚  Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, Inc., 13 Feb. 2014.Silverberg, Robert. The Golde. Dream: Seekers of El Dorado. Athens: the Ohio University Press, 1985.

The History Of Israel - 1705 Words

Israel, a country of only 8.38 million people, has been thriving since its independence in the year 1948. It runs as a vibrant democracy and the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has successfully lead a coalition government consisting of right-leaning and religious parties. This 8,019 square mile country, â€Å"has a modern market economy with a thriving high-technology sector that attracts considerable foreign investment† (heritage.org, 1). Israel is surrounded by much larger and hateful countries towards Israel, leading to multiple wars including the 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, the 2008-2009, 2012, and 2014 wars against Hamas in Gaze, and furthermore, the constant and daily threats of terrorism. But, although Israel experiences†¦show more content†¦This is a very useful tool when you are trying to comparing countries to each other because it shows the relative performance of these countries (investopedia.com). Comparing Israel to other countries, in 201 6 with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Israel was ranked number 24 at $37,262, and with the World Bank in 2016 as well, it was ranked as number 22 at $37,293 (Economy of Israel). All of the GDP are converted into United States currency to even out the playing field and make it easier to rank all of the countries. While the GDP per capita can help compare countries to one another, an issue with it is that it doesn’t take into account the differences in cost of living as well as the fluctuations in the exchange rates of a country’s currency (wikipedia.org). Within the entire Middle East, Israel has the highest GDP, just about doubling Iran who is the second highest at $12,900 (Economy in the Middle East). By breaking down the percentages of the GDP in Israel, it shows that most of the GDP is towards services at 64.7%, then 31.2% in industry, and a small 2.5% in agriculture (Economy of Israel). 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My Experience With the Intouchables Essay Example For Students

My Experience With the Intouchables Essay It was the November 2, 2011, when the long-expected French movie called â€Å"Intouchables† was released. During this period, I had my autumn break from school, which was one the primary reasons of my significant concern about forthcoming events. Personally, I was extremely excited to watch this movie, on account of my favorite actor, performing the main role. Furthermore, this performance was based on the real life story of the Philippe Pozzo di Borgo and Abdel Sellou, who despite of the considerable amount of obstacles in their life did not give up and learnt to be content with what he has within this moment. Consequently, the influence of this movie on my life occurred to be significant. On the other hand, by considering my awareness about films of different genre and cultures, I knew upfront that Intouchables probably going to be one of the best movies I have ever seen. A great, positive comedy, The Intouchables, is the actual story of an infrequent relationship among the quadriplegic multi-millionaire from the richest neighborhood in Paris and his caretaker, living under other side of the economic spectrum – a strong bond that arises, through the unconditional trust, care, and shared life experiences, into a strong friendship that considerably transforms two miserable lives. Moreover, the topic about race and class courses during the whole movie, which is a permanent origin of confusion and inconvenience in France. Particularly, one of the most remarkable things about the film is that both men assist each other to cope with their personal issues. Accordingly, Driss needs to become more responsible with his life and look after the people about whom he cares the most, whereas Phillipe needs to learn to accept himself as he is and improve his romantic relationships by overcoming the fear of being renounced. Therefore, each man is deficient in a certain way; both of them overcome this deficiency, by being an emotional and spiritual home to each other. The only thing for what this film might be criticized is its sentimentality and naà ¯ve optimism. Surprisingly, the movie theatre in my hometown, where we were watching the Intouchables, was completely full with people of the different age, class and race, which indicates the substantial interest of the people. Moreover, the dramatic atmosphere of this movie conducted by Ludovico Einaudi’s masterpieces, â€Å"Fly† and â€Å"Una Mattina†. The compositions were gracefully used in the major touching parts of the film: gives the audience significant amount of impressions and emotions. The incredible story is focused on the two absolutely different characters, Driss and Philippe accompanied by unforgettable acting and dramatic filmography. Actually, an unconditional friendship and their cooperative travel though their journey makes both of their lives brighter and lighter. The film is mainly based on their boundless relationship and the knowledge they received from one another. As a result, this story is where both characters are winners and losers, rather than one is a hero and one is saved. It is heartwarming that such an inspiring story was retrieved from the real life and a real friendship. Driss and Philippe possibly untouchables for others, but through their enlightening journey and shared experiences, they are able to touch each other’s heart.

Zlatas Diary By Zlata Filipovic Penguin Essays - Diaries

Zlata's Diary By Zlata Filipovic Penguin Zlata's Diary By Zlata Filipovic Penguin Books c. 1995 Zlata's Diary is a book about a young girl's life during a war in Sarajevo. As the book begins, Zlata Filipovic is a normal little girl going to school and having fun. She has lots of friends, does well in school, has a wonderful family life, and is as happy as any little girl could want to be. Slowly, throughout the book, things start to get worse. She starts out talking about her grades and how happy she had been with school, and how the biggest of her worries is that she is sick on her birthday. Then she moves on to talk about the war in Dunbrovnik and how she is praying for them. Slowly, the war starts to move to Sarajevo. The book goes from, I am tired, but happy, to, My life is one of no electricity, no water, no gas, no school which isn't school, rice, macaroni, a bit of green beans from Meleca's garden, the occasional sweets, my piano, and of course you, Mimmy. I really enjoyed the begining of the book, but I felt that after awhile it was the same thing over, and over again. For example, June 23, The electricity went out at eight o'clock last night. July 7, There was no water yesterday, or the day befor, or the day befor that.She goes on to say the same thing repetitivly only days later and throughout the whole book. I think the book would have been better for younger kids. I think kids that were more around Zlata's age could have related to her better. I was also dissapointed about the emotion she had, To explain that she was sad she would simply say, Boo-Hoo. Her friends would die ir her family members would leave and that was the only emotion she would express. She didn't really write how she felt in a way we could relate to. I think, if she would have had more emotion, and also not so much repetitive writing, we could have understood her better and I believe I would have enjoyed the book more. Bibliography Zlata's Diary Book report Book Reports