Effects of Expedition in North America
From the point of view of the Spanish, de Soto's excursion to Florida was a failure. They acquired neither gold nor prosperity and founded no colonies. But the expedition had several major consequences.
It contributed to the process of the Columbian Exchange. For instance, some of the swine brought by de Soto escaped and became the ancestors of razorback pigs in the southeastern United States.
De Soto was instrumental in contributing to the development of a hostile relationship between many native American tribes and Europeans. When his expedition encountered hostile natives in the new lands, more often than not it was his men who instigated the clashes.
More devastating than the battles were the diseases carried by the members of the expedition. Because they lacked immunity to Eurasian diseases, the indigenous people suffered epidemics of illness after contracting infectious diseases, such as measles, smallpox and chicken pox. Several areas that the expedition crossed became depopulated by disease caused by contact with the Europeans. Many natives fled the populated areas that had been struck by the illnesses for the surrounding hills and swamps. In some areas, the social structure changed because of population losses due to epidemics.
The records of the expedition contributed greatly to European knowledge about the geography, biology and ethnology of the New World. The de Soto expedition's descriptions of North American natives are the earliest-known source of information about the societies in the Southeast. They are the only European description of North American native habits before the natives encountered other Europeans. De Soto's men were both the first and nearly the last Europeans to witness the Mississippian culture.
De Soto's expedition led the Spanish crown to reconsider Spain's attitude toward the colonies north of Mexico. He claimed large parts of North America for Spain. The Spanish concentrated their missions in the state of Florida and along the Pacific coast.
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