Beyond the New World: 1500-1550
Vasco de Balboa (c. 1475-1519)
The Spanish conquistador most identified with personal independence is undoubtedly Vasco Núñez de Balboa. After coming to the New World on a supply ship at about the age of twenty five, Balboa became a farmer but was soon in debt. In an effort both to escape his creditors and to avoid extradition to Spain, he smuggled himself aboard a ship bound from Hispaniola for Colombia.
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