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Secondary sourceBook1835

The Conquest of Florida, by Hernando de Soto

Theodore Irving · 1835

Theodore Irving's 1835 popular history of Hernando de Soto's expedition into Florida, drawn from earlier chronicles.

A popular 19th-century retelling of de Soto's expedition, shaping how Americans later remembered him.

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The Conquest of Florida, by Hernando de SotoPDF · 302 pages
Theodore Irving, The Conquest of Florida, by Hernando de Soto, 1835.

About this source

What it is

This is a two-volume history published in 1835 by Theodore Irving, nephew of the famous writer Washington Irving, to whom the book is dedicated. It retells the story of de Soto's expedition into Florida using earlier chronicle sources.

Why it matters

This book helped shape the popular 19th-century American image of de Soto as an adventurer, turning the older chronicles into a dramatic narrative for a wide readership. It shows how historical figures get reshaped by later writers for new audiences.

Look closer

  • Why might Theodore Irving have wanted to retell this story for an American audience in the 1830s?
  • How could relying on earlier chronicles shape what gets included or left out of this history?
  • What does the dedication to Washington Irving suggest about this book's purpose?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Hernando de Soto on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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