The leaders that supported freedom in American revolutionary times used the Enlightenment as a foundation. When the Second Continental Congress met on July 4, 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. In the Declaration, Jefferson made references to the beliefs of the Enlightenment philosopher John Locke.
Acadia was a province of New France that was in today's Canadian Maritimes, part of Quebec, and part of the US State of Maine (down to the Kennebec River).
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Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who participated in the conquests of Central America and Peru and discovered the Mississippi River.
I can't answer your second question since I know nothing about it, my apologies, but I hope that this will help answer about Hernando de Soto.