Vespucci was the one person for who North and South America was named after. Vespucci had wonderful life and found many things on his voyages. Amerigo Vespucci was born in Florence, Italy in March o 1451, and grew up in a considerable mansion near the river. As a young boy, Amerigo’s happiest moments studying th stars.
He excelled in mathematics and his hobby wa copying maps. His dream as a young boy was to travel an get a better picture about what the Earth looked like. Amerigo spent half of his life as a business man hoping t strike it rich so he could explore. Amerigo was the third son there were two older brothers, Antonio and Girolamo, th youngest was Bernardo. The parents were Stagio an Elisabetta Vespucci. Italy, at this time was not yet a civilize country. Italy was a bunch of city- states each self governe and looking for money for it’s own purposes and not for th benefit of the country. Florence, where Amerigo was bor and grew up, was in the city-state governed by the powerfu Medici family.
Later in Vespucci’s life he ends up workin for this family helping govern the city-state. Italy, at this tim was not a good country as it is today. In 1492 Vespucci lef Florence for Seville, Spain because Italy had the monopol and didn’t need, or want, exploration. Well into his forties around 1495, Vespucci became the director of a shi company that supplied ships for long voyages. This was th first opportunity Vespucci had to make voyages and he wa very happy about this, therefore he was only looking fo “new worlds” to discover and not money or rewards fo finding exotic places.
In 1497 Vespucci said that he went o a voyage to the “New World.” Little is known about thi because there was not much evidence to support that h actually made this voyage such as: journals, maps they used or any crew members journals about what happened. He was said to be back in 1498. Later on down the road, afte this journey was said to take place people began to doub this and Columbus became known as the founder of th “New World” even though he thought he was in India. I 1499 Vespucci was said to have made his second voyag with Alonso de Ojeda as the captain.
This voyage could b backed by a great deal of evidence and is supposed to hav occurred. The watchman finally did spot land, the Cap Verde Islands, and this is the first time anyone has bee purposely to the “New World.” On this first journe Vespucci explored the north eastern coast of South Americ and also came in contact with Cuba, Hispaniola, and th Bahaman Islands. Vespucci got back to Spain in 1500 an told everyone about his findings of the land and the people. On May 19, 1501 Vespucci left from the ports of th sponsoring Spain on his third voyage. On this voyag Vespucci was second in charge behind Gonocalo Coelho another one of Spains’ explorers.
They explored on thi expedition the Cape Santo Agostinho at the shoulder o present day Brazil. This voyage was one of the les successful because they explored only limited water area. On the fourth, and last, voyage Vespucci explored more o South America. In 1503, on this journey, led by Amerig Vespuccci himself, the captain and crew explored the sout eastern side of South America. They ran along the coast an visited such places as Cape Soo Roque, Guanabara Bay Rio de la Plata, Cape Santo Agostinho, San Julian an spotted the Falkland Islands. His crew returned back t Spain in 1504 and told their story to mapmakers to put o the maps.
After the findings of the “New World” mapmaker suggested they call it America, after the knowin founder. Martin Waldseemuller a German mapmaker wa one of the first to believe that Vespucci was the firs European to reach the “New World.” In 1507, he suggeste they call it America and soon this name was used throughou and eventually used officially in the naming of the continent. Vespucci left a controversy when he died saying that he di not make the voyage that started in 1497.
Today scholar still doubt that Vespucci made the voyage. Vespucci als claimed, in his writings, that he captioned all the journey himself when he only captained one of the four reporte expedition. The results to Vespucci’s findings was that Nort and South America were named after him, and back in th late 1400’s and the early 1500’s they would know that ther was a “New World” out there and they didn’t have to go o believing that Asia was just beyond the horizon and that i reality there was two of the biggest continents in the way o their destination, Asia. Bibliography
- Baker, Nina Amerig Vespucci McCelland ; Stewart Limited Canada, 1956
- World Book Encyclopedia 1985 Vol. 29 (V) p.p. 274
- Bohler, Richard World Explorers and Discovers Mac Milla Publishing Company New York, 1992 p.p. 439-44 History
