Why is America called America?

Question

I mean where did the name American even come from.

Answer 1

I'm teaching about him to my fifth graders! Here goes:

Amerigo Vespucci was born in 1454 to a prominent family in Florence, Italy. As a young man he read widely, collected books and maps, and even studied under Michaelangelo.

While in Spain, Amerigo Vespucci began working on ships and ultimately went on his first expedition as a navigator in 1499. This expedition reached the mouth of the Amazon River and explored the coast of South America.

On his second voyage in 1501, Amerigo Vespucci sailed under the Portuguese flag. His ships followed the South American coast to within 400 miles of the southern tip, Tierra del Fuego.

While on this voyage, Vespucci wrote two letters to a friend in Europe. He described his travels and was the first to identify the New World of North and South America as separate from Asia. (Until he died, Columbus thought he had reached Asia.)

Amerigo Vespucci also described the culture of the indigenous people, and focused on their diet, religion, and what made these letters very popular - their sexual, marriage, and childbirth practices. The letters were published in many languages and were distributed across Europe (they were a much better seller than Columbus' own diaries).

Amerigo Vespucci was named Pilot Major of Spain in 1508. Vespucci's third voyage to the New World was his last for he contracted malaria and died in Spain in 1512 at the age of 58.

Answer 2

Why Is America Called America

Answer 3

America Vaspucci a mapmaker

Answer 4

Mapmaker Amerigo Vespucci

Answer 5

Amerigo Vespucci

Answer 6

America came from the first name of a man who supposedly sailed to the new world before Christopher Columbus did. His name was Amerigo Vespucci, and was from Italy. America is an English translation of the German version of Amerigo.

Answer 7

Martin Waldseemüller miscorrectly named the land America after Amerigo Vespucci. Later, he corrected this error calling the land Columbia (after Columbus), however, the name America had already caught on.

Answer 8

Amerigo Verpsuci an Italian explorer

Answer 9

Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian mapmaker centuries ago drew one of the first maps of the Americas and named it after himself, or something like that. The spelling got changed here or there since then, obviously.

Answer 10

Amerigo Vespuci, an Italian mapmaker