Why is America called 'America'?

Answer 1

Amerigo Vespucci (1507)

Answer 2

On his second voyage in 1501, Amerigo Vespucci sailed under the Portuguese flag.

fter leaving Lisbon, it took Vespucci 64 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean due to light winds. 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 was proud of this accomplishments, "I was more skillful than all the shipmates of the whole world." 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.

Martin Waldseemüller

The German clergyman-scholar Martin Waldseemüller liked to make up names. He even created his own last name by combining words for "wood," "lake," and "mill." Waldseemüller was working on a contemporary world map, based on the Greek geography of Ptolmey, and he had read of Vespucci's travels and knew that the New World was indeed two continents.

In honor of Vespucci's discovery of the new forth portion of the world, Waldseemüller printed a wood block map (called "Carta Mariana") with the name "America" spread across the southern continent of the New World. Waldseemüller printed and sold a thousand copies of the map across Europe.

Within a few years, Waldseemüller changed his mind about the name for the New World but it was too late. The name America had stuck. The power of the printed word was too powerful to take back. Gerardus Mercator's world map of 1538 was the first to include North America and South America. Thus, continents named for a Italian navigator would live on forever.

Answer 3

Amerigo Vespucci

Answer 4

It's named after Amerigo Vespucci.

Answer 5

i saw a tv programme that said it was unkilely to be Amerigo Vespucci as countries wer never named after the first name of the discoverer, it would be called Vespiccia.

they had another theory about where the name came from. i think it was something to do with a map thay found. cant remember exactly.

Answer 6

Because Amerigo Vespucci's mammy and daddy decided to name their son that way and then this one grew and became an explorer...If Columbus didn't thought that he is in India(and he did till he died) now, George W. Bush would be the president of the United States of Cristoferia.lol.

Answer 7

The landmass is named after Amerigo Vespucci.

Answer 8

This is because it was named after Amerigo Vespucci, like Bolivia was named after Simon Bolivar, the Liberator

Answer 9

The name was derived from the Italian cartographer-explorer Amerigo Vespucci. Far as I know he never got close to the place, but had two continents named after him.

I need his PR firm.

Answer 10

Supposedly after Italian Amerigo Vespucci,but more probably an unknown 'Amerigo'