Who and why the New World discovered by Colombus was named as America?

Answer 1

Yes, Columbus discovered it. (Any earlier discoveries by Vikings or others are irrelevant since whatever they did was not publicized and had no lasting impact.) It was named after him in large part because he NEVER knew, to to day of his death, that he had indeed discovered a new continent.

Then there is Amerigo Vespucci who played a leading role on some voyages shortly after Columbus bean. He sailed on at least two expeditions to South America, exploring much of its east coast. On his voyage of 1501-2 he concluded that this was NOT part of Asia, but a NEW part of the world. He was the first to recognize this.

More important for his subsequent fame, Vespucci wrote two letters to a friend in Europe, telling of his journey and conclusions These letters, with their descriptions of the lives and believes of South American natives became very popular all across Europe (unlike Columus's diaries).

In 1507 a German clergyman-scholar named Martin Waldseemüller was working on a contemporary world map. He had read of Vespucci's travels and knew about "the New World". In honor of Vespucci's "discovery" (recognition) of thies new "fourth paft" of the world, Waldseemüller printed his wood block map with the name "America" spread across the southern continent of the New World. He sold a thousand copies of the map across Europe.

Its maker seems later to have changed his mind, but it was too late. The name had spread too far.

http://geography.about.com/cs/historicalgeog/a/amerigo.htm

Answer 2

Amerigo Vespucci: "Amerigo Vespucci (March 9, 1451 - February 22, 1512) was an Italian merchant, explorer and cartographer. He played a senior role in two voyages which explored the east coast of South America between 1499 and 1502. On the second of these voyages he discovered that South America extended much further south than previously known by Europeans. This convinced him that this land was part of a new continent, a bold contention at a time when other European explorers crossing the Atlantic Ocean thought they were reaching Asia."


Here's an article on the naming of America: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas#Naming_of_America

Columbus didn't actually discover the New World..."Leif Ericson (Old Norse: Leifr Eiríksson)[1] (c. 980 – c. 1020) was an Icelandic/Norwegian explorer and the first European thought to have landed in North America—more specifically, the region that would become Newfoundland and, by later extension, Canada. His exploration resulted in several settlements, with some evidence suggesting that later Norsemen may eventually have penetrated as far as Minnesota, either coming down from Hudson Bay or going west through the Great Lakes."

Edit: Leif Ericson was probably the first European explorer to land here. Those crossing the Bering Strait were the first Asians, therefore.... ; )

Answer 3

Think Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian explorer. The New World wasn't really "discovered" by Columbus or even the Vikings for that matter. The natives discovered it while migrating here from Asia via the Bering Strait when it used to be a land bridge.

Answer 4

America was actually named after an Italian explorer by the name of Amerigo Vespucci. Columbus actually discovered the West Indies.

Answer 5

In the honor of the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucii who. In 1497 Vespucci said that he went on a voyage to the "New World." Little is known about this because there was not much evidence to support that he 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, after this journey was said to take place people began to doubt this and Columbus became known as the founder of the "New World" even though he thought he was in India.

Answer 6

America was earlier discovered by Amerigo Vespucci before Columbus reached the far-western lands. Hence it was named as America

Answer 7

Amerigo Vespucci discovered it, indeed it was named after him

Answer 8

Amerigo Vespucci was a map maker who put his name on the country. He never visited America.

Answer 9

columbus didn't even discover america. america is named after amerigo vespucci or something like that. america had people living there long before columbus came along.

Answer 10

already it was been called as america when colombus gone there,he just introduced it to the remaining world ,thats it.