Who really discovered America, Columbus or another gentleman (Americus?)?

Answer 1

well... technically the vikings did... a guy named lief ericson then came amerigo vespucci and lastly and the one that got the credit: Christopher Columbus

Answer 2

No such person as Americus. The continent is named after Amerigo Vespucci, one of Columbus' crewmen. Columbus gets the credit because he was in charge.

There is some debate over who "really" discovered America, depending more on your definition of the word "discover" than any dispute over the facts. The first people here were the Native Americans, who came over from Asia in the middle of the last Ice Age. The first European explorers here were the Vikings around 1000 AD. The first Europeans to make it to the Americas, then return and tell Europe about them were Columbus and his crew.

Answer 3

The recorded history states that Columbus, the Italian, sailing for the Spanish discovered the Americas. Vespucci was the first European account of the Americas. Prior to that, the Vikings were supposed to have been there as well. As far as the aborigines (indigenous lifeforms), no insult intended, but they are pre-history and rely on interpretation of rock paintings etc to determine the role they played in the civilisation of a country.
There is also some evidence to suggest that several of the native Central American races had European blood intermingled very early on in the recorded history of man. So maybe we are all wrong and the Dutch got there first as they were supposed to in Australia.

Answer 4

The name America was taken from Amerigo Vespucci, but he didn't come to the Americas until 1499 and 1502 and he only explored South America.

Some say Saint Brendan of Ireland sailed to America in a curricle in the 6th century, but there is no evidence. Others say Leif Ericson discovered America on a viking voyage around 1,000 AD, but there is no evidence.

Others say that since America was inhabited before Europeans got there that American Indians discovered it.

Answer 5

From About Geography:
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. Vespucci was able to calculate how far west he had traveled by observing the conjunction of Mars and the Moon.

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

The German clergyman-scholar Martin Waldseemuller liked to make up names. He even created his own last name by combining words for "wood," "lake," and "mill." Waldseemuller was working on a contemporary world map, based on the Greek geography of Ptolemy, 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, Waldseemuller printed a wood block map (called "Carta Mariana") with the name "America" spread across the southern continent of the New World. Waldseemuller printed and sold a thousand copies of the map across Europe.

Within a few years, Waldseemuller 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."

As far as who was here first it is all debateable. Viking settlements in Northern Canada and some found in the US predate Columbus

First Nations peoples are thought to possibly have come over during the ice age

Remains of celtic artifacts have been found in the state of Michigan.

neolithic mounds have been found in both americas. So in short Nt and St America were great tourist spots without a PR company LOL --- long before Columbus

Answer 6

the vikings were in north america and had settlements in the north a long time before columbus came over to say hello. a reason that many native americans have a slightly oriental look to them might be because it is now thought that the chinese explored the american coastline, and some evidence of their being here have been found.
I believe the viking explorer was leif ericksson. he wasn't trying to settle or conquer so much as fleeing his homeland for fear of being killed and took his extended family with him.
it is still thought by some that the first monk of Ireland might well have crossed the north atlantic in a hide boat near the time of the romans

Answer 7

No it was Columbus (In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue). America was named after Amerigo Vespucci who made a map of America

Answer 8

The "native ameicans" discovered America, but I sense that you meant comtemporary discovers. It still would not be Columbis though. It would be the vikings. Those sea faring warrior folk actually crossed the atlantic long before Columbis ever did. The Vikings "discovered" american almost 500 years before Columbis did in a fit of exploration that was started by Eric The Red, and his some, Leif Erickson.

Answer 9

amerigus vespucci probably discovered america first but during that time, especially that the world was preoccupied with claiming discovery over unexplored territories, christopher columbus perhaps had more political connections and better funded expedition that the claim to the discovery of america was credited to him.

Answer 10

It's actually....nobody knows coz te guy/s are likely to be pirates eho does not want anybody to know where they hide their loots.....