Who Is Amerigo Vespucci?

1519: a Spanish armada of five ships set sail that would soon be the first to circumnavigate the globe. Their captain, a Portuguese noble, was an accomplished student of cartography and astronomy. Europe’s cravings for spices sent Columbus to Asia, and into the barrier that was the Americas. Magellan’s expedition sought to find a way through, on a mission to bring a new trade route and immense wealth to Spain. Through the crew’s starvation, two mutinies against him, and his harsh personality and lack of accomplishment, Magellan proved his life was not worth saving.

Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian explorer, a navigator and a cosmographer from the Renaissance period (1451-1512). He is remembered for several important reasons, especially for promoting a scientific approach to access the world. On his first expedition, Vespucci explored the Amazon river, which in present-day covers the region of Brazil in South America. Also, as opposed to the early methods used by navigators, who estimated their position based on their previous location and the distance traveled, Vespucci took accurate navigational measurements and referred to the position of the stars and the moon to determine the longitude. Also, by accurately calculating the length of the equator, he helped determine the size of the earth. However, he made his most important scientific contribution, using his astronomical observations, when he identified that the lands discovered by Columbus were not part of Asia as thought by many Europeans at the time, but were a completely separate continent. To honor Vespucci’s great discovery, the continents of the western hemisphere were eventually named after his first name and was thus called America.

Columbus started out on his first voyage in the middle of 1492. It turned out to be a great success and he won Spain many places in South America. The king, queen, and the people of Spain were pleased with Columbus. Isabella immediately ordered him to sail again. On this second voyage, he formed the first European settlement in the Americas. Colonists that accompanied him began to criticize Columbus and his adventures. However, Isabella continued to support him.

Christopher Columbus- A merchant 's clerk from the Italian city of Genoa, a part-time fabric weaver inherited from parents, and expert sailor who discovered the Americas.

On Aug. 3, 1492, Columbus sailed from Palos, Spain, with three small ships, the Santa María, commanded by Columbus himself, the Pinta under Martín Pinzon, and the Nina under Vicente Yanez Pinzon. After stopping at the Canary Islands, he sailed due west from Sept. 6 until Oct. 7, when he changed his course to the southwest. On Oct. 10 a small rebellion was quelled, and on Oct. 12 he landed on a small island in the Bahamas. He took possessions for Spain and brought natives aboard, discovered other

10.Giovanni da Verrazano - Giovanni da Verrazzano was an Italian maritime explorer sent by King Francis 1, who chartered the Atlantic coast of North America between the Carolinas and Newfoundland, including New York Harbor in 1524. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York was named after

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who received credit for the discovery of the Americas in 1492. His goal was to discover another route to India instead, he sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in Hispaniola which is present day Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Although, historians argue he did not technically discover the Americas, he opened trade routes between the Old World and the New World. He influenced later explorers and impacted the development of the Columbian Exchange. The historians present their attitudes towards the consequences and outcomes of Christopher Columbus and his discovery. They also state their argument on his controversial legacy about whether Christopher Columbus should be perceived as a hero or a villain.

12 October 1492- Columbus arrives in the Americas- Christopher Columbus had the support of King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I. Columbus set sail in April of 1492. It took him nearly six months for him to touch land. Although Columbus was not the first to actually discover the Americas, he has been given that credit despite there being evidence that Vikings actually discovered the Americas around 1000 AD. “Icelandic legends called sagas recounted Eriksson’s exploits in the New World around A.D. 1000. These Norse stories were spread by word of mouth before becoming recorded in the 12th and 13th centuries.” (History.com/Vikings) The significance of Columbus coming to America over the Vikings is that following the voyage of Columbus, is when settlers really began to start traveling to the Americas and “a new phase of civilization began.” (Reference.com)

The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492,

Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 (Biography.com Editors “Christopher Columbus)”. Columbus’s first expedition started on August 3rd 1492. Columbus sailed from Palos, Spain with three small ships, Santa Maria which was captained by Columbus himself, Pinta captained by Martin Pinzon, and The Nina captained by Vicente Yáñez Pinzón (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. "Christopher Columbus Voyages to the New World.") While on the journey, Columbus kidnapped many Indians, most died but eight survived. ( Columbus, Christopher. "Columbus Reports on His First Voyage, 1493.") Columbus wrote a letter to the king and queen of Spain saying he found the new world. ( Columbus, Christopher. "Columbus Reports on

Giovanni Da Verrazano was the first European that traveled across the ocean in 1524 (Tamara Orr). He was looking for an unknown area between Florida and Newfoundland. He ended up in what people know today as New Jersey. He anchored off in Sandy Hook. “The colonial history of New Jersey started after Henry Hudson sailed through Newark Bay in 1609” (A Short History of New Jersey).

The story of Christopher Columbus begins in the city of Genoa in the year 1451. Columbus was the oldest of five children. He went to grammar school but left school at an early age and began sailing on Genoese ships in the Mediterranean. The sailing experience that Columbus gained

Christopher Columbus found America in 1492. He also led his three ships, The Nina, The Pinta, and The Santa Maria, out of the Spanish Harbor. On August 3rd, 1492, his goal was to sail west until he got to Asia, because he didn’t know that America existed. He was sailing to Asia where the riches of gold, pearls, and spice was there. When Columbus came back to Spain, he wrote a letter telling about his discoveries to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. They helped him with his trip. He wrote the letter in Spanish and sent it to Rome, where the Romans printed it in Latin. Christopher Columbus lived from 1451-1506. We chose Christopher Columbus because he founded America.

This voyage departed from Cadiz with a fleet of Spanish ships. The letter states that the ships made their way through the West Indies and got to the province of Central America within about five weeks. This would mean that Amerigo came across Venezuela a year before Christopher Columbus did. Amerigo and his fleets arrived back in Cadiz in October 1498. Then, in May of 1499, Amerigo set off on his second Voyage. Sailing under the spanish flag, Vespucci worked as a navigator under the command of Alonzo de Ojeda. They traveled to the coast of what is know known as Guyana, where it is believed that Vespucci parted ways with Ojeda and went on to explore the coast of Brazil. During this expedition Vespucci is said to have discovered the Amazon River and Cape St. Augustine. On May 14, 1501, Amerigo departed on another journey. Now on his third voyage, Vespucci set sail for Cape Verde. Amerigo’s third voyage is largely considered his most successful. Vespucci did not start on in command of the expedition, but when Portuguese officers asked him to take charge of the voyage he

Vasco Da Gama left from Lisbon, Portugal on his first voyage on July 8, 1497 because he wanted to prove that the Atlantic Ocean connected with the Indian Ocean. He had one hundred seventy men and four ships. The journey sailed on November 22 successfully