Have you ever wondered where the name America came from? I have for a long time, actually, and came across this information about two weeks ago. America is named after the Italian businessman turned explorer, Amerigo Vespucci (1451-1512).
In 1503, a 4-6 page story titled Novus Mundus by Albericus Vespucius which was translated from Italian to Latin (including his name), began circulating in Spain. In it, he described the new land that had been discovered and said it was very fertile, its water so fresh, and that its people had reddish skin because they were always naked and tanned by the sun.
His telling of what was found in these lands was very creative and different from the technicalities that had been previously written. Because of the popularity of his storytelling, his writings were translated into various languages, including French and German. In them, he argued that what had been discovered was not a faster route to India, but was instead a new continent. At the time, the people who were interested in the expeditions of Christopher Columbus and other explorers were mostly rich merchants wanting to obtain spices, textiles, and other materials from India at better prices. However, what Vespucius argued, that this was a new continent and that it was as magical as he described it, caught the attention of the general public. It offered a new opportunity for everyone and with his stories, the interest and popularity of this discovery grew.
About 3-4 years after the release of Modus Novus, a 16-page story was published anonymously in Florence, under the title, “Letters by Amerigo Vespucci about the newly-found islands during his four voyages.” This was when people learned that the author of Novus Mundus was actually Italian and that his actual name was Amerigo Vespucci. He was named Americo Vespucio in Spanish.
In 1507, one year after Columbus’s death, while creating a new world map, Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann used the word “America,” after Amerigo Vespucci, to name what we now know as Brazil. The tremendous size of this part of the world was not known, imagine everyone’s surprise when they came to that realization. Accompanying the publication of this map was an introduction written by Ringmann in which he states that he sees no reason as to why this new land could not be named after its discoverer, Amerigo Vespucci:
"I see no reason why anyone could properly disapprove of a name derived from that of Amerigo, the discoverer, a man of sagacious genius. A suitable form would be Amerige, meaning Land of Amerigo, or America, since Europe and Asia have received women's names."
Previously, it had been called the India Occidental, Terra dos Papagios, Terra de Santa Cruz, and Terra Incognita, among others.
It was until 1538 that the mapmaker, Gerardus Mercator, used “America” to name the entire continent.
Interesting! But as most stories go, this one is not linear. In the years after, it was found that he might have lied about the years of his expeditions, wanting to compete with Christopher Columbus’s first expedition. He was called a liar and a fake, to put it in my own words, but because the name America had already stuck, it remained as such. However, it was later thought that it might not have been Vespucci who lied, but the person who anonymously published the 16-page story (who could also have been Vespucci, I think).
Interestingly too, is the fact that at the time, authors did not have author rights, and their work could be translated and edited as desired without the consent of the original author. Imagine that! Vespucci did not even know what his stories had been changed to. Many “adjustments” have been discovered between his original letter to Pier Soderini and the translated and edited versions later published, including dates!
Amerigo Vespucci died in Seville, Spain in 1512, five years after the naming of America (or Brazil as America).
The Letter from Amerigo Vespucci to Pier Soderini in 1497 is actually quite accessible.
Also, this video about his story is very clearly told. It is in Spanish but has the option for English subtitles.
Yes definitely 💯
True, Esperanza. I’ll bet they’d be jumping with joy if they knew 🙌