{"data":{"description":"How America Got Its Name: In a further twist of events, America was named after Amerigo Vespucci, a 15th century Florentine merchant who owned a ..","title":"How America Got Its Name","post_type":"page","content":"\u003ch2 style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #ad8431;\"\u003eThe Story of How America Got Its Name\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eIt is an irony of history that the name \"America\" did not come from \u003cstrong\u003eChristopher Columbus\u003c/strong\u003e. That distinction belongs to a German writer of geography.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"mostpop\" style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\r\n\u003cul\u003e\r\n\u003cul\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003eIn a further twist of events, America was named after \u003cstrong\u003eAmerigo Vespucci\u003c/strong\u003e, a 15th century Florentine merchant who owned a business in Seville, Spain, furnishing supplies for ships, preparing them for mercantile expeditions.\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003c/ul\u003e\r\n\u003c/ul\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow do we explain what seems to mock the reality of history?\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eStirred by the achievements of Columbus and envious of the reputation his discoveries brought, Vespucci endeavored to cultivate Columbus' friendship and trust.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e Seven years after Columbus' first voyage and while Columbus was still alive, Vespucci accompanied an expedition that consisted of four ships. They sailed past the eastern coast of South America, and visited Trinidad, which Columbus had named the preceding year. On his return to Europe Vespucci wrote letters with glowing descriptions of the newly discovered countries. He called the lands he had visited a \u003cstrong\u003e\"New World.\"\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/bookmarks/america-got-name/name\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\" wp-image-5008 size-medium alignright\" src=\"/images/earlyamerica/name.jpg\" alt=\"How America Got Its Name\" width=\"300\" height=\"289\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003eSome years later Vespucci's letters were published and read by \u003cstrong\u003eMartin Waldseemuller\u003c/strong\u003e, a noted geographer, and \u003cstrong\u003eMathias Ringmann\u003c/strong\u003e, a schoolmaster. Recently arrived from Germany to the province of Lorraine, they were attracted to the town of Saint-Die because of a newly established print shop. Both men were engaged in working on a reproduction of Ptolemy's treatise on geography, to which they were adding a preface.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eAfter reading the account of Vespucci's travels in \"Quatre Navigations d' Americ Vespuce,\" they decided to incorporate Vespucci's voyage into the treatise. Ringmann, acting as editor, wrote in his introduction:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cblockquote style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/bookmarks/america-got-name/amerigo\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-7272\" src=\"/images/earlyamerica/amerigo.jpg\" alt=\"America Got It's Name from Amerigo Vespucci\" width=\"296\" height=\"335\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\"There is a fourth quarter of the world which Amerigo Vespucci has discovered and which for this reason we can call 'America' or the land of Americo.\"\u003c/blockquote\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eApparently ignorant of the discoveries and achievements made by Columbus fifteen years earlier, Ringmann continued:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cblockquote style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\"We do not see why the name of the man of genius, Amerigo, who has discovered them, should not be given to these lands, as Europe and Asia have adopted the names of women.\"\u003c/blockquote\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eTheir work was published on April 25, 1507 under the title \"Cosmographiae Introductio.\" It marked the first time the word AMERICA appeared in print.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/bookmarks/america-got-name/am_map\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"aligncenter wp-image-7271 size-full\" src=\"/images/earlyamerica/am_map.jpg\" alt=\"Early American Map - 1515\" width=\"533\" height=\"394\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","menu":[{"path":"lives-early-america","title":"Famous Lives","submenu":[{"path":"lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin","title":"Autobiography of Ben Franklin"},{"path":"lives-early-america/ramsays-life-washington","title":"Ramsay's The Life of Washington"},{"path":"lives-early-america/adventures-col-daniel-boone","title":"The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boone"},{"path":"lives-early-america/true-story-paul-revere","title":"The True Story of Paul Revere"},{"path":"world-early-america/famous-obits","title":"Famous Obits"},{"path":"portrait","title":"Portraits"},{"path":"rare-images/last-men-revolution","title":"The Last Men of the Revolution"}]},{"path":"freedom-documents","title":"Freedom Documents","submenu":[{"path":"freedom-documents/bill-rights","title":"Bill of Rights"},{"path":"freedom-documents/declaration-independence","title":"Declaration of Independence"},{"path":"freedom-documents/u-s-constitution","title":"The U.S. Constitution"}]},{"path":"world-early-america","title":"World of Early America","submenu":[{"path":"bookmarks","title":"Early American Bookmarks"},{"path":"world-early-america/famous-obits","title":"Famous Obits"},{"path":"firsts","title":"Firsts!"},{"path":"rare-images/maps","title":"Maps"},{"path":"rare-images","title":"Rare Images"},{"path":"music1","title":"Music"},{"path":"writings","title":"The Writings of Early America"}]},{"path":"boston-massacre","title":"Boston Massacre"},{"path":"milestone-events","title":"Milestones"},{"path":"early-america-review","title":"The Review"},{"path":"home/teachers-students","title":"Teachers"},{"path":"sitemap","title":"Sitemap"}]},"success":true}