Why ‘America’?

If Columbus is considered the most important European explorer of the Western Hemisphere, then why are citizens of the U.S. called Americans, not Columbians? And who were the continents of North and South America named after? These are questions that some newcomers to the U.S. ask.

Columbus's name appears many times on a map of the Western Hemisphere. Several cities in the U.S. are named after him, as is the Columbia River, one of the chief rivers in the U.S.A and Canada. The nation's capital city is called Washington, D.C., with the initials standing for District of Columbia. However, the two continents of the Western Hemisphere are named after Amerigo Vespucci, another Italian explorer. He made at least two (and possibly four) voyages to the Americas, the first only a few years after Columbus's first voyage. Vespucci's 1499 voyage was undertaken for Spain and led by a Spanish explorer. It brought Vespucci to Brazil, Venezuela, and Hispaniola. Then, in 1501, he sailed to Brazil again, this time with the ships of a Portuguese captain. The 1501 voyage convinced Vespucci that he had reached a new continent. He was the first per­son to claim this.

About 1503, Vespucci's account of his discovery of a new continent was published in English under the title New World. It was also translated into many other languages and published in many European countries. Its fame established Vespucci as the discoverer of the New World. Columbus never disputed this claim.

In 1507, a German mapmaker who read Vespucci's writings became the first person to use the name America to describe the area that Columbus and Vespucci had explored. Vespucci received many honors and important jobs. After his death, it was discovered that this so-called great explorer was not really so great. After all, Columbus had reached the Western Hemisphere before Vespucci did. In addition, despite his claims, Vespucci was probably not the leader of the expeditions he was on. Therefore, it is ap­propriate that Amerigo Vespucci is the forgotten explorer, while Columbus is honored annually in many countries.

After you read

1. Getting the message

A. On each blank line, write the letter of the correct phrase to complete the sentence.

1. Columbus was born in 1451, in the middle of the ____century.

1. fourteenth

2. fifteenth

2. Columbus left Portugal and went to Spain because ______ .

1. the Portuguese king wanted to finance his voyage

b. he hoped that the Spanish government would pay for the ships and crew

3. From 1485 to 1492, Columbus was trying to get ships for an expedition so he could _____ .

1. find new continents

b. reach the East by sailing west

4. Columbus's goal was to ____ .

1. help his native country get colonies in the Far East

b. become rich and famous

5. Columbus made this mistake: _______ .

1. He thought the world was round

2. To the west, he thought that there was only water, not land, between Europe and Asia

6. Columbus's first voyage was important because _______ .

1. he was the first European to land in the Western Hemisphere b. his landing led to European development of the Americas

1. Columbus's life was similar to Vespucci's in this way: Both men ______ .

1. crossed the Atlantic Ocean

2. led voyages for Portugal