How did America Get its Name?
If Columbus Discovered it, Should the People Be called Columbians?
Amerigo Vespucci was born on April 9 1453 in the Italian City-State of Florence. His first name is a variant of the Old German name Heimrich, which means “Home Ruler”. Although it is by coincidence only this is an especially appropriate name for the North American continent which has become the world’s first and best example of the political principle of ”Home Rule”. Amerigo grew up in a family that made its way in the weaving industry and he was educated along with several young men of wealth by his Uncle Georgio Vespucci, who was a Dominican Friar. This is probably where he became fascinated with world exploration and maps. This was because his uncle was a good friend of Paolo Toscanelli, a voracious map collector who staked his literary reputation on the fact that you could sail west to find the east!
Vespucci the Diplomat
Amerigo began to make a name for himself as an attaché of the Florentine Ambassador to the Vatican. It was here that he began to become acquainted with the way political power worked in the world. He traveled from service in the city of the Pope to France where he began to understand how different cultures practiced the political arts and he learned to become an international trade expert as well as an accomplished diplomat. It was here, also that he gained access to maps that were now being printed based on Ptolemy’s book Geography. His fascination with the east and the new ideas that seemed to make a new route possible were special areas of study that Vespucci began to pursue.
Vespucci the Businessman
His success as a diplomat gave Amerigo a fine reputation as a man on integrity. When his cousin married one of the heads of the Popolano family, he was asked to take charge of their financial dealings. It was in this capacity, that Vespucci began to have dealings with the city of Seville, which at the time had deep river access to the Atlantic Ocean. It was through his business connection with Gianotto Barardi in early 1492 that he became finance agent of the voyages of Christopher Columbus. While in most of his other business propositions Vespucci was successful, this venture, while becoming a milestone in exploration, was to become a financial disaster. It was not until the Aztec gold was “appropriated” several years later that Spain’s toehold in the New World became legendary. In the intervening years from 1492 until after the death of Columbus in 1506, exploration and navigation threatened to plunge Spain, Vespucci and his business partners into bankruptcy.
Vespucci the Navigator
As the effectiveness of Christopher Columbus as a colonial Governor became more and more suspect and as his promise of Oriental wealth died, Amerigo began to consider taking up exploration up close and personal. In 1499, as the managing partner in two ships on their way to the New World, he discovered what was to become the South American Continent. His discovery caused him to go back to his diplomatic roots because he was sure that the land he laid his eyes on belonged, by edict of the Pope, to Portugal rather than the Spanish Monarchs who sponsored his own trip. His skill at dealing with that situation led to his appointment later in life to head up a school of navigation in Spain.
Vespucci the Legend
Here his world travel became legendary to the point that an entirely unauthorized account, The Four Voyages, was written in which he claims to have been the true discoverer. This led to his name being placed on a new map of the world published by Martin Waldeesmuller in 1507. There is no support, other than the inaccurate publication, for the claim that it was Vespucci’s goal was to have one quarter of the world named after him. In fact, there is no clear cut proof that Vespucci even saw the map before his death. Finally, the map maker, Waldeesmuller claimed The Four Voyages as his source saying in his introduction to the mapo, “I do not see why anyone would rightly forbid calling it [America] (after the discoverer Americus, a man of wisdom and ingenuity).” Even though it may ruin a good story in American High School History texts, it must be concluded that the naming of America did not come about through the treachery of its namesake!
Sources
Toward the Setting Sun, Columbus, Cabot, Vespucci, and The Race for America by David Boyle, 2008, Walker and Company
A New History of the United States by William Miller, 1958, George Braziller, Inc.
