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Amerigo
Vespucci was a popular explorer from Italy. Amerigo
came from a
wealthy family. Amerigo explored the
Americas. His many accomplishments and actions earned
him a place
in history.
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| Amerigo
Vespucci was born in Italy. He lived in one of the
most
respected families in Florence. He had 5 people in
his family.
There were 3 children and Amerigo was the youngest child.
Amerigo's
father was the primary moneymaker for his immediate and
extended family.
When Amerigo's father died, Amerigo became the new moneymaker
of the family. |
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As
a child he liked to read books, collect maps, and learn about
astronomy. People considered Vespucci to be smart
at a young age. Amerigo also
attended his uncle’s school and perfected his Latin. When he
was a young man, he
became a merchant and traveled to Seville, Spain in 1492. While
in Spain, he
worked on ships as a merchant and astronomer. |
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| His first voyage was supported by King
Ferdinand. The king
gave Amerigo two ships to travel westward. Amerigo was a very
skilled navigator.
There are several conflicting dates when he left for the first
voyage across
the Atlantic. One of the earliest dates was May 10, 1497
from Cadiz. It took him about
24 days to reach the Central American/Northern South American
coastline and 27 days to reach
today's Brazil. He was also the first European to sail the
Amazon river.
Some sources say that Amerigo traveled through the “Gulf of
Mexico,” on his
return, where he took 200 slaves from the Bahamas. He
returned to Spain on October 15, 1498. |
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He began his second voyage in
1502 (1501 by
other sources). This time it took sixty-four days with three
ships. Portugal sponsored this expedition.
Amerigo traveled along the coast of what is now known as South
America,
400 miles down to Tierra del Fuego (Argentine). During
this second voyage,
he sent a few letters to a friend describing how the Indian’s
behavior
differentiated and that he had figured out that the land was
separate from
Asia. This information contradicted other commonly believed
theories about
what is now known as the American Continents. His letter
was published
and sent all over the world in all kinds of foreign languages.
His diaries
were a better seller than those of Columbus!
When it comes to the third voyage, it gets confusing. Amerigo
claims to have taken another voyage prior
to visiting what is known today as the Falkland Islands.
Amerigo’s fourth voyage was unfortunately his
last |
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He began in 1503 ready to set sail. His ships were led
southward along the
new land (South America). They went down far to the Cape of
Good Hope. He
spotted the Falkland Islands. He returned in 1504. News spread
and soon
after the islands were mapped properly in their correct area.
By 1507,
Martin Waldseemuller, a mapmaker named the area commonly known
as the New
World "America" after Amerigo Vespucci. At first
only “South America” was
named after him. |
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In 1508, Amerigo was elected
Pilot Mayor (Chief of Navigation) of Spain. The Pilot Mayor
had the
responsibility of planning navigation for ocean
voyages. Soon he caught a deadly disease known today as
Malaria, which comes from the mosquitoes in a tropical
environment. On February 22, 1512, Amerigo Vespucci died in
Seville, Spain.
In the end, he possibly made four voyages, but
unfortunately only three can be
verified. Once again, Amerigo might not have been the first
European to
reach North and South America, but he was the one to
realize that North America was separate
from Asia. The northern continent was
eventually named
“North America”.
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More about Maps |
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Sources |
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Original Work
and Re-Write By Sky
Original Art work by Sky
Digital Imaging by Kailani
White Wash Shore
Photo: Philip Dominguez
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http://www.k12.hi.us/~kapunaha/student_projects/n
ewworld/vespucci/childhood.htm 2008
http://members.tripod.com/~srhs_exploration/Vespucci.html
2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerigo_Vespucci
2008
http://library.thinkquest.org/4034/vespucci.html
2008
htt
p://www.millersville.edu/~columbus/papers/canaday.html
September 6th 2008
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