Who discovered America?

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUSor Amerigo Vespucci

The discovery of America was originally given credit to Amerigo Vespucci, hence the name “America”

Christopher Columbus

There was never actually a portrait of Columbus made, all pictures and images of Columbus today are just an assumption of what he may have looked like.

It took 6 years of persistence to finally convince the Spanish royals to send Columbus on his extraordinary journey.Envisioning a

western route to Asia, Columbus long persisted to the king and queen of Spain to fund his journey.

Asian Bound

C0lombus originally thought he had landed in the Indie’s, naming the natives he saw, “Indians”. When the Native Americans first spotted

Columbus and his men they truly thought that these were gods who came down from the heavens. Columbus and his men took full advantage of the Natives kindness, eventually enslaving them and forcing them to mine for gold.

Native Americans

Columbus’s routes

Columbus took a total of 4 voyages to America all in hopes of still finding Asia’s main continent.

HEROColumbus was

originally dubbed a hero upon his return from his first voyage.

He Returned with gold and natives to show the Spaniard crown what he had discovered on his journey.

Upon his third voyage, people had grown tired of Columbus and his dictatorship ways.

He was arrested and sent back in shackles, only to be immediately released by the queen of Spain.

Columbus’s declineVILLIAN

On this day Christopher Columbus died a lonely man with very few mourning his death. By his request he was buried with the shackles that he was held prisoner with on his third voyage.

To this day nobody is quite certain when, if at all, Columbus had realized he had discovered a new continent. If so, he never publically acknowledged it.

May 20, 1506

Vespucci begins his own explorationsVespucci did not

start sailing until his late 40’s. Originally a business man his interest piqued in exploration after meeting Columbus in person.

Vespucci made his first voyage in the late 90’s and although it is still being debated, there is some evidence that exists that Vespucci may have navigated his way to the mainland of America in 1497, a full year before Columbus.

Vespucci’s journey

Vespucci was the first person to demonstrate that Brazil and the rest of the continent were not part of Asia’s outskirts and that in fact, was an entire new continent. It is important to note however, his conclusions were based largely on Columbus’s earlier observations.

Although the discovery of America was originally credited to Vespucci, upon further review from historians, credit was later given to Columbus.

It was Columbus’s original journeys that had opened the doors for other navigator’s such as Vespucci to explore the newly discovered continent of America.

Who discovered America?

Sean McDermott

BibliographyPrimary SourceColumbus, Christopher. 1493. Milestone Documents. 4 June 2015. <https://www.milestonedocuments.com/documents/view/christopher-columbuss-letter-to-raphael-sanxis-on-the-discovery-of-america/text>.Colombus, Christopher. (1492). Journal.Secondary SourceChristopher Columbus Explorer of the New World. Dir. Biography. 1995.Petrie, Kristin. Christopher Columbus. North Mankato, Minnesota: Abdo Publishing Company, 2004.Stockwell, Mary. The American Story - Perspectives and Encounters to 1865.pdf. Bridgepoint Education, Inc., 2012 .http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=christopher%20columbus%20ships&qs=IM&form=QBIR&pq=christopher%20colu&sc=8-16&sp=2&sk=IM1http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=vespucci's+maps&id=B928B2B70E10CAD2BD2004973F16FF82CF4601C0&FORM=IQFRBA