You may have wondered why, since it was Columbus who discovered America, why wasn’t it named Columbia, after him?
Historians tell us that when Columbus discovered our land, he didn’t believe that he had found a new continent; he simply believed that he had found an unexplored part of the continent of Asia. He even believed this until his death in 1506.
Meanwhile, another explorer, Amerigo Vespucci, made four voyages to this land, beginning in 1497. He realized that this was a new, unknown land and simply called it the “New World,” and never suggested giving it his name or any other name for that matter.
Yet America was named after Amerigo Vespucci, and under strange circumstances. It seems that Vespucci wrote many letters to his friends describing the New World. A dishonest author was said to have gotten hold of some of these letters, rewritten them, and published them in a book.
This book found its way into the hands of a German map maker, who decided to call this new land after Amerigo. It would be Americus or America on his new map. He decided on America since that was the feminine form of the name, just as Europe and Asia are feminine names as well.
Other map makers followed this German’s lead, and America was born.
Amerigo Vespucci died without ever knowing that this land was named after him!
13 Comments
he didnt discover your “country” you self centered bastard, he discovered OUR CONTINENT.
America is NOT a country. It is a continent.
It includes many many countries, going grom Canada and Greenland in the north, to Chile and Argentina in the South.
“United States of America” or the USA was named after the 13 colonies, later called states, that were stablished in that territory.
Your country is NOT named America, the whole continent is.
Sounds to me like someone needs to dismount their high horse and come back down to Earth. If you re read the entire answer the author never states that a country was founded… but a Continent. Therefore this would answer the question put forth as to how the country of the United Staes of America got her name, America being the key question and answer here.
“In the popular Van Loon’s Geography of 1937, for example, the author describes the continental scheme with a light and almost humorous touch, concluding that one might as well use the standard system so long as one remembers its arbitrary foundations. Van Loon viewed the standard arrangement as including five continents: Asia, AMERICA, Africa, Europe, and Australia. While it might seem surprising to find North and South America still joined into a single continent in a book published in the UNITED STATES in 1937…”
The Myth Of Continents, A critique of metageografy, by Martin Lewis and Karen Wigen, page 32.
Read the book here:
http://books.google.com.sv/books?id=C2as0sWxFBAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+myth+of+continents+a+critique#PPA32,M1
“We have been taught in school (way back in the 60’s in Europe) that there are five continents, Africa, AMERICA, Asia, Australia and Europe, for instance symbolised in the five rings of the Olympic Games”
Read complete here: http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/continents.htm
Jeez…all these insecure, sensitive people. The U.S. is often referred to as just America because it that a PART OF OUR COUNTRY’S NAME!! There is is no Canada of America. It’s just Canada. There is no Mexico of America. It’s just Mexico. There is no Brazil of America. It’s just Brazil. Yet, our country’s name is UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. That’s the full name! Sometimes we are referred to as the States. Nobody gets upset about that. Sometimes the U.S. Sometimes just plain America. And it’s not just American’s (which, by the way, is the accepted term for those of citizenship in the United States, people don’t call us Staters), but people throughout the world who use this term. Get off your ignorant soap box and find something else about our country to gripe about since that is the world’s favorite pass time. And as for celebrating Columbus Day… anyone with any kind of education already knows it is simply a symbolic day, not considered an actual discovery of this country specifically since AMERICA wasn’t founded until 1776 and not ratified until 1781. Duh.
I repeat it for the umpteenth time “AMERICA is a whole continent, not a country” OK and Im disagree with the term Latin American if I don’t speak latin come on, besides whom refer to US people as American is taking us importance as continent inhabitant
From the rest of the american continent
America = all the countries from Canada to all the way down to Argentina/Chile, Your countrie’s name is “United States Of America” if your to lazy to say it complete, then get another name…
America = all the countries from Canada to all the way down to Argentina/Chile, Your countrie’s name is “United States Of America” if your to lazy to say it complete, then get another name…
Dang. What is the big deal? Sounds like everyone gripping ab this needs to take some meds or something. This is apparently the most important issue to you, sad. Its America…..all of it. If you are from canada, you can say im from America and still be correct. Same goes for brazil. Chill ppl, more important things in like to have a heart-attack over.
I dont know why everyone is hating on the U.S. but to reply to all the haters. The great thing about our country is that we may call it America if we want, and there isnt anything you or any other U.S. hater can do ab it!! Ha!
America is a continent and a nation. United States of Mexico is Mexico & Federated States of Brasil is Brasil…USA took the name of America, long before any of la Latin countries were founded. Remember, the Spaniards called the American Continent Las Indias, not America.. So, myself as a Cuban-American, I know the truth and the USA took the name America & they deserve it. Let’s not be more anti-american…Remember, there was no American Continent, it was called The Indias.
The founding father named this country America, long before any of the latinamerican countries were founded. And if you want to really find out, do your homework:
LAS INDIAS, THE SPANIARDS GOING BACK TO SPAIN WERE CALLED INDIANOS, & THE SPANIARDS BORN IN LAS INDIAS WERE CALLED CRIOLLOS. Enough said…r
America is the name of the continent. The 13 colonies had their own names and could not use it for the name of their union. US adopted the continent’s name instead. Perhaps the USA was the first to have used it on its name, but it does not mean that the continent lost its own name just because a country is now using it too. This was actually something some countries did back then. For example, the “Federal Republic of Central America” adopted the name of the continent as well, only that they included “Central” which is their location within the continent. Today, most of these countries have the word “America” in their actual legal name. For example: Republica de Nicaragua de “America” Central. If you notice it does not say:
Republica de Nicaragua de “Las Americas” Central because “Las Americas” is not the name of the continent, but a plural of the name when divided into regions.
This continent was being called “the indies” because they thought it was India.
When they realized that it was not the indies, then they called it The new world.
Even the part of the US A was called the new world back then. After Americus Vespucius came to check the Indies found that they were not the Indies but it was a new world. But the new world needed a name and so “America” was written in a map by a german ,right where, listen to this, on the South American part of the map and not on the North American part where the USA is today. So, who was named “America” first?
It was the south part of the American continent where Brazil, Peru and other countries are. Pardon me, but the USA was not founded before Domenican Republic 1511?Mexico 1519? Peru? Nicaragua? and many others. Perhaps you might have meant that the USA had its independence before most other countries but not that it was founded before them. Go back to your social studies books.
Make sure it is not bias though, because most books in the US have America as the country and Las Americas as the continent and this is not the case south of the border my friend! Check it out on your own time.
NERDS!