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Vaspucci was born on March 18, 1454 in Florance, Italy. His uncle helped him study astronomy and the universe. He also helped him in business. He went to the University of Pisa and studied philosophy. When he returned from school, he became a manager in a trading firm. In May 1499 he showed the Spanish Court his plans for finding an Asian route to the New World. The plan interested them. The expedition was shorter than they expected. It took them 24 days to reach South America. They went south and located Brazil’s coast. He was the first person to find the mouth of The Amazon River. On his return trip, he kidnapped 500 Native Americans from the Bahamas and made them slaves. He returned to Spain in 1500. In 1507, the North and South American continents were named after him. Vaspucci was the first person to say that North and South America were not connected to Asia. He also thought of a system to measure the earth. People do not know if he went on one of the expeditions led by Columbus to the New World. He is best known for having the Americas named after him. He claimed he discovered America. Scholars argued about this claim. Some say Columbus founded America and others say Vespucci did. They have never come to a conclusion. |