Question

Why was the continent of North America named after Amerigo Vespucci and not Christopher Columbus?

• A. Vespucci reached the continent first.
• B. Vespucci considered the new continent to be something entirely different from Asia.
• C. Columbus named the continent after Vespucci.
• D. Vespucci ruled America for many glorious years.

Answer 1

The correct option is B Vespucci considered the new continent to be something entirely different from Asia.

Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian explorer who journeyed to the continent of North America around 1501-1502. Unlike Columbus, Vespucci was sure that the continents of present-day North America and South America were entirely separate from that of Asia. In 1507, Martin Waldseemüller, a German cartographer, produced a world map in which he named the continents after Vespucci. "America" is a Latin version of Vespucci's first name.