Is America Named After Amerigi Vespucci?

Amerigi was an Italian navigator, who sailed first for Spain in 1497, and second for Portugal in 1501, along the coast of present day Guyana and Brazil – something that no other European had done before. This distinction makes him a notable figure in the exploration of South America, but under normal circumstances it would not be enough to get two continents named after him. That apparently, is due to a mistake that he had no part in.

After his return to Europe, he published letters of his voyage for the general public as a way to raise money and prestige. These letters were read by a German mapmaker named Waldseemueller, who in 1507, was creating Cosmographiae Introductio, a detailed map of the known world. Waldseemueller wrongly believed that Amerigi was the first explorer of the new lands.

Thus Waldseemueller used a Latin variation of Amerigi’s name and feminized the name to America, as the other continents had feminine names. His popular map was the first detailed representation of the New World. When Waldseemueller discovered that Columbus was the first European discoverer, in an attempt to fix his error, he removed the name America from his maps. Unfortunately, by then most map makers and printers were calling the new Southern continent America. Later the well-known cartographer Gerard Mercator called the two Western continents America in 1538, which finalized the name.

Columbus and the Amerrique Mountains

In 1502, Columbus landed on Mosquito Coast in present day Nicaragua, Central America. He was met by the Caribs, an Amerindian group that lived throughout the Caribbean. Since most explorers were searching for gold and other riches, Columbus, and later Amerigi, asked the Caribs where they had gotten the bits of gold that the tribesmen wore. They pointed at the nearby Amerrique mountains and said that the gold came from there. In Carib, Amerrique likely means prominent or high, which is an accurate description of the mountain range.

According to this theory, both explorers believed Amerrique meant gold, and used it to describe the riches they found in Central and South America. It soon became common for people to refer to all of the new land by this new word Amerrique, which was Latinized into America.

American May be Named After Richard Amerike

The Welsh merchant Richard Amerike was an anglicized noble and merchant in Bristol, at the time the second largest port in England. In 1495, John Cabot sought sponsors for a Northerly voyage across the Atlantic in an attempt to discover China. Amerike was happy to support the voyage, supplying money, supplies, and even wood to help build the ship.

It was the custom until the twentieth century to name new discoveries after sponsors and influential people. So it is reasonable to assume Cabot may have named the newly discovered land Amerika in honour of his chief supporter.

Capital

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States founded on July 16, 1790. It was named such after Christopher Columbus. The District is therefore not a part of any U.S. state and is instead directly overseen by the federal government. The District is located on the north bank of the Potomac River and is bordered by the states of Virginia to the southwest and Maryland to the other sides. The city has a resident population of 601,723; because of commuters from the surrounding suburbs, its population rises to over one million during the workweek.

A new capital city was founded in 1791 and named in honor of George Washington. The city shares its name with the U.S. state of Washington located on the country's Pacific coast. Its Capital City isOlympia.

Washington state

The country is divided into six regions: New England; the mid-Atlantic; the South; the Midwest; the Southwest, and the West.

Flag

The U.S. flag (the Stars and Stripes or Old Glory ) consists of 13 stripes, alternate red and white, representing the 13 original colonies/states. The canton consists of a blue field containing 50 stars - a white star for every state in the union.

(1775-1777) The first flag of the colonists to have any resemblance to the present Stars and Stripes was the Grand Union Flag, sometimes referred to as the Congress Colors, the First Navy Ensign, and the Cambridge Flag. Its design consisted of 13 stripes, alternately red and white, representing the Thirteen Colonies, with a blue field in the upper left-hand corner bearing the red cross of St. George of England with the white cross of St. Andrew of Scotland. As the flag of the revolution it was used on many occasions.

June 14, 1777 the Continental Congress authorized the Stars and Stripes or Old Glory flag: "Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field representing a new constellation. " There was no instruction as to how many points the stars should have, nor how the stars should be arranged on the blue union. Consequently, some flags had stars scattered on the blue field without any specific design, some arranged the stars in rows, and some in a circle. Some stars had six points while others had eight.

Legend has it, the first American flag was made by Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress who was acquainted with George Washington, leader of the Continental Army, and other influential Philadelphians. In May 1776, so the story goes, General Washington and two representatives from the Continental Congress visited Ross at her upholstery shop and showed her a rough design of the flag. Although Washington initially favored using a star with six points, Ross advocated for a five-pointed star, which could be cut with just one quick snip of the scissors, and the gentlemen were won over. Unfortunately, historians have never been able to verify this charming version of events, although it is known that Ross made flags for the navy of Pennsylvania.

After Vermont and Kentucky were admitted to the Union in 1791 and 1792, respectively, two more stars and two more stripes were added in 1795.

In 1818, after five more states had gained admittance, Congress passed legislation fixing the number of stripes at 13 and requiring that the number of stars equal the number of states. The last new star, bringing the total to 50, was added on July 4, 1960, after Hawaii became a state.

Anthem

"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry",^[1] a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.

The poem was set to the tune of a popular British drinking song, written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a men's social club in London. "The Anacreontic Song" (or "To Anacreon in Heaven"), with various lyrics, was already popular in the United States. Set to Key's poem and renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner", it would soon become a well-known American patriotic song.

Coat-of-arms

The latin motto E Pluribus Unum translates to "Out of Many, One" in reference to the many states making one nation. The olive branch in the eagle's right claw symbolises peace; there are 13 leaves and 13 olive berries on the branch, symbolizing the 13 original British colonies. Likewise, in the eagle's left claw are 13 arrows symbolizing the power for war. The 13 stars above the eagle and the 13 red and white stripes on the shield also symbolise the original 13 British colonies.

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 956