Amerigo Vespucci’s transatlantic voyages (1499–1502) took place during the height of the European Age of Exploration, when Spanish and Portuguese navigators were competing to chart new routes across the Atlantic. Vespucci, a Florentine navigator and merchant in service first to Spain and later to Portugal, participated in expeditions along the coast of South America, reaching as far south as present-day Patagonia by 1502. His detailed letters describing vast new lands “not Asia but a New World” captured the imagination of European scholars. These accounts inspired the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller, who, in his 1507 world map, labeled the southern continent America, the first known use of the name in honor of Vespucci.
While Vespucci’s writings helped shape Europe’s perception of the Western Hemisphere, modern historians continue to debate the accuracy of his claims and even the extent of his personal involvement in some voyages. Questions remain about whether Vespucci exaggerated his role or whether his letters were later edited for political prestige. Nonetheless, his reports profoundly influenced early cartography and the conceptual shift from viewing the Atlantic as a barrier to seeing it as a bridge between worlds, a turning point in the global age of discovery.
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APA Style
Netchev, S. (2021, October 18). Map of the Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci, 1499-1502. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/14710/map-of-the-voyages-of-amerigo-vespucci--1499-1502/
Chicago Style
Netchev, Simeon. "Map of the Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci, 1499-1502." World History Encyclopedia, October 18, 2021. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/14710/map-of-the-voyages-of-amerigo-vespucci--1499-1502/.
MLA Style
Netchev, Simeon. "Map of the Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci, 1499-1502." World History Encyclopedia, 18 Oct 2021, https://www.worldhistory.org/image/14710/map-of-the-voyages-of-amerigo-vespucci--1499-1502/.
