On May 10, 1497, explorer Amerigo Vespucci embarked on his first voyage. On his third and most successful voyage, he discovered present-day Rio de Janeiro and Rio de la Plata. Believing he had discovered a new continent, he called South America the New World. In 1507, America was named after him.

On the 1499 voyage, Vespucci sailed to the northern part of South America and into the Amazon River. He gave places he saw names like the “Gulf of Ganges,” thinking, as his explorer contemporaries did, that he was in Asia. He also made improvements to celestial navigation techniques.

The voyage completed by Vespucci between May 1499 and June 1500 as navigator of an expedition of four ships sent from Spain under the command of Alonso de Ojeda is certainly authentic. (This is the second expedition of the traditional series.)

They sailed to and stopped at different islands off the New World coast. Along they way, they saw a variety of wildlife and met some more native people. They also discovered a harbor which Vespucci named the “Bay of All Saints.” The voyage lasted about twelve months before they headed home.

Vespucci’s findings during the Age of Discovery led Spain people to believe that North and South America were not connected to Asia, which was a common belief at the time and was even held by Vespucci himself.

The Amerigo Vespucci
The Amerigo Vespucci is a tall ship of the Italian Navy (Marina Militare) named after the explorer Amerigo Vespucci. Its home port is La Spezia, Italy, and it is in use as a school ship….Italian training ship Amerigo Vespucci.

Amerigo Vespucci’s goal was to determine whether or not the lands discovered by Christopher Columbus were actually part of Asia or something entirely…

Vespucci discovered that the indigenous people were naked without shame and stated that they were of “a different nature.” Across all the places Vespucci and his crew explored, they observed that the indigenous people were cannibals.

Vespucci sailed along the South American coast, discovering Rio de Janeiro and Rio de la Plata on the way. Vespucci confirmed that Brazil was in no way part of Asia and it was a independent country. When he came back he was very happy to have set foot in the New World. Voyage Number 4- On his fourth journey he discovered nothing new.

In 1503, Vespucci set sail again under captain Gonzalo Coelho with the Portuguese flag. Along the way, they saw a variety of wildlife and met some more native people but no new discoveries were made. He returned to Portugal in 1504. This was Amerigo Vespucci’s final voyage.

Moving along the coast of Brazil was the route he took. He coasted in the Maracaibo Gulf and made his way back home. This expedition made Vespucci the first explorer to set foot in Brazil and the first explorer to cross the equator. He also discovered the Amazon prior to sailing back home.

Other cartographers followed suit, and by 1532 the name America was permanently affixed to the newly discovered continents. It is unknown whether Vespucci was ever aware of these honours.