Vespucci and the Name of America
Now that the way was open, hundreds of other sailors hurried toward the new world. The name "New World" was apparently first used by the Florentine merchant Amerigo Vespucci, whose name is now borne by the continent of America. The Medici sent him to Spain to settle the affairs of a Florentine banker. In 1495 he succeeded in winning the contract for preparing twelve ships for Ferdinand. He himself caught the fever of exploration and, as his later letters (1503–1504) to friends in Florence show, made four voyages to what he called the "New World," and on one of them (June 16, 1497) reached the land of South America.
As John Cabot reached Cape Breton Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on June 24, 1497, and Columbus sighted the coast of Venezuela in 1498, Vespucci too, on the strength of his own writings, may be counted the first European after Leif Ericson (about 1000) to reach the land of the western hemisphere. The confusions and inaccuracies in Vespucci's reports cast a shadow of doubt over his claims. But it should be said that in 1505 Columbus, who by then must have learned how far Vespucci could be trusted, sent a letter by him to Diego, the admiral's son. In 1508 Vespucci was appointed "chief pilot" of Spain and held that post to the end of his life.
How the Continent Got Its Name
A Latin translation of one of his letters was printed in April 1507 at Saint-Dié in Lorraine. Martin Waldseemüller, a professor of cosmography at the college of Saint-Dié, quoted the letter in his book Introduction to Cosmography, which he printed the same year. He accepted Vespucci's view and judged it reliable, and proposed that the name "Amerige" or "America" be given to what we now know as South America. In 1538 Gerardus Mercator, on his famous map, applied the name America to the whole western hemisphere. There is complete agreement that Vespucci, if not in 1497, then in 1499, explored the coast of Venezuela together with Alonso de Ojeda. In 1500, immediately after Cabral's accidental discovery of Brazil, Vicente Pinzón, who had been captain of the Niña on Columbus's first voyage, coasted Brazil and discovered the Amazon. In 1513 Vasco Núñez de Balboa reached the Pacific Ocean, and Ponce de León, longing for the fountain of youth, discovered Florida.
From the Mediterranean to the Atlantic
The geographical discoveries that began with Prince Henry the Navigator, advanced with Vasco da Gama and were brought to a peak by Columbus, until Magellan succeeded in circling the globe, produced the greatest commercial revolution in history before the invention of the airplane. The opening of the western and southern seas to navigation and trade ended the era of the Mediterranean in the history of world civilization and began the era of the Atlantic. The more American gold flowed into Spain, the faster the economic decline of the countries around the Mediterranean, even of the south German cities such as Augsburg and Nuremberg whose commerce was tied to Italy.
The countries around the Atlantic found in the new world a place for their surplus population, their reserve energy and their convicts, and gained good markets for European goods. In western Europe this became a stimulus to industry; mechanical inventions and a greater mobilization of productive forces became necessary, and the result, in the book's account, was the industrial revolution. New plants and vegetables such as the potato, tomato, artichoke, squash and maize came from America and enriched European agriculture. The abundance of gold and silver raised prices, made a thriving market for manufacturers, wore out workers, borrowers and feudal lords, and gave life to Spain's dream of conquering the world, and shattered it.
Intellectual and Moral Effects
The intellectual and moral effects of the discoveries matched their economic and political results. Christianity spread over half the globe, and in this way the Roman Catholic Church gained in the new world followers whose number exceeded what it lost in the old world through the Reformation. Spanish and Portuguese became the languages of the peoples of Latin America and gave rise to a rich and independent literature. But through these discoveries no improvement came in the morals of Europeans. The harsh lawlessness of the colonists spread to Europe with the return of sailors, seamen and emigrants, and bred fanatical oppressions and sexual license. The European mind was greatly stirred by the discovery of so many different nations and peoples, with different customs and civilizations; the dogmas and religious principles of the great faiths came under mutual confrontation and admiration; and even as Protestants and Catholics, following their opposed certainties, fanned the fires of ruinous wars, those certainties were turning into doubts and, after that, into the toleration of the Enlightenment.
"Farther!"
Above all, the pride of success inspired the human mind, just when Copernicus was about to reduce the cosmic importance of the earth and its inhabitants. People supposed that the intellectual courage of humankind had triumphed over the material world. The medieval motto concerning Gibraltar was "No farther!" Now, with fitting condensation, it became "Farther!" All limits had been removed; the world was open and wide; everything seemed possible. Now, with an optimistic and fearless movement, modern history began.