Navigator And Narratoric: The Life Of Amerigo Vespucci

“It is lawful to call it a new world, because none of these countries were known to our ancestors, and to all who hear about them, they will be entirely new.” Amerigo Vespucci was a Florentine navigator and explorer who played a prominent role in exploring the new world. Navigator and explorer Amerigo Vespucci came in to this world on March 9, 1451. He was born into a cultured family as the third son of Ser Nastagio and Lisabetta Mini. Vespucci’s father worked as a notary in Florence, Italy. As a child, Amerigo was educated by his uncle, a Dominican friar known as Giorgio Antonio Vespucci. While his older brothers headed off to the University of Pisa in Tuscany, Amerigo embraced a more mercantile life and was hired as a clerk by the Florentine commercial house of Medici. When …show more content…
This voyage departed from Cadiz with a fleet of Spanish ships. The letter states that the ships made their way through the West Indies and got to the province of Central America within about five weeks. This would mean that Amerigo came across Venezuela a year before Christopher Columbus did. Amerigo and his fleets arrived back in Cadiz in October 1498. Then in May of 1499, Amerigo set off on his second Voyage. Sailing under the spanish flag, Vespucci worked as a navigator under the command of Alonso de Ojeda. They traveled to the coast of what is know known as Guyana, where it is believed that Vespucci parted ways with Ojeda and went on to explore the coast of Brazil. During this expedition, Vespucci is said to have discovered the Amazon River and Cape St. Augustine. On May 14, 1501, Amerigo departed on another journey. 3 Now on his third voyage, Vespucci set sail for Cape Verde. Amerigo’s third voyage is largely considered his most successful. Vespucci did not start on in command of the expedition, but when Portuguese officers asked him to take charge of the voyage he