When discussing the achievements of Amerigo Vespucci, one cannot escape the air of uncertainty which surrounds them. While there are certainly plenty of undisputed facts to this explorers discoveries and expeditions, one cannot simply state undeniable truths about the man’s achievements without discussing the disputes about their authenticity. Plenty of debate has raged now for centuries about apparent claims made by Vespucci, and it is had been a difficult task to prove which side of the argument is correct. “Was he an imposter, as has been often alleged in the last four centuries, or was he an honest fellow the victim of others misunderstandings and misrepresentations?” The easiest route to take when undertaking a task such as this is to discuss the contestable views on his legacy in chronological order, and then continue on to what can be considered a reasonable view on his achievements.
The first achievement of Vespucci was that he was part of an expedition which set sail in 1499, during which he sailed along the coast of South America and in doing so discovered Brazil and the Amazon river. The role he played in this voyage has been contested by many historians. In his wide ranging book “Latin America: A General History”, John Edwin Fagg severely contests his role in this voyage. “He may have been a mere meat supplier who helped provision some of the first expeditions and then a part-time sailor, who wrote wildly fantastic accounts of his more or less imaginary adventures when he went along with Ojeda’s party in 1499” Views such as these are hugely overcritical of Vespucci. There is evidence of his voyage of discovery to Brazil in a letter he wrote to Lorenzo de Medici, in which he clearly outlines his prominent role in the voyage and his journey towards the Brazilian coast. Of course the truthfulness of this letter has been questioned by historians in the past. However as Roberto Levillier points out “Not one voice was raised then, to throw doubts on Vespucci’s letters and voyages, when it could easily have been done, by witnesses still living, if there had been reasons for it.” This is a point that surely trumps all the opinions discounting the genuineness of Vespucci’s letter. Another point which shows the prominent role which Vespucci had was the fact that upon returning, Ojeda specifically mentions Vespucci in his official report. This would not be the case if he was merely a lowly subordinate as claimed by others.
The Term Paper on LETTER OF APPLICATION
Letter of application A letter of application is one’s first introduction to his/her prospective employer. It is a persuasive message that sells the applicant’s talents to the employer. In that case, it should be similar to that of a sales letter in attracting and impressing the reader and motivating him to take action. Job application letter, usually, has two parts: (i) Cover letter and (ii) ...
Vespucci, upon his return from Ojeda’s expedition, was commissioned to command his own fleet to further explore South America, which set sail in 1501. This showed Vespucci’s growing reputation as a geographer and explorer. It also serves as further proof of Vespucci’s prominent role in his prior expedition. If he was indeed only an unimportant subordinate, why would he be given command of his own fleet of ships to further explore the region? This expedition stands out as his greatest achievement. During this voyage, Vespucci explored and outlined almost the entire eastern coastline of South America, apparently as far down as the Patagonian coast. He was the first explorer to venture this far down the South American coast. Again, he outlined this in a letter to his friend de Medici, and again the authenticity of this letter has been called into question. However there are plenty of sources which help prove that Vespucci’s claims are in fact true. The first pertains to the returning expedition of Cabral, who had discovered the southern coastline of Brazil. In his report, Cabral mentions meeting Portuguese ships on route to South America, which in all probability must have been Vespucci’s expedition. This is due to the face that in his letter, Vespucci mentions Cabral’s experiences on his Indian expedition. “Although this letter nowhere mentions Amerigo Vespucci by name, yet the other circumstances of place, date, number of ships, etc., tally so completely with Vespucci’s letter as to leave no room for doubting his veracity.” Another point which proved this portrayal of his expedition to be true, were the accurate maps with specific coastlines which matched up with Vespucci’s description in his letter to de Medici. “Evidence of the Portuguese voyage of 1501-1502 along the coast of South America is provided in the toponymy of early maps.”
The Essay on Letter In Your Local Newspaper
Write a letter which you hope to be published in your local newspaper. Inform readers what leisure facilities are available for young people and families in your area and explain how you think they can be improved. (16 marks) Dear Editor, You will be aware what an awful, boring place Halstead is. After all, one does not run the paper for twenty-five years without acquainting oneself with the area ...
It was also on this voyage of 1501-1502, that Vespucci made arguably his most important discovery. It was not an actual discovery of new coastline or land; rather it was the realisation that this new land was not in fact part of Asia, but a continent in its own right. “he was the first explorer to realise what it was that he and his rivals had found- that the land that they had discovered was not, as Columbus believed, a part of the continent of Asia and its adjacent islands, but a new continent.” In his third letter to de Medici, he wrote “We arrived at a new land, which, for many reasons that are enumerated in what follows, we observed to be a continent.” In being the first person to release this, Vespucci should be lauded as not only a great explorer and geographer, but also as a very shrewd and intelligent man. It is often the case that he is unfavourably compared with Columbus. Maybe the fact that the continents were named after him, rather than Columbus, caused people to turn people against him and question his achievements. However the fact remains that Columbus went to his grave believing that the land which he discovered was part of Asia. Vespucci’s realisation that this was false surely grants him a consideration in the game of who the new continent should have been named after.
A final major achievement also needs mentioning. This was his appointment of chief pilot of Spain in 1508. “After 1508 the Casa operated a school for pilots, its first director being Amerigo Vespucci, where mariners received instruction and where a great body of nautical information, charts of currents, and maps of the Indies were accumulated.” This was a great honour for Vespucci and showed in what great esteem he was held in Spain. He excelled in this role, so much so that King Ferdinand granted his widow a pension when Amerigo died in 1512. He was still in the role of chief pilot at the time of his death.
The Term Paper on The Great Depression 11
Tillie Olson’s semi-autobiographic story “I Stand Here Ironing” focuses on a mother’s reminiscing of the decisions she’s made regarding her first child, Emily, and the resulting impact those decisions had on her daughter. The mother, also the narrator, paints a picture of guilt, resentment, and remorse toward her choices while raising Emily. Throughout the story, there’s several instances that ...
Amerigo Vespucci is a man whose honour and integrity have been questioned throughout history. This was mainly due to the fact that letters surfaced after his death which, if believed to be genuine, made it conceivable that Vespucci was lying about other voyages. In these letters it was claimed that he had set out on further expeditions in 1497 and 1503. There is evidence that these voyages never actually occurred and that these letters were not in fact genuine. “The ‘first’ voyage was in 1497-98 and the ‘fourth’ voyage in 1503. Apart from this printed letter, no documentary evidence exists to confirm these first and fourth voyages.” It is now widely believed that these letters to de Medici were copied inaccurately, and it was the wide distribution of these falsified letters around Europe which caused them to be considered genuine. These caused a great stain on the reputation of a man who should be rightly lauded as a voyager of great importance. His discoveries were monumental during his time. Fortunately as time has progressed, his name and reputation have been reprieved. His achievements place him right up there with Columbus as the most important explorer of the new American continents.
Bibliography
Bakewell, Peter J., A History of Latin America: Empires and Sequels, 1450-1930, Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1997.
Davies, A., ‘The “First” Voyage of Amerigo Vespucci in 1497-8′, the Geographical Journal, Vol. 118, No. 3 (Sept., 1952), pp. 331-337.
Douglas, Robert Langton, ‘The Contemporary Portraits of Amerigo Vespucci’, The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Vol. 84, No. 491 (Feb., 1944), pp. 30-37.
Fagg, John Edwin, Latin America: A General History, London, Macmillian, 1969.
Levillier, Roberto, ‘Mapping of the Portuguese Voyage of 1501-1502, and Vespucci’s Account’, Imago Mundi, Vol. 19 (1965), p 116.
The Essay on The Great Gatsby: Evidence of Insecurity
The Great Gatsby is a magnificently written story about the loss of love, the problems of American wealth, and the reality of life. With these themes in mind, it is important to remember that in our complex reality, not all men are only sexually attracted to women as some would commonly assume. The character of Nick Carraway in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby can be characterized as ...
______________, ‘New Light on Vespucci’s Third Voyage: Evidence of his Route and Landfalls’, Imago Mundi, Vol. 11 (1954), pp. 37-46.
Nowell, Charles E., ‘A Reported New Manuscript of Amerigo Vespucci’, The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 18, No. 1, (Feb., 1938), pp. 109-110.
Penrose, Boies, ‘Vespucci the Discoverer in the Light of Recent Research’, Italica, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Mar., 1955), pp. 1-13.
