The Handy American History Answer Book. David L. Hudson

John rejected his proposals after asking several of his expert advisors, who cautioned that the distance to this new land had been underestimated by Columbus. The explorer again asked King John, but the king became more interested in explorations to Africa, as Portugese explorer Bartolomeu Dias (1451–1500) had just sailed by the southernmost point of the African continent. King John wanted to focus exploratory activities in that region.

       How did America get its name?

      America is derived from the name of Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512), who took part in several early voyages to the New World. Vespucci had been a merchant in service of the Medici family in Florence. He later moved to Spain, where he worked for the company that outfitted the ships for Christopher Columbus’s (1451–1506) second and third voyages. He sailed with the Spaniards on several expeditions (in 1497, 1499, 1501, and 1503).

      Though scholars today question his role as an explorer, in a work by German mapmaker Martin Waldseemüller (c. 1470–c. 1520) published in 1507, the author credited Vespucci with realizing that he had actually arrived in a New World—not in the Far East, as other explorers (including Columbus) had believed. Thus, Waldseemüller suggested the new lands be named America after Amerigo Vespucci. For his part, Waldseemüller was led to believe this by Vespucci himself, who had written to Lorenzo de Medici in 1502 or 1503, relaying his discovery of a new continent and vividly describing it.

      The designation “America” was used again in 1538 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator (Gerhard Kremer; 1512–1594). Today the term in the singular refers to either continent in the Western Hemisphere and sometimes specifically to the United States. In the plural, it refers to all the lands of the Western Hemisphere, including North and South America and the West Indies.

      Columbus then presented his plans to the monarchs of Spain—King Ferdinand II of Aragon (1452-1516) and Queen Isabella of Castile (1451-1504). They eventually approved Columbus’s exploits. They designated Columbus with the title “Admiral of the Seas,” although it is speculated that they expected him to not be successful and return to Spain.

      Where did Christopher Columbus first land in the New World?

      Columbus set sail from Palos, in southwest Spain, on August 3, 1492, and he sighted land on October 12 that year. Going ashore, he named it San Salvador, alternately called Watlings Island (a present-day island in the Bahamas). With his fleet of three vessels, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, Columbus then continued west and south, sailing along the north coast of Cuba and Haiti (which he named Hispaniola). When the Santa Maria ran aground, Columbus left a colony of about forty men on the Haitian coast where they built a fort, which, being Christmastime, they named La Navidad (“Christmas” in Spanish).

      In January 1493, Columbus set sail for home, arriving back in Palos on March 15 with a few “Indians” (Native Americans), as well as some belts, aprons, bracelets, and gold. News of his successful voyage spread rapidly, and Columbus journeyed to Barcelona, Spain, where he was triumphantly received by Ferdinand and Isabella.

      On his second voyage, which he undertook on September 25, 1493, he sailed with a fleet of seventeen ships and some fifteen hundred men. In November he reached Dominica, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Upon returning to Haiti (Hispaniola), Columbus found the colony at La Navidad had been destroyed by natives. In December 1493, he made a new settlement at Isabella (present-day Dominican Republic, the eastern portion of Hispaniola), which became the first European town in the New World. Before returning to Spain in 1496, Columbus also landed in Jamaica.

      Although famed explorer Christopher Columbus made multiple treks to the New World, he never actually landed in North America.

      On his third voyage, which he began in May 1498, Columbus reached Trinidad, just off the South American coast. On his fourth and last trip, he reached the island of Martinique before arriving on the North American mainland at Honduras (in Central America). It was also on this voyage, in May 1502, that he sailed to the Isthmus of Panama—finally believing himself to be near China. But Columbus suffered many difficulties and in November 1504 returned to Spain for good. He had, of course, never found the westward sea passage to the Indies in the Far East. Nevertheless, the Caribbean islands he discovered came to be known collectively as the West Indies. And the native peoples of North and South America came to be known collectively as “Indians.”

      Why does controversy surround Christopher Columbus?

      History wrongly billed Columbus as “the discoverer” of the New World. The native peoples living in the Americas before the arrival of Christopher Columbus truly discovered these lands. It is more accurate to say that Columbus was the first European to discover the New World, and there he encountered its native peoples.

      But it was for his treatment of these native peoples that Columbus is a controversial figure. Columbus was called back from the New World twice (on his second and third voyages) for investigation regarding his dealings with the Native Americans, including charges of cruelty. The first inquiry (1496–1497) turned out favorably for the explorer. His case was heard before the Spanish king, and charges were dismissed. However, troublesome rumors continued to follow Columbus, and in 1500 he and two of his brothers (Bartholomeo and Diego) were arrested and sent back to Spain in chains.

      Though later released and allowed to continue his explorations (making one final trip to the New World), Columbus never regained his former stature, lost all honor, and died in poverty in the Spanish city of Valladolid in 1506.

SPANISH CONQUERORS AND EXPLORERS

      Who were the Conquistadors?

      Conquistador is the Spanish word for conqueror. The Spaniards who arrived in North and South America in the late 1400s and early 1500s were just that—conquerors of the American Indians and their lands. In many cases, the Spaniards were the first Europeans to arrive in these lands, where they encountered native inhabitants including the Aztec of Mexico, the Maya of southern Mexico and Central America, and the Inca of western South America. By the mid–1500s these native peoples had been conquered, their populations decimated by the conquistadors. The conquest happened in two ways: First, the Spaniards rode on horseback and carried guns, while their native opponents were on foot and carried crude weapons, such as spears and knives; second, the European adventurers brought illnesses (such as smallpox and measles) to which the native populations of the Americas had no immunities, causing the people to become sick and die.

      By 1535 conquistadors such as Francisco Pizarro (c. 1475–1541), Hernéan Cortés (1485–1547), and Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475–1519) had claimed the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, and much of the West Indies (Caribbean islands) for Spain.

      Who was Ponce de León?

      Juan Ponce de León (1474–1521) was a Spanish conquistador who explored Puerto Rico for the Spanish crown and who also ventured into modern-day Florida. De León became the first governor of Puerto Rico and the first Spanish explorer to “discover” Florida. De León actually named the “Sunshine State” La Florida, translated as “Flowery Land.”

      De León traveled to Florida in search of the mythical Fountain of Youth. De León had traveled with Christopher Columbus in his second (1493) mission to the New World. During Columbus’s missions, the Spanish established a colony called Hispaniola. De León would later serve in a leading capacity in that region under Governor Nicolas de Ovando.

      Ovando later named De León governor of Puerto Rico in 1509. Spanish King Ferdinand II convinced De León to explore other lands, leading De León to his voyage to Florida. He led an expedition of three ships—including the Santiago, the San Christobal, and the Santa Maria—on the mission.

      A tiny town in Holmes County, Florida, called Ponce de León, is named after the famous explorer.

      What areas of present-day America did Hernando de Soto explore?

      Spanish