This seems to be a Eurocentric and imperial perspective. The people who lived on this continent knew it existed. They didn’t need maps. Maps seem to be an agent of imperialism: “If we can map it, we can own it.” Without maps, one has a different relationship with the land.

Tom,

Please don’t drag up the old psaw about America Vespucci. Wiktionary:

“Amerigo is the Italian form of a Gothic personal name, Amalric “master workman”, from amal “work” and ric “power”.

The attribution to Amerigo is perhaps a forced etymology to an existing name; the gold-bearing Amerrique Mountains along the spine of Nicaragua are sometimes believed to be the ultimate source.”

The map appears to depict a globe. Was he risking his life in not depicting the world as flat?

I think the story of Amerigo Vespucci speaks of an idea that figuring something out by accident doesn’t really increase your credibility. Columbus did the legwork, but since Vespucci was the guy that actually FIGURED OUT it was a new continent, he gets his name on it.

You’d think the naming of this continent would be worth teaching in school. Why isn’t it?

Does the guest have any comment on the maps examined in the book, The Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings? These maps are very ancient, yet they show an accurate outline of the east coast of South America, as it would have been in the last ice age.

Yap Harvard College said the Earth is the center of the Universe and world is flat.

Please the vikings and the Alaskan Inuit landed first in America. nothing more and nothing else.

That is not the first world Map. History channel showed the first world map a month ago.

Wonder if the author has come across the book 1421, by Gavin Menzies, a historian and former British Navy Officer. What does he think about the claim by Menzies that teh great Chinese navigator Admiral Zheng He circumnavigates teh globe and discovers America in early 1400s, over half century earlier than Columbus?

The world’s not flat: it’s cubic.

Vine Deloria, native American humorist, said Columbus had 4 ships: one fell over the edge.

If, indeed, America was named after Amerigo Vespucci, why was his first name used rather than his last (as usually seems to be the case; e.g. Columbus, OH)?

Is there any way I may discover the identities of music played during the show? I especially enjoyed the unattributed excerpt played about eighteen minutes after the hour.

The name America became popular mainly through the globes made by Johann Schoener from Karlstadt, Germany. He was a student of Waldseemueller, and he created one of the first globes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Sch%C3%B6ner_globe

“Can you imagine when humans really did not know what was across the water?” What a Eurocentric perspective and a racist statement! Aleutians, Inuits, hundreds of cultures of people knew what was there, in “America.” And, indeed, they were human.

The title of the book itself is just plain racist: “The Fourth Part of the World.” According to Europeans, yes, but to the Havasupai, Osage, Hopi, Navajo, Apache, and so many more, it was not at all.

Regarding suggestion that people should look at Gavin Menzies’ 1421 thesis, perhaps they should be c=encouraged look at http://www.1421expoised.com which shows it as a scam and shows that Zheng he came nowhere near the Americas

Europeans were of course not the discoverers of a new continent, just the first to exploit its resources, brutalize and abuse its native peoples, and set upon them European diseases that ultimately killed off much of their population.

Columbus became the first “enslaver” of people from the Americas…no gold to speak of, no spices, although of course when he returned to face King, Queen, and his creditors he was always just around the bay, river or cove from success.

I too doubt the continent was named for for Vespucci, who was working for a backer of Columbus and Cabot’s.

You will find the following book very informative.

“Ts

Europeans were of course not the discoverers of a new continent, just the first to exploit its resources, brutalize and abuse its native peoples, and set upon them European diseases that ultimately killed off much of their population, although they did return the favor by infecting European returnees with diseases not known in Europe in those times.

Columbus became the first “enslaver” of people from the Americas…no gold to speak of, no spices, although of course when he returned to face King, Queen, and his creditors he was always just around the bay, river bend, cove or corner from his elusive goal.

I too doubt the continent was named for Vespucci, who was an associate of an investor/backer of “New World” ventures. He certainly wasn’t a great navigator. Others embellished his accomplishments in his own time, and of course he never “set the record straight”.

Anyone interested in this slice of history should find the following book of interest.

TOWARDS THE SETTING SUN…Columbus, Cabot, Vespucci, and The Race for America. by David Boyle
ISBN-13: 9780802716514
Jun 2008
Publisher: Walker & Co
421 pages

Perhaps Mr.Boyle could join you on NPR in the near future.

R. Johnston

Yes, the Europeans who arrived in the Americas were responsible for great amounts of brutality against the native population. However, let’s not forget that crossing the ocean at that time was an amazing accomplishment. It is possible to take into account both the enormous evils and the enormous achievements that this Age of Discovery represented.

Let’s not forget that while the Europeans were cruel so were the natives. They didn’t treat each other any better than they were treated by the Spanish, Dutch or English. Applying duel standards may be very chic in amongst academics but reality is that humans can treat each other as objects and that has nothing to do with nationality.