This section of grade 10 classroom content was developed in 2003 for the larger topic titled ‘large empires and civilisations that existed in the world in the 15th and 16th centuries’.
The earliest known use of the name is in 1507, on a large map. They say that the land had been named after Eric by the Vikings, who came from Scandinavia and who had visited America long before other Europeans.Īmerica' had been used since the beginning of the 16th century. Another story says that it comes from an old Scandinavian saga and that it means 'Land of Eric', the hero.
Both Vespucci and Columbus visited this place often, because it was very rich in gold. Amerrique meaning something like 'Place of the Wind'. Other theories are that it came from the name of an Englishmen, Richard Amerike, who had financed John Cabot's explorations to America in 1497 or from what Native Americans called modern Nicaragua ie. The accepted story is that the New World was named after Amerigo Vespucci, an explorer who came from Florence, Italy, and lived at the time of Christopher Columbus. There is no sure answer to the question of where the name 'America' comes from. This part of the world is also known as the 'New World' and the 'Western hemisphere', because it lies west of the imaginary line that splits the world in two from top to bottom, the Greenwich meridian. Americas the plural form, also refers to the continents and islands of North, Central and South America. It is usually taken to mean the United States of America (USA), one of the countries on the North American continent.
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