Mt. Pleasant Pyramid | 1918-07-19 | Page 6 | Given Honor not Deserved

GIVEN HONOR NOT DESERVED Error of Learned Men Responsible fof America Being Named After Amerigo Vespucci. The story of how the now world received re-ceived the name of America is a striking strik-ing example of what publicity will accomplish. ac-complish. Amerigo Vespucci, a highly educated Florentine, was head of a business house in Seville Snnln nrnh. nbly as agent for the great trading firm of the Medicis,. and helped to fit out one of the expeditions with which Columbus sailed. When the hitter's monopoly was revoked, Vespucci undertook un-dertook several voyages of exploration on his own account, during which he claimed In many letters to have been the first to reach the mainland of the new continent, giving the date as June, 16, M97. On April 25, 1(507, the learned heads of the University of St. Die, In Lorraine, Lor-raine, decided, Incorrectly, that he was entitled to the honor of discovery, Columbus Co-lumbus having only reached the Islands of the West Indies, and that the western hemisphere should, bear Ms name. The name America was, therefore, first used In the book "Cos-mographiae "Cos-mographiae Introductlo," by Martin Vs'aldseemuller, professor of cosmography cosmog-raphy at the university. It has since! been shown that Vespucci Ves-pucci was preceded by both Columbus rnd John Cabot, but It was too late, the new world had been christened America and the fact advertised In print. The house where the meeting was held at which the classical error was made was still standing at St. Die nt the outbreak of the war, and was annually visited by many tourists from both North and South America.