Amerigo Vespucci Letter from Seville facts for kids
The Letter from Seville was written by Amerigo Vespucci on July 18, 1500. He sent it to his supporter, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici. In this letter, Vespucci described his experiences from a trip he took with Alonso de Ojeda in May 1499.
During the Age of Discovery, Vespucci's findings made people in Spain realize that North and South America were separate from Asia. At that time, many believed these lands were connected. Even Vespucci himself thought so at first. This letter is special because it gives a lot of detail about the coast of Brazil and the people living there. Historians still debate which of Vespucci's letters are real, but this one is widely accepted.
Contents
Is the Letter Real?
Some historians, like Antonello Gerbi, believe only three of Vespucci's letters are truly real. These are the "Letter from Seville" (1500), the "Letter from Cape Verdi" (1501), and the "Letter from Lisbon" (1502). All three were sent to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici.
In the "Letter from Seville," Vespucci wrote about sailing "thirteen hundred leagues" (a long distance) from Cadiz, Spain. He said they discovered "a very large country of Asia." However, his 1497 voyage was meant to reach the West Indies, not Brazil. This has caused some confusion among historians.
What the Letter Says
Amerigo Vespucci was an explorer from Europe. He sailed for Spain, hoping to find a new way to Asia. By sailing southwest across the Atlantic Ocean, Vespucci and his crew found South America. At first, he thought it was part of Asia.
Vespucci wrote the "Letter from Seville" in Seville, Spain. He wrote it after his trip to tell about all his discoveries in South America. Vespucci was happy with his journey. He successfully crossed the equator and explored the tropics, which were then called the Torrid Zone. He also studied rivers and many different plants and animals.
As Vespucci sailed south in the Atlantic, he and his crew got a little lost. This happened because of a small mistake in their calculations. It was hard to find their way using the sun near the equator, where days and nights are the same length. They used drawings and real locations to fix their maps.
After crossing the equator, Vespucci proved that an old idea was wrong. People used to think the tropics were too hot for life. But Vespucci found that the Torrid Zone had more people living there than nearby areas.
Vespucci reached Brazil by sailing into the Amazon and Pará rivers. These rivers connect to the Atlantic Ocean. When they sailed into the river, it was hard to find a place to stop because of all the swamps. They saw many amazing plants and animals. This huge natural area made Vespucci call Brazil a "terrestrial paradise," meaning an earthly heaven.
Vespucci and his crew also met many native people during their journey. When they landed, they often carried weapons. Vespucci noticed that the native people were unclothed and seemed comfortable with it. He described them as being "of a different nature."
Some native tribes were friendly. They offered food and gifts to the explorers. Others were more scared or unfriendly. Sometimes, the explorers fought with the native people and burned their villages. Vespucci and his crew also traded for new items. They could not collect many goods because they were on a long trip and only stopped for a short time. They mainly collected brazilwood for dye and cotton.
Vespucci also learned that each tribe they met spoke a different language. This experience changed his ideas about languages. He had first thought there were "not more than seventy-seven languages" in the world.
Background
The Age of Exploration
The letter and the journey it describes happened during a time called the Age of Exploration, or the Age of Discovery. This period began in the 1400s and lasted until the 1600s. It was a time when European countries wanted to learn more about the world's geography. They hoped to find new trade routes and riches.
This era happened at the same time as the Renaissance. Both periods shared a desire for new knowledge. Explorers often made the first contact between European and other cultures. Spain and Portugal, and later France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands, often paid for these trips. They hoped to become richer and sometimes to make scientific discoveries.
One reason for these sea voyages was that the Ottoman Empire had blocked old trade routes. These routes included places like Constantinople, North Africa, and the Red Sea. Henry the Navigator, a prince from Portugal, started funding trips. He wanted economic benefits and hoped to spread Christianity.
Famous explorers from this time include Christopher Columbus, Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco da Gama, John Cabot, Pedro Álvares Cabral, Ferdinand Magellan, Jacques Cartier, Henry Hudson, Hernán Cortés, and Francisco Pizarro.
These voyages were possible because of new technologies. Explorers used tools like astrolabes, magnetic compasses, and triangular sails. They also had better maps. Many of these technologies were developed in other parts of the world and then used by European sailors. As more trips were made, the technology and maps improved.
The Age of Exploration changed how people saw the world. It greatly improved knowledge of geography and sailing. It also created a global power structure that affected many communities and cultures. As Vespucci's letter shows, contact was not always peaceful. Beyond the conflicts, the Age of Exploration led to colonization. This brought diseases, forced changes to societies, and large movements of people, sometimes against their will, like during the Transatlantic slave trade. These changes created an imbalance of power that lasted for centuries.
About the Author
Amerigo Vespucci (1451-1512) was an Italian sailor and a very skilled navigator. He made several trips to the Americas. These trips were paid for by either Portugal or Spain. He later became a Spanish citizen.
Vespucci worked with the Medici family. In 1479, he even went to France to represent them to the French king. His voyages happened in the late 1400s and early 1500s. In 1505, he stopped sailing and began working in Spain as an advisor.
In 1507, a German mapmaker named Martin Waldseemüller used the name "America" on a map of the new continent. This made Vespucci's name famous forever. In 1508, Vespucci became the chief navigator for Spain. He was in charge of voyages and collecting information for maps. He held this important job until he died. Vespucci helped the Age of Exploration both as an explorer and as a Spanish official.
Vespucci's Journeys
The voyage in 1499 was paid for by Spain. For a long time, people thought this was Vespucci's second trip. But in the 1900s, some historians began to think many of his old papers were fake. This included documents about what was believed to be his first trip. Because of this, we don't know for sure how many voyages he made.
Historians are sure the 1499 trip happened. On this journey, Vespucci had four ships. He traveled to what is now Guyana, then south to the mouth of the Amazon River. He continued south, possibly as far as Cape St. Augustine. On the way home, he visited Trinidad and Hispaniola.
His other confirmed voyage was in 1501, paid for by Portugal. On this trip, Vespucci realized he had not reached Asia. Instead, he had found a "New World." He might have taken another trip in 1504, but it's not certain.
See also
In Spanish: Carta de Américo Vespucio desde Sevilla para niños
