Seville, Spain Spouse: Maria Cerezo

Early Life

Amerigo Vespucci was born on March 9, 1454, to a prominent family in Florence, Italy. As a young man, he read widely and collected books and maps. He eventually began working for local bankers and was sent to Spain in 1492 to look after his employer's business interests.

While he was in Spain, Vespucci had the chance to meet Christopher Columbus, who had just returned from his voyage to America; the meeting increased Vespucci's interest in taking a journey across the Atlantic. He soon began working on ships, and he went on his first expedition in 1497. The Spanish ships passed through the West Indies, reached South America, and returned to Spain the following year. In 1499, Vespucci went on his second voyage, thistime as an official navigator. The expedition reached the mouth of the Amazon River and explored the coast of South America. Vespucci was able to calculate how far west he had traveled by observing the conjunction of Mars and the Moon.

The New World

On his third voyage in 1501, Vespucci sailed under the Portuguese flag. After leaving Lisbon, it took Vespucci 64 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean due to light winds. His ships followed the South American coast to within 400 miles of the southern tip, Tierra del Fuego. Along the way, the Portuguese sailors in charge of the voyage asked Vespucci to take over as commander.

While he was on this expedition, Vespucci wrote two letters to a friend in Europe. He described his travels and was the