Исследовательская работа на тему: Открытие Нового Света или одна из величайших ошибок истории.
творческая работа учащихся (6 класс) на тему

МУНИЦИПАЛЬНОЕ БЮДЖЕТНОЕ ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ СРЕДНЯЯ ОБЩЕОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНАЯ ШКОЛА № 55

НАУЧНАЯ РАБОТА

« ОТКРЫТИЕ НОВОГО СВЕТА ИЛИ ОДНА ИЗ САМЫХ ВЕЛИКИХ ОШИБОК ИСТОРИИ »

(на английском языке)

Работу выполнила Гаврилова Влада,

ученица 7-а класса

Научный руководитель: Макарова Т.М.,

учитель английского языка

МБОУ СОШ № 55

Нижний Новгород, 2013 год

Contents:

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………3

The first chapter ………………………………………………………………4

1.1 Christopher Columbus …………………………………………………….4

1.2 Youth Christopher Columbus ……………………………………………….5

The second chapter …………………………………………………………….6

2.1 The first expedition …………………………………………………………6

2.2 The second expedition ……………………………………………………..7

2.3 The third expedition ……………………………………………………….9

2.4 The fourth expedition ……………………………………………………..10

The third chapter ……………………………………………………………12

3.1 Amerigo Vespucci …………………………………………………………12

3.2 Amerigo Vespucci’s voyages to America ……………………………….13

The fourth chapter …………………………………………………………...15

4.1 Historical mistakes ………………………………………………………16

The fifth chapter ……………………………………………………………..21

5.1 Christopher Columbus’s legacy ………………………………………….21

The sixth chapter ……………………………………………………………24

6.1 My research ………………………………………………………………25

Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………26

Bibliography …………………………………………………………………..27

Introduction

Probably it is hard to find someone who does not know that America was discovered by Christopher Columbus.

Do people realize why it is called so, and not otherwise?

At history lesson when we were discussing the origin of the world, I became interested in: America was discovered by Christopher Columbus, and why it was not called "Columbia", for example.  Whom it was named after and how did this man influence on the development of America? I wanted to answer all these questions.

Arriving home, I decided to find out why it happened. This was the subject of my research.

The main aim of my research is:

To find out, why America was named after Amerigo Vespucci,

 not Columbus.

Subsidiary aims are:

1. To study Columbus’s biography and his voyages.
2. To get information about Amerigo Vespucci.
3. To find out mistakes which let this great historical injustice.
4. To find out what legacy Columbus has left.
5. To make a research if children of my age know about this historical fact.

Personal aims are:

To improve my English and to practice as a speaker.

THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Christopher Columbus

(1451-1506 gg.)

Christopher Columbus - Spanish explorer of Italian origin.  In 1492 discovered America for the Europeans.

Columbus was the first famous travelers over the Atlantic Ocean and the first European to go to the Caribbean. He initiated the exploration of South and Central America. He discovered a central part of the Bahamas, Lesser Antilles (from Dominica to the Virgin Islands included), and a number of small islands in the Caribbean Sea and the island of Trinidad off the coast of South America. Columbus wasn’t a scholarly man but he read and studied widely about astronomy, geography and history and came out with ideas about the origin of the World. That time he was one of the few educated persons in the 15th century who believed that the world was in the shape of a globe. At that time most people were sure the world was flat and laughed at others who sounded different, that’s why he had difficulty obtaining support for his plan to reach the Indies by sailing west across the Atlantic. Portugal, Italy and England refused to support such a venture. Christopher managed to convince Queen Isabella of Spain to fund his expedition to discover a new route to India and Asia, and possibly new lands for Spain. With the support of the Spanish Crown Columbus completed four voyages.

Youth Christopher Columbus:

 Columbus was born in a poor family: father - Domenico Colombo – a wool weaver, mother - Susanna Fontanarossa. Нis real name  - Cristobal Colon, but he became internationally known as Christopher Columbus. Traditionally, six cities in Italy and Spain disputed the honor of being home to a small Columbus.

He studied at the University of Paviyskom. Around 1470 he married Dona Felipe de Palestrello Moniz, daughter of navigator. Until 1472 he lived in Genoa (Italy), and from 1472 - in Savona (Italy). In 1470-ies involved in maritime trade expeditions. In 1474 the first astronomer and geographer Paolo Toscanelli informed him in a letter about the short rout to India across the ocean. Columbus had already thought about the project to reach India. By making their own calculations based on the advice of Toscanelli, he decided that it's best to sail through the Canary Islands, from which to Japan, according to him, was about five thousand kilometers.

THE SECOND CHAPTER:

Total Columbus made four voyages to the Americas:

• First voyage (August 2, 1492 - March 15, 1493).

• The second voyage (September 25, 1493 - June 11, 1496).

• The third voyage (May 30, 1498 - November 25, 1500).

• Fourth, swimming (9 May 1502 - November 1504).

The first expedition:

In his first expedition of Columbus outfitted three ships - the "Santa Maria" (flagship), "Pinta" and the third was a ship, which is often called "Ninja." In fact, the real name of the ship was the "Santa Clara" and "Niña" - just a nickname. The team entered about 100 sailors. The expedition discovered the Caribbean - Guanahani (Bahamas), Hispaniola (Haiti), Juana (Cuba). Christopher Columbus believed these new lands of East Asia - surrounding China, Japan or India. In the future, for a long time, these newly discovered territory was called by Europeans "Western India.

 November 15, 1492 - Columbus in his diary for the first time described the tobacco, which was used by Indians.

 November 20, 1492 - disappeared "Pinta".

 December 6, 1492 - descovered the island of Haiti, which Columbus named Hispaniola.

 December 25, 1492 - "Santa Maria" sat on the reefs.

 January 6, 1493 - the northern coast of Hispaniola, "Niña" ran into "Pinto".

 February 12 - a storm arose, and on the night of February 14, the ships lost each other. The storm was so strong that the Spaniards were ready for imminent death.

 February 15 - when the wind wasa little verse, the sailors saw land, and on February 18, "Nina" came to the island, named in honor of the dead ship expedition Santa Maria (Azores).

 March 15 - "Nina"and "Pinta".  returned to Spain.  "Pinta". Columbus brought natives with him (in Europe called the Indians), some gold, plants, fruit.

The second expedition:

Columbus’s second flotilla was of 17 ships. Flagship - "Marie Galante". According to various sources, the expedition consisted of 1500-2500 people. There were not only the sailors, but the monks, priests, officials, servicemen nobles and courtiers. With a drove of horses and donkeys, cattle and pigs, and vines, seed crops, for the organization of a permanent colony.

The expedition started a complete conquest of Hispaniola, initiated the mass extermination of the local population. It founded the city of Santo Domingo, discovered the Lesser Antilles, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, almost completely explored southern coast of Cuba.                                                                      .

November 5 - at the island of Santa Cruz was the first armed clash with the caribou.

 November 15 - north of Santa Cruz discovered archipelago that Columbus called "Islands of eleven thousand virgins" - now they are called the Virgin Islands.

 November 19 - Spaniards landed on the western shore of a large island, which Columbus named San Juan Bautista. Since the XVI century, it is known as Puerto Rico.

 November 27 -. Haiti fort La Navidad was found totally destroyed.

 May 5 -descovered the island of Jamaica (Columbus named it Santiago).

 May 14 - passing along the northern coast of Jamaica, and did not find gold, Columbus returned to Cuba.

 June 12 - passed almost 1700 km along the southern coast of Cuba, and it reached only 100 km to the west end of the island, Columbus decided to turn, because the sea became shallow strong, the men showed dissatisfaction, and provision has been on the wane.

 June 25 - September 29 - on the way back went around to the west and the south of Jamaica, passed along the southern coast of Hispaniola and returned to La Isabella. By that time, Columbus was already quite ill. After the return he suffered five months, and when recovered, in March 1495 organized the conquest of Hispaniola detachment of two hundred soldiers. The natives were almost unarmed, and Columbus used the cavalry against them.

The third expedition:

On the third expedition with Columbus sailed only six small ships and 300 crew, and the team took the criminals of the Spanish prisons.

30 May 1498, Columbus decided to stay further south, suggesting that gold can only be found closer to the equator. The island of Hierro (Canary Islands), three ships went directly to Hispaniola, and three others took to the Cape Verde Islands, where he took a course in the south-west, intending to stay as close to the equator.

July 31 was discovered the island of Trinidad. Columbus went to the delta of the Orinoco River and the Gulf of Paria, which he studied for about two weeks, but, struck by a serious illness, had to rush to the north of Santo Domingo.

August 20 Columbus arrived on Hispaniola, which was found in poor condition.

Spanish royal treasury ( казна)had almost no income from his new colony, and during this time the Portuguese Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India (1498) and returned with a cargo of spices, thus proving that the lands discovered by Columbus - not India, and he is - a liar.

In 1499 Columbus’s monopoly for the discovering of new land had been canceled. In 1500, the royal couple sent to Hispaniola with unlimited powers of its representative Bovadilyu Francisco. He took hold of the power on the island, arrested  Christopher Columbus with his brothers and sent to Spain. On arrival, however, the local financiers were able to convince the royal couple to drop charges against Columbus.

The fourth expedition:

Christopher Columbus would still like to find a new way to South Asia, the source of spices. He was convinced that such a way exists. The king, after all, gave Columbus permission to a new expedition.

The fourth expedition Columbus took his brother Bartolomeo and 13-year-old son Hernando with. During the fourth voyage Columbus discovered the continent south of Cuba - coast of Central America - and proved that separated the Atlantic Ocean from the South Sea, which he heard from the Indians, an insurmountable barrier. He was also the first to report about Indian peoples living in the South Sea.                  

Mass colonization of Hispaniola:

 Meanwhile in Spain began to receive the gold produced in Hispaniola, and pearls, assembled on the bank of the Pearl (the southern coast of the Caribbean Sea). In Western India rushed hundreds of thousands wishing to achieve wealth. Since 1502, the mass population of the Spanish Antilles.

Spaniards did massive atrocities(зверство) against the natives. In 1515 the population of Haiti was already less than 15,000, and by the middle of the XVI century, they died out completely.

THE THIRD CHAPTER:

Amerigo Vespucci

(1454 - 1512 gg.)

                                                Who was he?

He was born in Italy too. After graduation he worked in the house of Medici bankers. As a business man, he was engaged in framing the Spanish Royal Nevy. He also helped C.C. outfit his second and third expedition .  But he wasn’t only a successful businessman and banker, he also studied the device ships, navigation, astronomy and cartography. This knowledge helped him in 1499 make his first voyage to the coast of the continent which would later be called by his name

Youth Amerigo Vespucci:

Amerigo Vespucci was born on March 9, 1454 in Florence. Brothers have been Amerigo: Senior - Antonio (scientist at the University of Pisa), medium - Geronimo (merchant in Syria).

Amerigo Vespucci was the third son of a notary Anastasi Vespucci. He received a thorough education from his scientist uncle Giorgio Antonio Vespucci, a Dominican monk of St. Mark, who taught him Latin (in Latin, he wrote a letter to his father on October 18, 1478), and  showed  great progress in physics, nautical astronomy and geography. As a trader, he went in 1490 to Seville (with him went his nephew Giovanni, the youngest son of his elder brother Antonio), where he joined the rich Florentine firm DanotoBerardi. This house supplied with Christopher Columbus money for his second voyage (1493), then we can assume that Amerigo Vespucci knew Spanish admiral. Columbus shortly before his death, recommended it to his son as an honest and reliable person.

Amerigo Vespucci’s voyages to America:

Amerigo Vespucci as a navigator took part in the first expedition of Admiral Alonso de Ojeda, who on four ships May 20, 1499 sailed from Puerto de Santa Maria, near Cadiz, after 24 days at sea Surimana stepped ashore. During the voyage the expedition captured two hundred Indians as slaves.

Also in 1500 the pilot Juan de la Kos, member of the expedition, made his famous map of the world, where the northern part of the coast of South America, traveled by the expedition, he paid 22 titles that match listed at Vespucci.

At the invitation of King Manuel I in the late 1500 Vespucci went to Portugal and took on two Portuguese ships sailing from Lisbon to the shores of the new continent, the first lasted from May 1501 to September 1502, the second under Admiral Gonzalo Coelho, from May 10, 1503 June 18, 1504. His travels he made not so much as the head, but as a cosmographer and helmsman, only in his last voyage, during which were explored most of the coast of Brazil, he commanded a small vessel. Recommended by Columbus to King Ferdinand II of Aragon, his opponent Manuel I, Amerigo Vespucci in 1505 again entered the Spanish service, March 22, 1508 he was appointed chief helmsman for travel undertaken in India.

THE FOURTH CHAPTER:

In 1503 in various cities (Paris, Florence) flashed five or six sheets of printed paper, entitled: «Mundus Novus» , written in Latin. The author was AlbericVesputiya, who in a letter to the banker Medici reported on his voyage to the unknown country. Such written reports of new discoveries were not uncommon those days but of all the sheets of the time none had caused such a universal interest, such serious consequences as these - by unknown Alberic.

The text said something out of the ordinary and was translated into several languages. It became the cornerstone of the new geography, which the world hadn’t know yet and had a great success!!!

Two or three years later, one Florentine printer published a slim pamphlet in Italian « Letter of Amerigo Vespucci of the islands, he discovered during his four voyages».  It was said about four voyages he has completed:

   The first - from 10 May 1497 to 15 October 1498 under the Spanish flag;

   The second - to May 16, 1499 to September 8, 1500, also at the command of the king of Castile;

   TheThird (Mundus Novus) - from 10 May 1501 to 15 October 1502 under the Portuguese flag;

  The Fourth - from 10 May 1503 to 18 June 1504, is also on the instructions of the Portuguese.

   The four voyages by unknown merchant entered him the ranks of the great navigators and explorers of his time.

  Since then « The Comedy of Errors» STARTED.

This book, reprinted many times, went through a thousand hands and reported that Vespucci discovered new country. Little stupid accident by printer from Vicenza, who put on the front page instead of  Columbus the name of Vespucci, brought glory to Vespucci, who didn’t know about it and , without his desire became an usurper of another feat.

Certainly, one of these errors would not be enough to create a huge glory. This is the only the first act  to the «Comedy of Errors» Vespucci’s glory went on and let us to a place which he had never visited – to the town Saint Die.

With the financial support of Rene II in a small town Saint Die met several humanists, they created a kind of board, called Gymnasium Vosgianum.  Their aim was to print books. They thought they had the right to add Ptolemy’s « «Сosmography». Through the publication of Saint Die the name of Amerigo Vespucci raised another significant step but , of course, the top had not been reached. In the Italian anthology with the name Vespucci on the front page, his voyages were marked together with Columbus’s and other explorers. But in the «СosmographyIntroductio» name Columbus was not mentioned at all. Perhaps it was an accident… but what a fatal accident! All the honor and glory became Vespucci. In the fifth chapter Vespucci was named pioneer of these new areas. In the seventh chapter famous cartographer Valdzemyuller gave his personal suggestion:

AS THIS FOURTH PART OF THE WORLD HAS FOUND AMERIGO, IT SHOULD BE FROM THIS DAY CALLED THE LAND OF AMERIGO, OR

                                                 AMERICA.

And if the day October 12,1492, when Columbus saw from the deck of the «Santa Maria» the coast of the island Guanahany, could be called the birthday of the new continent, April 25, 1507,  when in Saint Die was published « Cosmography Introductio» could be called Day birthday.

This extraordinary reputation among scientists Vespucci became, first of all, that both of his booklets were printed in Latin, the language of scientists and undisputed authority of his work gave the publication «Cosmography Introductio».And only he first described the New World, the scientists did not hesitate to give him the title of the discoverer of the New World.

Soon after that a new person appeared in the «Comedy…»  It was a Bishop Las Casas. He was the first to point out that all was not right with this Vespucci’s glory. Las Casas studied his papers in the form in which they were published in «СosmographyIntroductio» . The first edition, which described Vespucci’s voyage in 1497,  said that he has landed in a place called  «Lariab». As a result of any corrections to the Latin edition, published in Saint Die, instead of « Lariab» printed the word « Parnassus» ( other name of the New World), which made an impression that Vespucci himself claimed that he had visited the land of « Parnassus» back in 1497, exactly one year before Columbus. Therefor e, for Las Casas was clear – Vespucci was a deceiver who exploited the death of Admiral as an opportunity to attribute the discovery of a new continent by publishing a « foreign books» (because in Spain it would be immediately denounced). Las Casas argued that in reality, Vespucci went to America in 1499, not in1497.

 Since then scientists began to study original historical materials of his voyages. They wanted to find out how much were his letters truth and how much fiction?

First of all, it was questionable his voyage in 1497 before Columbus. This voyage was not mentioned in any historical document, and some of its details, no doubt, were taken from the second voyage with Ojeda.

In the seventeenth century Vespucci was a goner. Scientists didn’t want to believe his glory… But another century came and brought wind of change.

Studying Florentine documents I came to the information that Bandini and Bartolozzi found his three letters to Lorenzo de Medici. The third letter was a real treasure. It proved that someone fabricated from single voyage two and claimed that Vespucci first set food on American continent. The dark suspicions of Las Casas conclusively confirmed.

And strangely, the same contradiction discovered Spanish documents. Of them I knew that Vespucci arrived in Seville in 1492, not as a great scientist and a sailor, but as a broker of the Florentine Medici Bank, and worked mainly ships and equipment financing expeditions.There were no documents almost conclusively proved that in 1497 Vespucci actually explored the coast of America, as said in his «QuatuorNavigationes».

Again we met the same contradiction: any document about Vespucci’s life showed him as a honest, conscientious and a very intelligent person not a deceiver. Shortly before his death in 1505, Columbus in one of his letters to his son called Vespucci his friend.

   "February 5, 1505.

   My dear son,

   Diego Mendez, who left here on Monday, 3 this month. After his departure, I spoke with Amerigo Vespucci, which is sent to the court, where he was called in to consult with him on some issues of navigation. He always expressed a desire to be useful to me (? L siempretuvodeseo de me hacer placer), is an honest man (mucho hombre de bien).Happiness was unsympathetic to him, as to many others. His work did not bring him the benefits to which he was entitled. He went there (to the court), with a burning desire to get to me at a convenient (si a susmanosest?) Something favorable (queredonde a mi bien). I do not have the opportunity to be here, to explain to him more than he could be useful to us, because they do not know what I want from him. But he was determinto do everything for me, what it can. " 

This letter was one of the most surprising scenes in the « Comedy of Errors» The two people in real life were not opponents, they respected each other. Both of them – and it is an undeniable fact of history – had no idea that two generations of scientists and geographers will descuss: who was the first?   And that it will be a great dispute around the word « AMERICA»

This is the end of the «Comedy of Errors». The famous German writer Stephan Zvage studied widely this fact –why Vespucci not Columbus, and called it one of  greatest historical errors. I had studied it widely too and found out that there were several small errors which let to the great error.

 The first error - was the name of Vespucci appeared on the title page of the book «Paesiretrovati». The result was that readers might think that the new lands were not discovered by Columbus but by Vespucci.

The second error was a word "Parnassus" instead of "Lariab", made in the Latin edition, as a result of which were claimed that not Columbus but Vespucci first set foot on the continent of America.                                                                                                                                                                                               The third act of the «Comedy…» was a mistake of provincial geographer who proposed on the basis of thirty-two pages written by Vespucci to call America his name                                                                                                                    .                                                                 Until the end of the third act, Amerigo Vespucci was a hero. In the fourth act suspicion born, and no longer clear who he was - a hero or a liar? The fifth and final act that played out in our age, opened one more, a sudden drop to clear the whole « Comedy..» to everyone's satisfaction.

   But, fortunately, the history is a great playwright, it is able to find both -tragedies and comedies for its brilliant ending. In the fourth act we knew that not Vespucci discovered America, first set foot on the mainland and did not make that first voyage in 1497, which was mentioned earlier. But while scientists were still arguing about how many voyages, Vespucci described in his book, he really did not commit , a new face appeared in the «Comedy..» His name is Professor Manyagi . He proved that Vespucci didn’t write his books in the form in which they exist at present. Consequentl, not Vespucci boasted false achievements, but under the cover of his name was DONE and written much ugliness.                                                                                                                    Also Las Casas accused Vespucci in «cunning deception» and «great injustice» but he did it very carefully. He added that Vespucci’s unearned exaltation could take place without his knowledge and participation or maybe it was just a result of wrong presentation of events and inaccurate information?

There was almost no doubt - and it clarified the confused situation - that the first reported voyage in 1497, as well as all the other contradictions, were not be attributed to him, but  to the shamelessly publishers and printers, who without asking permission, changed information.

Did Vespucci in the last years of his life know about the fame that has grown around his name because of misunderstandings and mistakes? Would he ever suspected that the new land, somebody wanted to be called by his name? We knew only one thing that he did not experience fame and glory. He was not Columbus’s opponent. He did not discovered America but he was a brave and honest man. It remained as poor as he was on the first day of his visit to Spain. One thing is clear - the man that made scientists for four centuries to solve one of the biggest challenges, he essentially lived a simple life. And the fact that the whole continent became his name was not his special guilt but because of a set of circumstances, errors, accidents, misunderstandings. Two words «Mundus Novus», which an unknown publisher wrote and titled it «The four travels…» made him famous. It is a paradox: Columbus discovered America, but did not know that it was a new continent, Vespucci did not discover but the first to understand that America –a new continent. This was the only achievement associated with all his life, with his name. The man, who tells of the heroism and explains it can be for children greater than the one who did it.

THE FIFTH CHAPTER:

The memory of Christopher Columbus:

About Christopher Columbus shot a lot of movies. Including: English «Christopher Columbus» 1949, Italian TV series «Christopher Columbus» in 1985, the Anglo-American-Spanish production «Christopher Columbus: The Discovery» 1992, the Anglo-American-Spanish-French production «1492: Conquest of Paradise» 1992 by.

ZurabTsereteli:

In 1991 and 1992, the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas by Europeans, the Georgian sculptor ZurabTsereteli, offered to buy the United States, Spain and Latin America its huge statue of Columbus at the helm of the Spanish caravel (at the moment it is installed in a smaller version of Spain).

Columbus statue has a height of 90 meters, which is two times the height of the Statue of Liberty without the pedestal. Sculpture weighs 599 tons. The Baltimore Sun newspaper article referred to the Columbus tseretelievskom «From Russia with 'ugh'».

Later developments Columbus monument was used by the sculptor in 1997 with the Placing in Moscow commissioned by the Moscow government on the island clockwise Baltschug between the Moscow River and the drainage channel huge statue of Peter the Great in medieval clothing Spanish grandee of the first at the helm of Russian sloop height of 98 meters.

In July 2010, it was reported that on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, near the city of Arecibo is a statue of Christopher Columbus by Zurab Tsereteli.

Statue, divided into 2750 parts lay in storage for two years. According to the government of Puerto Rico to collect it again, to $ 20 million. Statue, if it is set to become the tallest building in the United States-controlled territory in the Caribbean.

Demolition of the monument to Columbus in Venezuela:

2004: A group of supporters of Hugo Chavez broke and drove away the bronze statue of "pioneer." March 2009: According to the Associated Press, the Prefect of Caracas (Venezuela's capital region) ordered to demolish the statue of Christopher Columbus. President Hugo Chavez has strongly endorsed this decision official, said during a televised speech that reached America more than five centuries ago, Christopher Columbus started the genocide of indigenous population of America.

In honor of Columbus named:

Toponyms:

• The state in South America "Columbia"

• Mount "Cristobal Colon" in Colombia, altitude 5775 m

• Federal district "Columbia" in the U.S.

• Province "British Columbia" in Canada

• River "Columbia" in the U.S. and Canada

• City in the Canal Zone "columns"

• Province of Panama "colony"

• Department of Honduras 'colonies'

• Area in New York

• Area in ZelAO Moscow

• Streets in the cities of Volgograd and Astrakhan

• Human settlements in the United States, bearing the name "Columbus"

• City in the U.S. "Columbia"

Space:

• Asteroid (327) "Columbia", opened in 1892.

• Shuttle "Columbia"

• ISS module "Columbus"

Theaters:

• The main opera house of Argentina "Teatro Colon"

• Teatro Colon in the book by Ilf and Petrov "12 chairs"

Other:

• Studio "Columbia Pictures"

• The currency of Costa Rica and El Salvador, "colony"

• Argentine football club from the "Santa Fe Colon»

• «Columbian Exchange" - movement of plants, animals and people from the Old World to the New, and vice versa

THE SIXTH CHAPTER:

In order to test the knowledge of others on my chosen subject, I decided to conduct surveys.

The respondents, I chose two groups of people:

1) Classmates - 7a class (28 people)

2) People in social networks (VKontakte)

Questions:

1) Who discovered America?

2) Would you like to know why America is so called?

3) Have you ever heard the name before Amerigo Vespucci?

Possible answers:

1) Christopher Columbus / Amerigo Vespucci

2) Yes / no / I do not think about it

3) Yes / no

Results:

 1) Who discovered America? ( 7а: 88,9%( Christopher Columbus), 11.1%( Amerigo Vespucci); social networks: 95%( Christopher Columbus), 5%( Amerigo Vespucci)).

2) Would you like to know why America is so called? (7а: 55.6%(yes), 22.2%(no), 22.2%( I do not think about it); social networks: 65%(yes), 15%(no), 20%( I do not think about it)).

3) Have you ever heard the name before Amerigo Vespucci? (7a: 69,2% (yes), 30,8% (no); social networks: 16% (yes), 84% (no)).

Who discovered America?

Would you like to know why America is so called?

Have you ever heard the name before Amerigo Vespucci?

Conclusion

Christopher Columbus was a great Italian explorer; he did many things for the world and especially for America. And though Columbus wasn’t the first European explorer to reach the Americas, his voyages let to the first lasting European contact with the Americas, inaugurating a period of European exploration, conquest and colonization that lasted for several centuries and they had an enormous impact in the historical development of the modern Western world.

In my research I came to the conclusion that in the discovery of America were some historic mistakes. In my work I try to give some reasons of it. I made a survey, asking children of my age only 3 questions:

1) Who discovered America?

2) Would you like to know why America is so called?

3) Have you ever heard the name before Amerigo Vespucci?

I found out that most people in my school know that America was discovered by Christopher Columbus, but they don’t know why it is called America, not Columbia. I hope that this research will help people to understand the real history of the America’s name.

Bibliography

1. Stefan Zweig (Author), Andrew St. James (Translator) «Amerigo: A Comedy of Errors in History». – England.-; «Plunkett Lake Press», 2012.-140 p.

2. Болезеко А. С. Христофор Колумб.- М.; «Кентавр», 2003.-630 С.

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