From Americo Vespucci, a
Florentine, who pretended to have first discovered the western continent.
America is one of the great continents, first discovered by
Christopher Colombus in August 1st, 1942. It extends from the eightieth degree of north, to the fifty-fourth degree of south latitude; and from the thirty-fifth to the one hundred and fifty-sixth degree of longtitude west from Greenwich, being about nine thousand miles in length. Its breadth at Darien is narrowed to about
forty-five miles, but at the northern extremity is nearly four thousand miles.
America is more than a physical
unity, it is a whole of societies and spaces that share a common history. This history commences in 1492, when by the hands of Europe, America enters the history of the rest of the world. Europe "discovered" what, to her, was a "new world" and colonized it.
For diverse reasons America, can be divided into:
* North, Central and South America: Physical Reason. (They are subcontinents, not continents).
* Political and Cultural: Anglo-America and Latin America.
Teacher: Pupils, today I shall teach you about America, the big mass of land in which our country, the
United States is. So, draw out your maps of the American continent.
Pupil: But... Miss, I have heard that the continent is called The Americas... is that right?
Teacher: No, it isn't. It is a big mistake. The name of the country is America. Yet, There are too many
nationalist United Statesians they want everybody to call our country America.
That's why.