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WHY
WAS IT POSSIBLE?
by
Dominic Campanile
The
Italian migration to the
U.S.
was one of the greatest, largest migrations in
history. This was made possible by the effort of the great Italian
mapmakers, navigators, and explorers. The
four great Italian navigators were Cristoforo Colombo, Giovanni Caboto,
Amerigo Vespucci, and Giovanni Verrazzano.
Although
these navigators, explorers and mapmakers contributed so much, they were
never funded by
Italy
. Big European countries such as
England
,
France
, and
Spain
did all of the financial support for these four
great men. The reason for this was that
Italy
was not fully unified at the time.
Italy
was a group of small kingdoms, dukedoms and
republics.
Cristoforo
Colombo was, and probably still is, one of the greatest, most respected
explorers of all time. He was born in
Genoa
,
Italy
. He believed he could reach the
Indies
by traveling west of
Europe
. He, unlike others, believed that the Earth was not
flat and was indeed round.
Spain
’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella sponsored him.
He landed in the new world which he thought was
India
. He named this land the
West Indies
. This great explorer is celebrated in the month of
October.
Also
born in
Genoa
, Giovanni Caboto was a great navigator/explorer. He
sailed for King Henry VII of
England
. His first voyage was aborted but his second voyage
would bring
England
a new large territory. This territory would later be
called
New
Found
Land
. His discoveries have been recognized as great
accomplishments, but his Northern explorations were never know as well
as the other great Italian explorers due to the fact that his
accomplishments did not immediately lead to the British expansions in
the west. Although this was true, it was clear enough to say that the
efforts of Caboto would have eventually lead to the
British Empire
that would be established in years to come.
The
third great Italian explorer was born in
Firenze
. Amerigo Vespucci was his name. As chief navigator
for the Commercial House Of The West Indies in
Seville
,
Spain
, he was responsible for approving voyages, creating
maps for any newly discovered land and making exact routes to them.
Vespucci himself made two voyages to the west. He sailed under the
Spanish and Portuguese flags, again not funded by
Italy
. His first voyage led him to the
Caribbean
. He did not stop there as he sailed to
Central America
and past
Florida
, up the coast of present day
North America
.
On
his second voyage, he explored the east coasts of
Brazil
and
Venezuela
. In the end Amerigo concluded that the places he and
Columbus had discovered were actually a new world, not
East Asia
like they presumed. This new world was later renamed
America
, in honor of Vespucci.
Last
but not least, the fourth great Italian explorer was Giovanni Verrazzano.
Like the other Italians he was funded by a European nation. This time it
was
France
. He was given credit for being the first European to
explore the Northeast coast of the
United States
. Exactly 3 months after leaving
France
, he was exploring from
Maine
to
New York
Harbor
. Giovanni is still celebrated today for his great
achievements. The Bridge spanning from
Brooklyn
to
Staten Island
was named after him. These two boroughs of the City
of
New York
are heavily populated with Italian Americans today.
These
four magnificent explorers paved the way for Italians to make a living
in this great country.
IDEA
SETTEMBRE 2001
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