Sandra Lydiksen, aged 11, of Stratford, Conn., for her question:
How did America met its name?
Almost anyone will tell you that America was named for Amerlgo Vespucci an early explorer of the New World. And so it was, but the interesting part of the story is the meaning of Amerigo's name. For it is an ancient name with a long and noble history. You will agree that no one could have chosen a better name for our country.
Experts have traced the name back through sixteen hundred long years. Naturally, it has undergone some changes during that time. It has been spelled and pronounced differently as different people adopted it for their own. But somehow the name managed to keep much of its original meaning.
The history of our country's name probably began with the ancient Goths of Europe. These warlike adventurers seem to have had some very modern ideas when it came to governing themselves. Their leaders were not chosen from the ranks of kings and princes. The Goths admired most a man who could work his way to leadership by good sense and brave deeds.
They called such a hero leader their Amal. So far as we know, that is the origin of our word America.. The Amal of the Goths was a democratic leader. He earned his title by courage and hard work in the service of his people. In the fourth century A. D., the Amal of the Goths ruled from the Black Sea to the Baltic.
As the Goths increased their territories, the suffix was added to the title of the hero leader. This meant mighty or powerful. The Amalric of the Goths was a mighty power in northern and central Europe from the fifth to the tenth centuries A. D,
The title, and perhaps the idea of a self made hero leader, caught on in other countries. Early English writings refer to an Amal of the Saxons. Iceland and Scandanavia called such a democratic leader an Ambl. The Franks called him an Amaury. But the meaning is the same in all tongues.
By the eighth century the Italians had made Amelrico a given name. The spelling was changed before young Amerigo Vespucci of Florence received it as his name Amerigo kept careful records of his travels in the New World. And a young German map maker became fascinated with these records and with the name of the famous explorer.
Martin Waldseemuller, this young map maker, is credited with naming the New World America. In 1507 he wrote that Amerigo's land should be called America. He made a map from Amerigo's records and he called the territory America the land of democratic heroes.