Discoveries of researchers of South America

The list of researchers in South America is quite extensive. Who discovered this continent and when? Even a junior high school student knows that this was Christopher Columbus. But serious scientists have no-no, and there are doubts about this. Perhaps the fearless navigators of the early Middle Ages, the Normans, reached the island of Greenland and the shores of North America much earlier than Columbus. Or the Chinese ships have crossed the Pacific Ocean and it is the sailors of the Celestial Empire who are the untitled discoverers of the continent. In addition, Christopher Columbus, until the end of his life, was sure that his foot had set foot not on the new continent, but on the western coast of India. In this article, we will try to understand the many researchers of South America. Each of them contributed to the development of the new continent. Russian scientists were also on the list of discoverers.

History of the paving of the Western Route

The list of researchers of South America is headed by Christopher Columbus, and it is necessary to appreciate his merit. In those days, Europe experienced difficulties in trade communication with India. The road there for silks and spices was long and dangerous. Proceeding from the postulate of the circular form of the Earth, Columbus put forward the hypothesis that India can be sailed from Europe, moving not to the east, but to the west. It was there, behind the Atlantic Ocean, convinced the seafarer of his sponsor, the Spanish king, lies the treasured land of sandalwood and spices. He did get money for the expedition's equipment. In 1492, Columbus crossed the Atlantic and opened the Great Antilles. This success allowed him to equip two more expeditions. In 1498, Columbus discovered the island of Trinidad. Water in the sea at its shores seemed to the seamen too lightly salted. Such a freshness can only be carried by a very large continental river - the admiral decided. His ships entered the Orinoco estuary and explored the coast of South America all the way to the peninsula of Paria.

Expeditions of Amerigo Vespucci

The Portuguese kingdom, having learned about the success of the Spanish explorers of South America (then thought it was the western coast of India), equipped its three transatlantic expeditions. They were commanded by seafarer Amerigo Vespucci. He did not limit himself to swimming along the coasts, but made fearless hikes deep into the mainland. As a result, he discovered and described the Brazilian Highlands, the lower reaches of the Amazon and the bay, where the city of Rio de Janeiro now stands. Gradually Vespucci began to torment doubts. The newly discovered territories did not look like India at all. He wrote to his homeland in 1503 that it was "The New World". And this name was fixed. North and South America are still called "India" and "New Light".

The contribution of Amerigo Vespucci is invaluable. It was he who gave Europeans a knowledge of the existence of a new continent. Therefore, both continents are named after him. Already in 1507, the cartographer from Lorraine Martin Waldzemüller dubbed the southern part of the continent "America" (the Latinized writing of "Amerigo"). In 1538 this name spread to the northern part of the continent.

Fairy Land of Eldorado

Inspired by the success of the Portuguese explorers of South America, whose ships returned, laden with gold, in 1522-58, the Spanish sailors also reached out to the New World. Under the pretext of treatment of local tribes in the Christian faith, they began to seize land. This conquest (in Spanish "conquist") was accompanied by mass executions of people at the stake, robbery and other violence. Europeans believed that the new continent is the Golden Land, Eldorado. But along with conquistadors and religious fanatics, real researchers also arrived in South America, making maps describing previously unknown species of plants and animals that studied the customs and culture of local tribes. Through the Isthmus of Panama, the Spaniards penetrated to the west coast. Expeditions of P. Andaga (1522), F. Pizarro (1527), D. Almagro (1537), P. Valdivia (1540s), H. Ladrillero (1558), P. Sarmiento de Gamboa (1580) moved along the Pacific Ocean South to Chile.

Discoverers and researchers of South America

Not only the Spaniards and the Portuguese took part in the conquest of new lands. German bankers Ehinger, Welsers and others received permission in 1528 from Emperor Charles the Fifth to colonize the northeastern coast of South America, which is washed by the Caribbean Sea. France and Holland also "tore off" themselves a piece of new land. British sailors J. Davis, R. Hawkins and J. Strong discovered the Falkland Islands. And the Dutch V. Schouten and J. Lemer in 1616 rounded Cape Horn. The thirst for profit attracted the Spanish conquistadors into the interior of the continent. In search of the legendary gold mines, they crossed the Northwest Andes and descended to the Amazonian lowland. Spanish and Portuguese explorers and travelers of South America also infiltrated the basin of the La Plata River, described Parana, Gran Chaco, Paraguay. The expedition of F. Orellana crossed the mainland from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean in 1541.

Scientific researchers of South America and their discoveries

The main goal of all the expeditions listed above was the seizure of new lands. Scientific research (mapping, description of what was seen on the way) was carried out only because it helped advance the team of conquistadors. But with the advent of the Enlightenment, the goals of the discoverers changed. The first serious scientific researchers of South America consider the German Alexander Humboldt and the Frenchman Aime Bonplan. Five years (from 1799 to 1804) they spent on the mainland, collecting a collection of plants, animals and minerals. After that, A. Humboldt devoted about thirty years to writing a grand 30-volume work "Journey to the equinoctial (i.e., equatorial) lands of the New World."

Other scientific research

We owe the exact map of the continent to the English expedition of R. Fitzroy and F. King. In the nineteenth century, when the northern part of the American continent was already developed, the southern part - because of the difficult jungles and high mountains - remained unknown. And "terra incognita" attracted scientists from different countries. In the nineteenth century, such explorers of the continent of South America as Germans V. Eschwege K. Steinen, Frenchmen J. Saint-Hilaire and A. Cudro, Austrians and Bavarians I. Nutterer, I. Paul, I. Spiks and K. Martius, Englishmen J. Wells, W. Chandless, G. Bates and A. Wallace. Charles Darwin made an invaluable contribution to the study of the new earth. It is the nature of South America that prompted the scientist to think about the evolutionary development of life on Earth.

Russian expeditions to the mainland

The first trip took place in 1822-28. GI Langsdorf directed the Russian academic complex expedition. Its members have studied the internal regions of Brazil. On this scientific research on the mainland did not end. Such Russian researchers of South America as AS Ionin, NM Albov, GG Manizer, AI Voeikov described geography, climate, tribal culture, flora and fauna of Tierra del Fuego. Biologist N. I. Vavilov visited the mainland in 1932-33. And established the sources of origin of various agricultural plants.