Amerigo Vespucci and Christopher Columbus had several things in common. Both were from Italy. Vespucci was born in the city of Florence in 1454. Columbus was born about 125 miles away in Genoa, just three years earlier. In those days Italy was not a united country. Rather, most of the cities were governed as independent nations. Many of these "city states" had established trade connections to the riches of the Orient through countries of the Middle East. Both Vespucci and Columbus sailed for Spain and Portugal at different times. Spain and Portugal were united under strong central governments. The kings, queens and other leaders of these two countries wanted to have more direct trade links with the Orient so that spices, silk and other valuable goods would not be so expensive in their countries. They had sea ports on the Atlantic Ocean, so they tried to find routes to India and the rest of the Orient across the "Ocean Sea" as they called the Atlantic. Therefore Spain and Portugal were the places to go if you were a man in the late 15th Century interested in exploring the great, mysterious Ocean Sea.
A map of Mediterranean Europe in 1492
Based on the best scientific knowledge of that time the Earth was a sphere, or ball. It was assumed that if you sailed west from Europe across the Ocean Sea you would get to Asia eventually, but how far must you go, and what would you run into on the way? Their knowledge was limited to Europe, Asia and northern Africa. They imagined strange mysteries all around them.
To prove your scholarship, answer the following question:
What is the name of an Italian city state?
Florence
India
Portugal