Amerigo Vespucci

written by Tarra, illustrated by Mariah

It was one nice sunny day in the Bahamas when a strange ship floated up on sandy shore. It had 17 brown sails with black and white stripes. A man climbed out of the ship, he had a pointed nose. His face was thin, you could see the bones in his face.

He then ordered his men to go look for 200 strong men and woman. We were all lined up and some were chosen. When he came to me, he asked, “What’s your name?”

I answered in fright, “My…my name is Elsa I am 16 years old.”

He then replied, “Come with me. You can come aboard”. I really didn’t want to, but I did.

After two hours we were on the ship, sailing away. There were only 100 women, counting me. In the ship it was hot and sweaty with no food to eat. Then that man came down and said, ”Elsa come with me”. He brought me up on deck. He said his name was Amerigo Vespucci.

He was born in 1454, and he loved to study the stars and make maps when he was little. Vespucci also said that he lived in a mansion near a river. Amerigo started to sail in 1492. Vespucci was sent to Seville in Spain. I then asked, “Where were you born?”

Vespucci said, “In Florence, Italy. Then in 1499 I got my ship and sailed away. I chose you because you reminded me of a great slave.”

“A SLAVE!” I yelled. “That is what we are all going to be?”

Amerigo said quietly, “I am sorry. I will give you all a job, so go down stairs.”

A while later I was telling this to another teenage girl. Her name was Lisa. She was 15 years old. One stormy night Vespucci came down and said, “All of the women can clean the ship and serve small pieces of bread and drops of water. All the men can watch for land and also clean the ship. Now Elsa and Lisa, you two can serve my food and my men. “You can also sew up the sails if they rip.” He didn’t want us to start until daylight.

When daylight came Amerigo wanted Lisa and I to clean his cabinet. I walked in there and there was a scroll. I picked it up and rolled it out. It had a map of Spain and part of South America. On the map it had different kinds of writing, then on the side of the paper, it said, “In twenty-four days we will reach South America.”

A week later we were on South America. We all kissed the green grass. Amerigo wanted to leave when the stars were bright, because he used the stars as a map. Vespucci left 125 people with the village men.

Forty people died on the way to Spain. Lisa and I survived these two years. Only 35 slaves lived. Lisa grew up and moved away.

I still live in Spain. Amerigo died in 1512 from malaria. I worked for Amerigo Vespucci’s family as a maid. North and South America were named after Amerigo Vespucci. He was a great explorer!