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I notice that in certain countries there are lots of places named after particular explorers from the Age of Exploration. For example, in the United States and in Latin America (though not Brazil as much), there are a lot of places named after Christopher Columbus - either directly or through the personification of the United States named Columbia. In Australia and New Zealand, similarly, there are places named after James Cook. In some parts of Canada, some places are named after John Cabot. In southernmost Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, many places are named after Magellan. Also, in South Africa and in Brazil (and in Goa, India), there are some places named after Vasco da Gama.
I have a couple of questions related to all of that:
1) Why is Columbus not revered as much in Canada (which is a Western Hemisphere country) as in both the US and Latin America? Because Cabot is revered more instead?
2) Is the degree of reverence to each explorer equal in each of the places mentioned (e.g. da Gama in Brazil or South Africa, or Cook in Australia/New Zealand, vs. Columbus in the US and Spanish America)?
I can't really think of any place named for James Cook In Australia other than Cooktown, a small town in the far North of QLD and James Cook university in Townsville. He did however name a heap of landmarks after other people or events on his voyage up the east coast.
Possibly the best known place in Australia named for an explorer is actually named after dutchman - Tasmania.
Oh yeah, I forgot there's Abel Tasman for Australia and New Zealand, even more than Cook.
As for Cook, though, there is the Cook Strait separating the North and South Islands of New Zealand, as well as the Cook Islands (a New Zealand dependency in the Pacific).
1) Why is Columbus not revered as much in Canada (which is a Western Hemisphere country) as in..the US
Yofie, I think it has to do with Washington Irving's 19th Century biography of Columbus. Irving (an American author, native New Yorker) helped elevate Columbus' stature with his popular (& hagiographic) account of Columbus' life. In some respects, Columbus had fallen into obscurity over the interceding centuries. Irving helped tell Columbus' story to an American audience that then embraced Columbus as essentially a national hero. I don't think Canada produced a similar, game-changing, legend-building biography on Columbus (?)
With the rise of cultural-Marxism in America (within the broader context of a self-hating Western World), Columbus is now being diminished..
If someone has more to add, or correct, about the role of Irving's biography, please share. I'm a Columbus buff. /peace
I'm Brazilian and there are a few things named after Vasco da Gama here but I think this name "Vasco da Gama" is nowadays much more related to the football(soccer) team than to the Portuguese person. A good example is myself. I just found out there had been an important person named Vasco da Gama when I was 12 or 13 studying history at school. Until that, to me(and to most Brazilians, I think) Vasco da Gama was only a football team. It's funny and kind of ridiculous but it's true.
I can't really think of any place named for James Cook In Australia other than Cooktown, a small town in the far North of QLD and James Cook university in Townsville. He did however name a heap of landmarks after other people or events on his voyage up the east coast.
Possibly the best known place in Australia named for an explorer is actually named after dutchman - Tasmania.
The only other thing I can think of is the Cooks river, in NSW
Well, for Canada, Columbus didn't come anywhere near where Canada is, and also Spain (that he was exploring for) had very little impact on the colonization of Canada.
That said we do have a province named British Columbia. There are streets named Columbus in many Canadian cities including a rather large one called Avenue Christophe-Colomb in Montreal.
But yeah, in French Canada stuff named for French explorers Jacques Cartier and Samuel de Champlain is much more common.
And in Atlantic Canada you see John Cabot's name here and there.
Well, for Canada, Columbus didn't come anywhere near where Canada is, and also Spain (that he was exploring for) had very little impact on the colonization of Canada.
That said we do have a province named British Columbia. There are streets named Columbus in many Canadian cities including a rather large one called Avenue Christophe-Colomb in Montreal.
But yeah, in French Canada stuff named for French explorers Jacques Cartier and Samuel de Champlain is much more common.
And in Atlantic Canada you see John Cabot's name here and there.
British Columbia was named after the Columbia River, which in turn was named after an American ship that explored that area.
Christophe-Colomb Ave. in Montreal is a side street - a pretty long street, but still just a side street.
I actually did forget about Cartier and especially Champlain for Quebec as well as nearby areas in Ontario, New Brunswick, and the United States. I'm also thinking a little bit about Henry Hudson after whom the river in lower New York state plus a major bay in northern Canada.
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