North America and South America are named after Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci. Vespucci was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not part of the East Indies, but an entirely separate landmass. The portions of the landmass that widened out north of the Isthmus of Panama became known as North America. HOW DOES THIS DIFFER FROM WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT EXPLORATION OF THE AMERICAS? *

It differs in the manner that the discovering and exploration of the Americas is presented in general.

Explanation:

In general, when it comes to the discoveries of the Americas the first name the comes on mind is Columbus. He indeed was the first European in the late 15th century that discovered part of the Americas, but the problem is that he was not aware of it. Columbus thought that he reached some islands that are close to India, thus the name he gave to the indigenous people, Indians. Before Columbus, the same can be said about the Vikings, as they managed to discover North America and even settle in, but they had no idea that they discovered a new continent.

It was Amerigo Vespucci that made larger scale and better exploration of the Americas and actually declared them as new continental masses unknown to the Europeans until then. It is why the continents got their names actually, America (South and North one), after the name of Amerigo. This led to big frustration to Columbus because he discovered the lands, but it can not be taken away from Vespucci that he was the first to recognize that it is something new and not an archipelago close to India.