Americus: Part I

"Americus: Part I" is a history of the United States in verse by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Ferlinghetti, a key figure in the Beat movement, published this work in 2004. The poem uses verse to recount American history, reflecting Ferlinghetti's characteristic conversational style and political orientation.1

The name "Americus" itself is linked to the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, after whom the continents of North and South America were named by German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller in 1507. The city of Americus, Georgia, is also named after Vespucci.23