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Chapter 2
Encounter and Conquest
1400–1600
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Describe European expansion in the fifteenth century.
• Identify the reasons for Spain’s success in its exploration of the Americas.
• Explain how religious reform divided Europe in the sixteenth century.
• Describe the beginnings of English colonization of North America.
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
Europe was a relatively isolated place in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Roughly
90 percent of all Europeans lived in dispersed villages and worked the land. Europe suffered
from chronic food shortages and catastrophic disease, such as the bubonic plague that struck in
the mid-fourteenth century. Early modern Europe emerged from its isolation during the Middle
THEMES
Eurasia and Africa in the Fifteenth Century
That conquest of the high seas began with the successful voyages of the Portuguese into the
Atlantic in the late 1300s, when they colonized the Canary Islands and, a few decades later,
Madeira and the Azores. By the early 1400s, the Portuguese had established sugar plantations,
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Spain in the Americas
Spain took the lead in exploring and colonizing the Americas. With Spain’s backing,
conquistadores like Hernán Cortés and the Pizarro brothers supplanted the Aztecs and the Incas
as the new overlords of the most densely populated regions of Central and South America. Both
Religious Reform Divides Europe
As Spain developed its American empire, the Protestant Reformation transformed western
Europe. Inspired by the teachings of Martin Luther and John Calvin, Protestant reformers
England’s Entry into America
Protestant attacks on Roman Catholicism won both zealous followers and determined opponents,
triggering a series of bloody religious wars. The energies of young English men, barred by royal
policy from poaching on Spain’s preserve in the Americas, found an outlet in these religious
conflicts, as well as in England’s effort to conquer and colonize Ireland. Many veterans of the
LECTURE STRATEGIES
Reciprocal Relationship between Europe and America
An important theme to develop at the beginning of the course is the reciprocal relationship
between Europe and America. Lecturing on Spain and its New World empire in the sixteenth
century is an ideal way to emphasize not only that Europe affected American development but
that America affected European development. While discovery transformed the ecology,
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Comparisons of American Colonial Empires
Providing students with a solid grounding in the history of early Spanish America will also
introduce a comparative dimension to later lectures and discussions on British and French
settlements in America. Indeed, it may be worth giving an overview lecture of the three
American colonial empires at the outset to point out some of the more striking contrasts. While
few French or Spanish resettled in the Americas, the English migration involved considerable
important differences in the economic, political, and religious development of the parent
countries. Making students aware of these relationships will underscore the close connection
between European and American development. England’s first attempt at conquest, of course,
took place in Ireland rather than America, and the colonization of Ireland served as a model for
Comparison of European Contact in the New World and Africa
It could be helpful to point to the differences in the initial contact experience between Europeans
and the peoples they encountered in the New World and in Africa. Generally, on the West
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TEACHING SUGGESTIONS
The Role of the Individual in History
Early modern European maritime exploration provides an ideal opportunity for students to assess
the role of individuals as opposed to that of broader social forces in the making of historical
change. Many students understand the study of discovery solely as the story of great men—the
The Aztec Perspective on Spanish Conquest
On the issue of natives’ attitudes toward invading Spaniards, an invaluable source is Miguel
León-Portilla’s The Broken Spears, which offers vivid accounts of the Spanish conquest set
down by Aztec scribes. It also sheds light on the question of how the conquistadores succeeded
Motivations for Colonization
Students might also be asked to assess the relative importance of “ideal” as opposed to
“material” goals in fostering colonization ventures. Most students are inclined to opt for the
primacy of economic and political motives and tend to dismiss the colonizers’ professed
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POWER OF PROCESS FOR PRIMARY SOURCES
Power of Process for Primary Sources is a critical thinking tool for reading and writing about
primary sources. As part of Connect History, McGraw-Hill Education’s learning platform, Power
of Process contains a database of over 400 searchable primary sources in addition to the
capability for instructors to upload their own sources. Instructors can then select a series of
strategies for students to use to analyze and comment upon a source. The Power of Process
framework helps students develop essential academic skills such as understanding, analyzing,
and synthesizing readings and visuals such as maps, leading students toward higher order
thinking and writing.