Spanish Conquest Of Spain Research Paper

In 1588 the Spanish Empire had arguably become the most powerful nation in the world. King Philip II of Spain was now filthy rich due to exploration of the New World. During this time Spain had control of the Spanish Netherlands who he had forced to become Catholic; however, these people wanted independence and had become Protestants in secret. During this time the English had begun to help Dutch Protestants and this maddened King Philip II. In 1587 Elizabeth I had Mary, Queen of Scots, executed; Mary was a Catholic who had said if she became the ruler of England it would become a Catholic nation. All of these events led to King Philip II gathering 127 ships and 27,000 men to invade England. The Spanish Armada had been considered invincible, but everything that could go wrong for Spain did. Spain’s original naval leader died and was replaced by a man who had never been out to sea. The English knew that they were coming and prepared to send 8 burning ships across Calais harbor. This caused the Spanish to panic and all try to start sailing out to avoid the fire. This caused the Spanish to run into their own ships and left many out in the open of English firepower. As the remaining ships tried to escape they were …show more content…
Spain began declining as a world power and England started to replace them. The fact that storms helped to destroy more Spanish ships was also a push for Protestant Reformation in Europe. It was seen as an act of God. Later without Spain dominating the ocean it caused England to start colonization missions to the New World. If Spain had beaten the English they most likely would have continued to colonize North America. This battle could have caused history of Earth to be dramatically different. England would never have created the 13 colonies and America possibly would not exist. This battle was detrimental to American history because it led to America becoming what it is