How the hell did Spain create a New World colonial empire?

In this episode of How the Hell Did We Get Here?, John explains both the "discovery" of the New World and the way it was colonized by various European peoples in the 16th century. Beginning with how Europeans started to explore more of the Atlantic world in the 1400s and concluding with some brief consideration of English and French involvement in the New world toward the end of the 1500s, John will go through the most impactful events, the primary motivations and the most important circumstances of how colonization unfolded.By the end of the episode, listeners should have a firm grasp on why the Portuguese took the early lead in exploration, why the Spanish came to dominate colonization of the Western Hemisphere in the 16th century and how European presence in the Americas permanently altered Native American civilization. This is all vital context for anyone who wants to understand how the 13 original American colonies became what they were, and consequently, how the United States was launched along its historical trajectory.