Day 1: July 28, 1588

What Happened:

Now hold on there, Dez (you are saying). This list is supposed to be events in American History, and we are not even a country for another 188 years! While that may be true, there are some events leading up to 1776 without which 1776 may not have happened, or at least may not have happened when and how it did. This is one of them.

It was a time when the Protestant Reformation was still sweeping Europe, and the Catholic vs. Protestant choice was often determined through force. Mary I had been catholic, and had forged strong relations with her cousin and husband, Phillip II of Spain. Phillip II had an eye to rule England, but things went south for him once Mary I died and her half sister Elizabeth I, an ardent protestant, gained the crown of England. Finally Phillip II decided to that he had to take England by force, with the excuse to stop the spread of protestantism there, and amassed what was the largest naval fleet in history up to that point, the Spanish Armada.

It was under Elizabeth I that England first became a sea power. There was the search for the mythical "Northwest Passage," but England mainly prospered through robbing the Spanish. Pirates such as Francis Drake and John Hawkins became extremely wealthy harassing and robbing the Spanish of their gold around the world. What was worse, Elizabeth I was knighting them for their efforts.

ABOVE: Sir Francis Drake. Pirate. Knight. Criminal. English hero. Entrepreneur. As he said regarding Calais (below), he "singed the Spanish beard."

The Armada was a massive failure for the Spanish. Nothing went right. The Spanish commander died, so once they set sail Phillip II put Sidonia in charge, a man who had no experience at sea whatsoever and often got seasick. Drake caught the Armada by surprise when they were docked at Cadiz and burned a bunch of ships, putting the invasion off for a year, so it was hardly a surprise and the English had plenty of time to prepare. The English successfully prevented a landing in England the next year, and so the Armada was forced to dock at Calais, preventing them from picking up the Spanish army in the Netherlands. On July 28, 1588, pirate/knight Drake sent burning ships into the harbor at Calais, terrifying the Spanish. Crucially, the Armada broke up its tight formation and the Spanish ships scattered. Although the Spanish ships were massive hulks and looked impressive, they were slow moving and not very maneuverable. The English had smaller and faster ships. With the Spanish fleet out of formation, the English ships were able to pick them off, zig zagging in and out of Spanish cannon range. Then storms hit (The "Protestant Wind," as Englishmen called it), forcing the Spanish ships north around Ireland and Scotland, where half of the fleet sank to the bottom of the ocean. The rest of the mighty Armada crawled back to Spain in utter defeat. The Spanish navy lost over 20,000 men, while the English casualties were about 100 and zero ships lost.

Why is it important to 'Merica?:

First of all, it is difficult to attribute great swings in history to just one event (impossible and foolish, really). BUT, what if Phillip II had been successful in conquering England with his Armada and Army and taken the English throne for himself? Would we all be speaking Spanish today? I wouldn't go that far, but British colonization (leading to 'Merica) would not have unfolded as it did, if at all.

Spain itself still had the largest overseas Empire (Latin America), but it was broke, cocky, overreaching, and had way too much of a good thing. Spain was flush with gold and especially silver from its empire, but as you remember from Economics class, value is based on the combination of supply and demand, and with plentiful supply, Spain had runaway inflation. Had Phillip II conquered England, would it have been a shortlived Spanish rule, or would it have lasted? Would Spain still have crumbled economically the way it did, or would British resources and wealth have saved it? Even if Spanish rule lasted only 50 or 100 years, that would have greatly altered early British colonization. Jamestown was founded in 1607. It was under Elizabeth I that the first English colonial attempts were made in The New World, starting with Sir Walter Raleigh's doomed Roanoke five years prior to the Armada.

Here's what we do know. Spain's fighting spirit was forever dampened by the loss of the Armada. England crucially becomes the most dominant naval power in the North Atlantic. Spain's colonial aspirations in North America dwindle as well, as the Armada is the beginning of the end of Spain as a world power. The subsequent peace with Spain provided opportunity to colonize with only really the French to worry about. And who really worries about the French?

The factors were now in place for a British Empire. A strong and unified nation, religious unity, growing nationalism, a desire for exploration and an entrepreneurial spirit. England's population was booming, and while wealthy landowners fenced off prime land for sheep, a restless and landless class was growing. These people needed a place to go, both for themselves and for peace at home, and colonies were the answer to provide a safety valve. Primogeniture (eldest son in a family inherits everything, leaving other children to fend for themselves) ensured that younger, ambitious sons had to make their way entrepreneurially and could not count on inheritance. Drake, Raleigh, and other important names during this period were not eldest sons. The creation of the joint-stock company (a forerunner to the corporation) allowed the spread of risk in funding these costly, dangerous overseas adventures. So, peace with Spain offers opportunity, population growth provides need and manpower, unemployment and thirst for adventure, profit and religious freedom provides motive, and the joint-stock company offers the means. It was time to colonize! How would a successful Armada and Phillip II's conquering of England in 1588 changed this picture?