In today’s lesson, we discussed European exploration, focusing primarily on the Portuguese and Spanish efforts to discover new lands. During this period, European powers began to establish colonies, exert political control, and impose their cultures on indigenous populations in Africa and the Americas. Notably, when the Spanish arrived in the Americas, they encountered established empires but faced little resistance due to their advanced weaponry and the lack of immunity among the native peoples. Figures like Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro significantly impacted the civilizations in Mexico and Peru, leading to the collapse of these advanced societies.