LSAC Exam LSAT Topic 1 Question 42 Discussion

Conflict had existed between Spain and England since the 1570s. England wanted a shareof the wealth that Spain had been taking from the lands it had claimed in the Americas.Elizabeth I, Queen of England, encouraged her staunch admiral of the navy, Sir FrancisDrake, to raid Spanish ships and towns. Though these raids were on a small scale, Drakeachieved dramatic success, adding gold and silver to England's treasury and diminishingSpain's omnipotence.Religious differences also caused conflict between the two countries. Whereas Spain wasRoman Catholic, most of England had become Protestant. King Philip II of Spain wantedto claim the throne and make England a Catholic country again. To satisfy his ambitionand also to retaliate against England's theft of his gold and silver, King Philip began tobuild his fleet of warships, the Armada, in January 1586.Philip intended his fleet to be indestructible. In addition to building new warships, hemarshaled one hundred and thirty sailing vessels of all types and recruited more thannineteen thousand robust soldiers and eight thousand sailors. Although some of his shipslacked guns and others lacked ammunition, Philip was convinced that his Armada couldwithstand any battle with England.The martial Armada set sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on May 9,1588, but bad weatherforced it back to port. The voyage resumed on July 22 after the weather became morestable.The Spanish fleet met the smaller, faster, and more maneuverable English ships in battleoff the coast of Plymouth, England, first on July 31 and again on August 2. The two battlesleft Spain vulnerable, having lost several ships and with its ammunition depleted. OnAugust 7, while the Armada lay at anchor on the French side of the Strait of Dover,England sent eight burning ships into the midst of the Spanish fleet to set it on fire.Blocked on one side, the Spanish ships could only drift away, their crews in panic anddisorder. Before the Armada could regroup, the English attacked again on August 8.Although the Spaniards made a valiant effort to fight back, the fleet suffered extensivedamage. During the eight hours of battle, the Armada drifted perilously close to the rockycoastline. At the moment when it seemed that the Spanish ships would be driven onto theEnglish shore, the wind shifted, and the Armada drifted out into the North Sea. TheSpaniards recognized the superiority of the English fleet and returned home, defeated.