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power and commerce that set the foundation for modern capitalism. Click here to see some of the major
figures of this era.

Question

Which of the following conquistadors vanquished the Aztec Empire?

A Vasco da Gama

B Juan Ponce de León

C Hernán Cortés

D Diego Velázquez

Answer

Answer C is correct. In 1521, Cortés and his indigenous allies brought down the mighty Aztec empire and
claimed the land for Spain. Choice A, da Gama, is incorrect (see section above); the other choices are
conquistadors who subjugated other regions: Ponce de León conquered Puerto Rico, and Diego
Velázquez took Cuba. Both men are important to remember.

The Enlightenment

Reason is the mark of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century intellectual movement known as the
Enlightenment. In contrast to the previous century’s reliance on the Catholic Church as the sole arbiter of
truth, the Enlightenment saw humans and their intellect as the authority on morality, logic, and
politics. Humanism, the Protestant Reformation, and the Renaissance all helped loosen the grip of the
church.

Let’s refresh your memory about two of the movement’s leading thinkers.

John Locke (1602–1704)

Locke was an English philosopher who believed that the senses were the ultimate arbiter of truth. This
idea is known as empiricism and is one of the cornerstones of Enlightenment thinking. Locke also
believed that political power could only be derived from the consent of the governed. His ideas about
government greatly influenced the American Revolution.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)

Another heavyweight of the Enlightenment, Rousseau wrote The Social Contract. He was concerned with
how the individual relates to society as a whole. The Social Contract begins “Man was born free, but he is
everywhere in chains,” and proceeds to argue that men need a civil society based on a genuine social
contract.