According to Ken Burns, democracy was not the revolution's intention but its consequence. Initially an "elitist program," the leaders realized they needed to enlist the masses to win. This forced them to extend the language of liberty to everyone, which, once spoken, could not be taken back and ultimately applied to all.

When the Spanish crown passed laws to protect indigenous people, colonial settlers led by Gonzalo Pizarro rebelled. They protested loyalty to the king but demanded the freedom to exploit the land they conquered, mirroring the American colonists' rebellion against a distant government infringing on their local 'rights.'

Robinson says transitions from extractive to inclusive institutions happen when countries sort them out themselves, citing Chile. He doubts the U.S. can solve Venezuela's problem, though he says Washington could avoid making it worse. He calls U.S. relations with Latin America not especially anomalous historically.

Once easily accessible gold was gone, the Spanish conquest of Peru transitioned from looting to institutionalized exploitation. Pizarro began granting `encomiendas`—huge tracts of land with thousands of indigenous laborers. This shifted the economic model from a short-term gold heist to a long-term colonial system based on forced tribute.

The earliest American colonies were not purely ideological crusades but high-risk investment projects financed by joint-stock companies—the 17th-century equivalent of VC funds. This model required property rights and contract enforcement not as afterthoughts, but as prerequisites to attract capital, fundamentally shaping American culture from its inception.

Historians argue the most critical phase of the American Revolution was the decade before 1776. Colonists used economic boycotts and built alternative political and judicial institutions, effectively achieving self-governance before the war, which was simply the British attempt to reclaim control.

High mortality rates during transatlantic voyages and the first winters on the East Coast created a powerful selection filter. Only the most determined and resilient individuals survived, forming the foundational "stock of human" for the American character.

Conquistador expeditions were entrepreneurial ventures, not state campaigns. Leaders like Pizarro formed partnerships, raised private funds, and invested in high-risk "island hopping" operations hoping for massive returns. This model privatized both the risk of failure and the rewards of success, mirroring modern venture capital.

Even if the Aztecs and Incas had won initial military victories, the long-term demographic collapse caused by Old World diseases like smallpox was unavoidable. This 'great dying' would have shattered their societies' functional capacity, fragmented their empires, and ultimately enabled European colonization regardless of short-term military outcomes.