Without its radical presumptions the history of European expansion would have been substantially different - and probably the world as we know it. A whole gamut of meanings swirl around its various connotations - seek, desire, want, with the emphatic prefix of con adding insistence.
Nothing is singular or simple about conquest.
When we consider the conquest of the Americas, especially from the perspective of Spain's intentions and involvements, we must make certain about the implications of the use of force. The original intentions of Ferdinand and Isabella were to open a western route for trade, not conquest. If they desired any lands at all, they were the holy lands of Scripture that were firmly in the control of Islam - but not the lands of the New World. The discovery of the New World must be seen as a major intellectual dividing line in the history of ideas and the creation of challenging new social concepts. Columbus's initial voyage was truly an expedition of discovery that stunned the tradition-bound societies of Europe.