As it is a homework assignment I won’t be going into as much detail as I normally would. But I will go over an outline of things for you to consider and go research.

I think you need to move the victory against the Armada (the first one) away from the separate long running campaign of English privateers and the attritional warfare they waged upon Spain.

In terms of the Armada it could be argued she won partly out of a crucial mistake by the Spanish (aside from sailing their fleet to the Netherlands where the invading army was stationed, there was no detailed plan for how the two forces were to integrate), coupled with the weather effectively dragging the vast Spanish flotilla on an unexpected and disastrous tour of the North Sea/the North Atlantic/the coast of Ireland.

In regards to the impact of privateers upon Spain as a whole, it’s worth considering the roots lay in her fathers draconian clamp down on Devon and Cornwall after the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion (if I remember right, I don’t have all my books in front of me right now).

Henry VIII effectively changed the dynamic of power in Devon from it being held in rural agricultural families to coastal based mercantile families. This is where we begin to see the rise of Plymouth.

It is often overlooked that this growing community of sailors and local merchant adventurers sought to exploit the marriage of Queen Mary to Phillip of Spain by petitioning to be considered ‘Spanish’ ships and thus legally allowed access to the colonies in the Caribbean and New World. Phillip, of course, refused but it was this refusal that really began the desire by West Country captains to exploit their position and gain trade concessions out of the new colonies.

When the break out began we can focus mainly on the successful voyages of John Hawkins and learn much from his methodology. Hawkins sailed to the Caribbean to trade not plunder. Its why he brought slaves to sell.

It was a tactic based on the balance of probabilities. Either he would find locals willing to ignore the monopoly on Spanish traders and who would trade quietly, or he would find officials who refused to trade in which case he’d force them to at gun point.

Or even better pretend to force them at gun point so the Spanish officials could save face.

It was this commercial enterprise that drove English expansionism in the earlier parts of Elizabeth’s reign. It was its success that led to investment by the crown and the court- Hawkins and co promised great returns. It was only the ill fated third voyage (which up until its final moments had been immensely profitable) that this venture failed.

And it is in the aftermath of Hawkin’s third voyage you see his cousin, Drake, begin a much more aggressive policy in the region.

The limitations of Elizabeth’s dependence upon English privateers even after the Armada however was brutally exposed soon after that victory. The ill fated, badly organised and badly executed attack upon Cadiz to attempt and destroy the Second Armada really shows that Elizabeth’s ability to strike at Spain was limited.

Her victory was simply she was not crushed. England, like a fast footed small fighter against a much stronger and tougher opponent, jabbed away tiring the rival if never able to deliver a knock out blow.

Her reign certainly saw English influence upon the Caribbean and the New World begin but I’d avoid suggesting it was because of some grand strategy. Rather it was the combination of England being forced (by internal factions as well as external geopolitics) into siding more and more with anti-Catholic forces, leading to the Cold War with Spain,coupled with a West Country faction (culminating in Raleigh, the most politically successful of the West Country faction) gaining influence at court based upon the revenues they brought in.

However your own reading may draw you to other conclusions.

No sources (go find books, go read books, read more never stop reading) but I think you could make a case she did indeed benefit to a small degree from colonialism.

True exploitation began when London’s merchant adventurers really began to invest in schemes to exploit the Spanish colonies and I believe if you can find the exact nature of the financing and particulars of John Hawkins third voyage, you will see the beginnings of genuine commercial exploitation with the confluence of finance, privateering and slavery for the first time.

Hope that helps.