The 3 great empires were the Mughal, Ottoman, and the Safavid empire.
We need to see the other parts of the text, as all u included was her being a modern day conservative
Explorers were fascinated by the artifacts in the New World because they believed that there is a mythical city of gold named El Dorado. They thought that they have found it there. It tickled their imagination and enjoyed that fantasy.
They liked strong federal government