Why did Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand allow Christopher Columbus to bring slaves?
The Portuguese “owned” the route going around Africa. “Nonetheless, the Pope’s declaration ultimately had dire consequences for native inhabitants of the Americas. Beginning in 1514 Spanish conquerors adopted “the Requirement,” an ultimatum in which Indians were forced to accept “the Church as the Ruler and Superior of the whole world” or face persecution. If Indians did not immediately comply, the Requirement warned them: “We shall take you and your wives and your children, and shall make slaves of them, and as such shall sell and dispose of them as their Highnesses may command; and we shall take away your goods, and shall do all the harm and damage that we can.” [11]” “Columbus brought back many native slaves with him, most of who came from the Carib culture, fierce cannibals who fought any and all European attempts to conquer them. Columbus, who had once again promised gold and trade routes, did not want to return to Spain empty-handed. Queen Isabella, appalled, decreed that the New
