nov 20, 1542 - November 20, 1542: New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians issued

Description:

The Spanish government outlawed the enslavement of Native Americans in its American colonies in accordance with the Bible's mandate not to enslave fellow Christians. (Spain was at the time involved in an attempt to convert the native populations of its colonies to Christianity.) Additionally, malaria, smallpox, yellow fever, and colonists' superior weapons were all contributing factors to an alarming decline in the Native American populations in the 16th century. For these reasons, Native Americans were no longer a good labor source for plantation owners, causing them to turn to African slaves.