1494 - Human Rights, Social Justice

Human Rights, Social Justice

Queen Isabella of Castile and León suspends a royal order for the sale of more than 500 Carib "Indians" into slavery. Christopher Columbus brought the Caribs home from the West Indies last year, but the queen suggests in a letter to Bishop Fonseca that any sale await an inquiry into the causes for the imprisonment of the docile Indians and the lawfulness of their sale. When theologians differ on the lawfulness, Isabella orders the Caribs returned to their island.