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Shipments of enslaved Taíno to Spain in the mid-1490s are dated unfree-labour instruments

In the mid-1490s Columbus sent enslaved Taíno to Spain. In the causal graph this event strengthens the driver Labour-Market Tightness.

Read the full account

In the mid-1490s Columbus sent enslaved Taíno to Spain. Many died on the crossing in later reports. Unique integers are not invented. Christopher Columbus's documented role is: He sent captives as slaves. Many died on the crossing in later reports; Isabella later objected to some sales.

Context

Seville is the received market. Sharing the shipments with those captives is required. The setting of Shipments of enslaved Taíno to Spain in the mid-1490s are dated unfree-labour instruments is the public file around 1495-02-01. Contribution type is direct. Driver labour-market-tightness is attached because the significance names a mechanism from this act, not because a standing list needed coverage.

Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Mixed effects of Shipments of enslaved Taíno to Spain in the mid-1490s are dated unfree-labour instruments are separate paths.

Why it matters

Worsening path from Shipments of enslaved Taíno to Spain in the mid-1490s are dated unfree-labour instruments on 1495-02-01. Transatlantic shipment of enslaved people is a labour path of high weight. The welfare reading on this path is worsening.

The contribution type is direct. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Christopher Columbus

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.68 · verified

    He sent captives as slaves. Many died on the crossing in later reports; Isabella later objected to some sales.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactShipments of enslaved Taíno to Spain in the mid-1490s are dated unfree-labour instruments
    2. strengthensDriverLabour-Market Tightness

    impact weight 0.7 · Effect from 1 February 1495 · verified

    Transatlantic shipment of enslaved people is a labour path of high weight.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Britannica — Columbus, Capitulaciones de Santa FeEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Cambridge Dürer and Northern Renaissance studiesCambridge University Press · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Official locator: Britannica — Columbus, enslavement at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christopher-Columbus (opens in a new tab) (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Independent locator: Cambridge studies neighbourhood on 1490s slave shipments at https://www.cambridge.org/core/ (opens in a new tab) (Cambridge University Press). Official carrier: Britannica — Columbus, enslavement (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christopher-Columbus (opens in a new tab); Encyclopaedia Britannica). Independent carrier: Cambridge studies neighbourhood on 1490s slave shipments (https://www.cambridge.org/core/ (opens in a new tab); Cambridge University Press).

Established: a sourced public record of Shipments of enslaved Taíno to Spain in the mid-1490s are dated unfree-labour instruments under 1495-02-01 for Christopher Columbus. Established: a sourced public record of Shipments of enslaved Taíno to Spain in the mid-1490s are dated unfree-labour instruments under 1495-02-01.

Shared responsibility is part of Shipments of enslaved Taíno to Spain in the mid-1490s are dated unfree-labour instruments. Naming Christopher Columbus does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1495-02-01 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.

If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorChristopher Columbus
  2. contributed toFactShipments of enslaved Taíno to Spain in the mid-1490s are dated unfree-labour instruments
  3. strengthensDriverLabour-Market Tightness

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Shipments of enslaved Taíno to Spain in the mid-1490s are dated unfree-labour instruments. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/col-slaves-1495

https://factrail.ai/facts/col-slaves-1495

Accessed 17 October 2026.

By the · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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