The History of Slavery

Slavery has been a phenomenon throughout history. Up until about 1500, there was no association between the color of one's skin and one's capability for servitude for slavery. This seems to come about as a result of a variety of contingent factors including the role of infectious diseases like malaria and yellow fever. Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas in 1492. The very same year that the Spanish monarchs Isabel and Fernando defeated the Emirate of Grenada and finally reconquered the Iberian peninsula.