Settler labor demands drove colonial pressure for African slave importation.

Evidence

Bishop Sebastián Ramirez de Fuenleal reported in 1531 that the “entire population … of Espanola, San Juan and even Cuba are demanding that they should have negroes to mine gold” and produce crops. Las Casas led the charge for the historic passage in 1542 of the “New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians.” — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 61

Categorization

• XREF: Supports the reading-goal test: here a genuine reform law (New Laws protecting Indians) coexisted with deepened African enslavement — a case where ideas and policy interlock rather than ideas narrowly following policy.