Bartholomé de Las Casas was the son of a Spanish merchant and the first priest to be ordained in the Americas. He traveled to Hispaniola in 1502 along with the first enslaved Africans to be transported to the continent. In Las Casas’ Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, he advocated for easing the suffering of the indigenous people of the Americas by importing more enslaved Africans, a recommendation he eventually came to regret.