In order to encourage Spanish emigration to the Americas, Bishop Bartolomeo de las Casas, conquistador, persuades the Spanish Crown to allow each Spanish settler to import 12 enslaved Africans to the Americas; this is the formal beginning of the Atlantic slave trade; when Bishop las Casas dies in 1566, he leaves behind a book, History of the Indies, that remains unpublished for over 300 years; in the book, the Bishop expresses regret over his decision to enslave Africans.