Bartolomé de Las Casas published A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, a record of the mistreatment of American Indians in colonial Spanish America.

At one time a satellite state of the Mali Empire, Songhai asserted its independence in 1340 and became one of the key trading partners in the Trans-Saharan trade. In 1464, Sonni Ali declared himself emperor and went on to conquer much of the former Mali Empire, including the key trading city Timbuktu. From this position, Ali and his successors were ideally situated to begin redirecting trade away from Muslim partners to the Portuguese and other Europeans who offered greater profits by using much easier and speedier sea routes.

Muslims practice the religion of Islam, established by the prophet Mohammad in the early eighth century. Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam is monotheistic and traces its sacred origins to the biblical covenant between Abraham and Yahweh. According to Mohammad, God (Allah) spoke to him and the words became the Koran, the sacred text for Islam. Following Mohammad’s death in 632, the religion spread from the Arabian Peninsula to engulf all of the Greater Middle East, Anatolia, the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, and parts of Europe.

Pope Alexander VI (1431–1503), who was elected pope in 1492, issued the Inter caetera, which divided lands in the New World between Spain and Portugal.