Part 2/10:
Christopher Columbus arrived in Hispaniola in 1492, bringing with him severe consequences for the native population. Initially, the island was inhabited by a significant number of indigenous people—between 100,000 and 8 million. However, by 1548, less than 500 remained due to a combination of Spanish brutality, disease, and forced labor stemming from the search for gold, which was discovered in the early 1500s. The Spanish colonizers, facing a labor shortage due to the drastic decrease in the indigenous population, began importing African slaves, who would eventually form the majority of the labor force.