In 1537, Pope Paul III declared in a Papal Bull that American Indians were human.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by multiple independent sources including the original bull text (Sublimis Deus) and secondary sources (NLM, Wikipedia) that consistently describe Paul III's 1537 declaration affirming the humanity and rationality of indigenous Americans. [cascade flags: wikipedia_dropped_other_sources_exist | tier=silver indep_score=0.925 clusters=2 claim_tier=notable]
Sources
- Books: Beyond Clovis - Archaeology Magazine Archive (seed:history_and_archaeology)
- https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/185.html (corroboration)
- https://catholiclibrary.org/library/view?docId=Magisterium-EN/755ece29-57aa-4508-9a09-772c0d7d4a16.html&chunk.id=0000001 (corroboration)