The mining of precious metals and the production of cash crops were the focus of encomienda activity. However, in the most remote areas, encomiendas were often kept throughout the colonial period in complete defiance of the royal decree in order to populate these regions. Gonzalo Pizarro's supporters had urged him to declare himself King of Peru, but he refused: had he done so, Peru might have successfully split from Spain 300 years early. In Peru, colonists went into open revolt. The Crown granted the use of land to encomenderos, but not ownership. ThoughtCo. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The natives provided tributes in the form of metals, maize, wheat, pork, and other agricultural products. Columbus established the encomienda system after his arrival and settlement on the island of Hispaniola requiring the natives to pay tributes or face brutal punishments. In Mexico, for instance, it was not until the constitutional reform after the Mexican Revolution that the encomienda system was abolished. It started in 1833 and ended in 1920 in America. In Peru and New Spain, local conditions were more favorable, and they lasted considerably longer. Reading them today, the New Laws do not seem radical they provide for basic human rights such as the right to be paid for work and the right to not be unreasonably taxed. Harsh treatment of the natives and the catastrophic decline in their numbers due to disease, overwork, starvation, and flight caused the crown and Council of the Indies to reconsider the encomienda. In the New World, the Crown granted conquistadores as encomendero, which is the right to extract labour and tribute from natives who were under Spanish rule. [35], Yale University's genocide studies program supports this view regarding abuses in Hispaniola. Mira Caballos, Esteban. Instead, the conveyance consisted of native peoples, identified by their chiefs, put at the disposal of the encomendero or grantee to work in their homes or on public and private construction projects, and in their fields and mines. Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. After Spain conquered Mexico and Peru in the mid-1500s, the system was established on the mainland as well. | 8 Encomenderos, addressed as encomenderos feudatarios, had no peers at first. The Indigenous people could also be made to work for a certain amount of time, say on a sugarcane plantation or in a mine. Indigenous leaders were charged with mobilising the assessed tribute and labour. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995. The encomenderos there showed an inhuman indifference to the suffering of the families on their encomiendas. The King rescinded the most unpopular of the New Laws, fearing the loss of Peru. A Bishop and a Scholar Bartolome must have rejoiced, but he knew he faced a struggle as he returned to the New World . The encomienda was not officially abolished until the late 18th century. When the Crown attempted to implement the policy in Peru, shortly after the 1535 Spanish conquest, Spanish recipients rebelled against the Crown, killing the viceroy, Blasco Nez Vela. When the news of this situation and of the abuse of the institution reached Spain, the New Laws were passed to regulate and gradually abolish the system in America, as well as to reiterate the prohibition of enslaving Native Americans. Repartimiento - Wikipedia What was the encomienda system? [9] This system was a method of rewarding soldiers and moneymen who defeated the Moors. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. Conquistadors often came to rule conquered territory on behalf of the Crown. In 1550, the crown abolished the encomienda system, which had allowed the Spanish to seize Native Americans' lands and force their labor. 2 See answers Advertisement Mit'a - Wikipedia Jessica has taught junior high history and college seminar courses. [26], In most of the Spanish domains acquired in the 16th century the encomienda phenomenon lasted only a few decades. The conditions Las Casas protested were common throughout Spanish colonies and often drew criticism. Natives were paid wages. Heuman, Gad, and Trevor Graeme Burnard, eds. flashcard sets. - Mythology, Overview, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite's Mystical Theology, Mark Antony of Rome: Biography, Facts & Death, Dante Alighieri: Biography, Works & Quotes, Working Scholars Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community. The word encomienda comes from the Spanish word encomendar, meaning "to entrust." copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. Spanish Exploration and Conquest | US History I (AY Collection) Corrections? The resulting widespread protest throughout Spanish America along with a rebellion and civil war in Peru forced the crown to back down in the short run, but they also strengthened its resolve to break the power of the encomendero elite. The system was created in the Middle Ages and was pivotal to allow for the repopulation and protection of frontier land during the reconquista. The crown also actively prosecuted abuses of the encomienda system, through the Laws of Burgos (151213) and the New Laws of the Indies (1542). Their wealth, political power, influence, and prestige as conquerors and first settlers (later transferred to their descendants) made them almost omnipotent and, as such, independent of the wishes of the crown. Bartolome de las Casas: Destruction of the Amerindians, Las Casas, Valladolid Debate & Converting the New World, The Pueblo Revolt of 1680: Lesson for Kids. Throughout history, war was often financed through spoils. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/encomienda, "Encomienda Started in 1529 and ended in 1873. or when did it Castilian forces who, in 1492, overthrew Granada, the last Moorish kingdom in Iberia, were granted lands as a reward by the Crowns of Aragon and Castile. Under the Crown conception of encomienda, indigenous people were free Crown subjects. C. H. Haring, The Spanish Empire in America (1947). An alternative to encomienda was repartimiento (partition). The system was formally abolished in 1720, but had lost effectiveness much earlier. [18] Upon hearing this, the adelantado captured the caciques involved and had most of them hanged. Native people were being brutalized and oppressed under this system. The encomenderos put the Indians to work mining gold and silver; building houses, town halls, and churches; cultivating indigenous and imported crops; herding animals; and transporting goods. They invested revenues generated by their encomienda laborers in stock-raising enterprises. Immediately after the conquest, encomenderos were conquistadors themselves or their descendants. The New Laws removed all hope of perpetuity being granted. The encomienda system was one of the many horrors inflicted on the Indigenous people of the New World during the conquest and colonial eras. Encomenderos were required to provide protection and religious and cultural education to indigenous people under their control, a requirement often neglected. The encomienda was designed to meet the needs of the American colonies early mining economy. [15] Initially, the encomienda system was devised to meet the needs of the early agricultural economies in the Caribbean. Control of Indian labor became the basis of the fortunes of the encomendero elite, who became wealthy by selling provisions to arriving Spanish immigrants and by renting them stores and homes that had been built with the Indian labor they controlled. In certain areas, this quasi-feudal system persisted. It does not, however, amount to a policy of ethnocide through genocide. Retrieved February 23, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/encomienda. 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"Negro Slave Control and Resistance in Colonial Mexico, 1519-1650.". El indio antillano: Repartimiento, encomienda y esclavitud (14921542). With the major native empires in Mexico and Peru in ruins, the Spanish had to put a new system of government in place. [8], Philip II enacted a law on 11 June 1594 to establish the encomienda in the Philippines, where he made grants to the local nobles (principala). A royal supplement had to be paid to support the Philippine colony, which was a drain on Spanish finances. However, in Peru and New Spain the encomienda institution lasted much longer. In most Spanish colonies, encomienda ended within a few decades of its introduction. European Colonies in the Age of Exploration. Nueva crnica y buen gobierno. The encomienda system began in the early 16th century, and continued till the beginning of the 18th century in most parts of the New World. He did graduate study in linguistics at Indiana University, European and Latin American area studies at the U.S State Department. The Spanish Crown employed encomienda to encourage colonization. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/encomienda, "Encomienda The Spanish Crown aimed at converting indigenous people away from their own beliefs to Catholicism and to displace indigenous government with their governance. Chapter 1: A New World Flashcards | Quizlet In 1564, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, formerly the governor of Mexico City, established a colony at Cebu in the Philippines. In reality, Indigenous colonial subjects had no protection from their encomendero. Hernan Cortes, who conquered the Aztec Empire and ruled much of what is now Mexico, came from a family of noble rank but little wealth. Their wealth and their status as first-and second-generation conquerors gave them the leisure and respect that enabled them to exercise an early monopoly of the town councils. In the conquest era of the early sixteenth century, the grants were considered to be a monopoly on the labour of particular groups of indigenous peoples, held in perpetuity by the grant holder, called the encomendero; following the New Laws of 1542, upon the death of the encomendero, the encomienda ended and was replaced by the repartimiento.[1][2]. Francisco Pizarro, the second cousin to Cortes, began the conquest of Peru and helped destroy the Incan Empire; he was the illegitimate and possibly illiterate son of a military officer. ", Fuente, Alejandro de la. Relying on them to organize tributes simplified the process. He lobbied the King to abolish encomienda. The encomienda system amounted to the practice of a spoils system. o In return, the encomendero had to protect the natives, ensure their conversion to Christianity, and . The Spanish crown reluctantly approved the granting of encomiendas because it needed to reward the conquistadors and establish a system of governance in the newly-conquered territories, and the encomiendas were a quick-fix that killed both birds with one stone. The son of a merchant who would accompany Christopher Columbus on his second voyage and, PUEBLO REVOLT. They screened applicants for formal citizen status in the town and gave out house lots and suburban lands for kitchen gardens and orchards. The encomienda did not include a grant of land, but in practice the encomenderos gained control of lands inhabited by Indios and failed to fulfill their obligations to the indigenous population. However, such cases were relatively few in number. An encomienda was a royal grant to collect tribute in the form of goods or labor. Surez Romero. Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450, Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, Francisco de Toledo (1515-1584), the fifth Spanish viceroy of Peru, established his reputation in that office as one of the most talented and energet, Antonio de Mendoza (1490-1552) was a Spanish viceroy in Mexico and Peru who inaugurated the system of viceregal administration, which lasted nearly 3, Tribute An early dissenter against the system, and perhaps most influential, was Bartolome de las Casas. The encomienda was thereafter renewed (or not) on an individual basis, at the death of the previous encomienda holder; assigned a steep transfer tax; and gradually eliminated, except on the frontiers of the empire (e.g., Paraguay). One provision of the latter abolished encomiendas at the death of the current holder. a noble attempt to care for the native people. They saw the New Laws as the actions of an ungrateful king who, after all, had been sent 20% of Atahualpa's ransom. [36] Historian Andrs Resndez contends that enslavement in gold and silver mines was the primary reason why the Native American population of Hispaniola dropped so significantly, as the conditions that native peoples were subjected to under enslavement, from forced relocation to hours of hard labour, contributed to the spread of disease.