when was the encomienda system abolished

The encomienda system was a slavery system except that the enslaved could not be sold off the land. C. H. Haring, The Spanish Empire in America (1947). [4] In many cases natives were forced to do hard labour and subjected to extreme punishment and death if they resisted. 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. Eventually, the encomienda system was replaced by the repartimiento system, but it was not abolished until the late 18th century. The encomiendas became very corrupt and harsh. 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. Fuente, Alejandro de la. After a major Crown reform in 1542, known as the New Laws, encomendero families were restricted to holding the grant for two generations. The crown also appointed local magistrates, called corregidores de indios, as its representatives to mediate the relations between encomenderos, non-encomendero settlers, and the natives. By the time the new laws were passed, in 1542, the Spanish crown had acknowledged their inability to control and properly ensure compliance of traditional laws overseas, so they granted to Native Americans specific protections not even Spaniards had, such as the prohibition of enslaving them even in the case of crime or war. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. During the spread of Spanish colonies, Spain had few serious rivals in the Americas. Encomenderos were those who were under the encomienda system. [8] Like the encomienda, the new repartimiento did not include the attribution of land to anyone, rather only the allotment of native workers. Las Casas wrote extensively about his life in Hispaniola and in Cuba, including the treatment of indigenous people. The first grantees of the encomienda system, called encomenderos, were usually conquerors who received these grants of labour by virtue of participation in a successful conquest. One clause of the latter abolished the encomienda at the death of the holder. . The grant of an encomienda gave the grantee, the encomendero, the right to collect tribute from a community of indigenous . ." The chattel slavery as practiced in the Americas was slavery at its worst. Retrieved February 23, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/encomienda. 13 US Colonies History & Influences | Who Ruled the 13 Colonies? 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. Pizarro's Conquest & the Inca Civil War | Who Conquered the Inca Empire? Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. The receiver of the grant, the encomendero, could exact tribute from the Indios in gold, in kind, or in labour and was required to protect them and instruct them in the Christian faith. The priest of Hispaniola and former encomendero Bartolom de las Casas underwent a profound conversion after seeing the abuse of the native people. This implied that enslaving them was illegal except under very specific conditions. It also swiftly led to abuses: encomenderos made unreasonable demands of the Native Peruvians who lived on their lands, working them excessively or demanding tribute of crops that could not be grown on the land. 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. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/encomienda. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Slaves escaping to Florida from the colony of Georgia were freed by Carlos II's proclamation November 7, 1693 if . Bartolome de las Casas: Destruction of the Amerindians, Las Casas, Valladolid Debate & Converting the New World, The Pueblo Revolt of 1680: Lesson for Kids. However, in Peru and New Spain the encomienda institution lasted much longer. 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. An encomienda was booty given to a Spaniard who conquered a Moorish province. 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. The encomienda was first established in Spain following the Christian conquest of Moorish territories (known to Christians as the Reconquista), and it was applied on a much larger scale during the Spanish colonization of the Americas and the Spanish Philippines. 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]. One chief source of abuse, the encomienda system, was not abolished until the end of the 18th century. . Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. Soldiers were fed and perhaps armed by their leaders but not paid. Encomienda (roughly translated: trustee) was a formal system of forced labor in Spanish colonies in Latin America and the Philippines, intended to encourage conquest and colonization. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. Many were literally worked to death. That grant of labor accompanied a grant of land use. "[17] The encomienda system was ended legally in 1720, when the crown attempted to abolish the institution. In Puerto Rico, the Tano primarily worked in the gold mines. Some even became silent partners with merchants involved in lucrative import and export activities. Recipients of land were required to Christianize Muslim and Jewish residents. Their grants also gave them a near monopoly over native labor. Spain The word encomienda comes from the Spanish word encomendar, meaning to entrust. In the Antilles the institution was firmly established under Governor Nicols de Ovbando. To the conquistadors and settlers, the encomiendas were nothing less than their fair and just reward for the risks they had taken during the conquest. - 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. Copy. A royal supplement had to be paid to support the Philippine colony, which was a drain on Spanish finances. In Bolivia and Peru, revolutions and influential leaders helped to eliminate the hacienda system from these countries. It also allowed the establishment of encomiendas, since the encomienda bond was a right reserved to full subjects to the crown. The Spanish crown still steadfastly refused to grant encomiendas in perpetuity, however, so slowly these lands reverted to the crown. The son of a merchant who would accompany Christopher Columbus on his second voyage and, PUEBLO REVOLT. Encomiendo did not break up families. In time, royal officials made such grants with conditions: that the encomenderos marry, live in a nearby town, Christianize the natives, and protect and treat them benevolently. Mira Caballos, Esteban. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. Both were conceived of as temporary so that the Spanish Crown retained ultimate sovereignty in the colonies. Where was the Encomienda system used? In reality, the . However, during this time gold was scarce.[9]. Many priests and Catholic brothers were appalled at the treatment of indigenous people under the encomienda system. Encomienda system: A labor system in which the Spanish crown authorized Spaniards, known as encomenderos, to enslave native people to farm and mine in the Americas. However, the owners of these parcels depended on the repartimiento or mita (rotating draft of forced Indian labor) system that had been instituted after the crown prohibited the use of free personal services by the encomendero around the middle of the sixteenth century. Bogot: Instituto Colombiano de Cultura Hispnica, 1995. Encomienda, the right to control the labor of and collect tribute from an Indian community, granted to subjects, especially the first conquerors and their descendants, as a reward for service to the Spanish crown. Labor service officially granted by the Crown was only for a few days or weeks each year. 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, the system was abolished in 1917 after the Mexican revolution of 1911. [9] The encomienda established a system similar to a feudal relationship, in which military protection was traded for certain tributes or by specific work. Best Answer. The lands were run by cruel overseers and Native chieftains who often demanded extra tribute themselves, making the lives of the Indigenous people even more miserable. These extra protections were an attempt to avoid the proliferation of irregular claims to slavery. . Charles V felt it prudent to suspend or repeal the most hated aspects of the New Laws. In return the encomendero promised to settle down and found a family in the nearest Spanish town, or villa; to protect the Indians; and to arrange for their conversion to the Roman Catholic faith. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. o In return, the encomendero had to protect the natives, ensure their conversion to Christianity, and . Francisco Pizarro began a long and bloody crusade to subjugate Peru in 1532 and employed grants of encomienda as a reward to his followers to keep the campaign going until its completion in 1572. Encomenderos were in the habit of resisting limits, and they opposed the New Laws. It does not, however, amount to a policy of ethnocide through genocide. Guamn Poma de Ayala, Felipe. They also were empowered to grant lands further afield. Critics of colonial powers accuse them of ethnocide in the Americas. The Safavid Empire: Creation, Rulers, Characteristics & Shi'ism. The encomienda system was ended legally in 1720, when the crown attempted to abolish the institution. Identify the key characteristics of the repartimiento system. In 1501 Isabella I of Castile declared Native Americans as subjects to the Crown, and so, as Castilians and legal equals to Spanish Castilians. The northernmost extent of the encomienda system was in what is known now as the US state of New Mexico, and the southernmost extent was the Chiloe Islands of Chile. In other words, although the encomiendas were phased out eventually by the crown, the lot of the Indigenous people did not improve. One provision of the latter abolished encomiendas at the death of the current holder. 2 (April 1967), 89103. DSST Western Europe Since 1945: Study Guide & Test Prep, Western Europe Since 1945: Certificate Program, CLEP Western Civilization II: Study Guide & Test Prep, Western Civilization From 1648 to Today: Certificate Program, Western Civilization 1648 to the Present: Help and Review, Western Civilization Since 1648: Homework Help Resource, ACCESS World History: Online Textbook Help, History 100: Western Civilization from Prehistory to Post-WWII, CSET English Subtests I & III (105 & 107): Practice & Study Guide, ILTS Social Science - History (246): Test Practice and Study Guide, Create an account to start this course today. The encomienda was designed to meet the needs of the American colonies early mining economy. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). Encomienda was brought to Spanish colonies by settlers who came to Hispaniola with Christopher Columbus. . All rights reserved. In 1519, Velazquez commissioned Hernan Cortez to go to what would soon become New Spain. Encomiendas have often been characterized by the geographical displacement of the enslaved and breakup of communities and family units, but in New Spain, the encomienda ruled the free vassals of the crown through existing community hierarchies, and the natives remained in their settlements with their families. In 1538, Emperor Charles V, realizing the seriousness of the Tano revolt, changed the laws governing the treatment of people labouring in the encomiendas. Furthermore, anyone who abused Indigenous people or who had participated in the conquistador civil wars could lose their encomiendas. The encomienda system played a different role in the Philippines than in the Americas. This system was fundamental to the economics of early Spanish colonialism. Slavery takes several forms. Although the original intent of the encomienda was to reduce the abuses of forced labour (repartimiento) employed shortly after Europeans 15th-century discovery of the New World, in practice it became a form of enslavement. The Spanish crown was in a tough spot: the "royal fifth," or 20% tax on conquests and mining in the New World, was fueling the expansion of the Spanish Empire. 16 chapters | Pizarro defeated Viceroy Nez, who was killed in battle, and basically ruled Peru for two years before another royalist army defeated him; Pizarro was captured and executed. Updates? She has an M.A in instructional education. Joint-Stock Company Examples & History | What is a Joint-Stock Company? Slaves have few legal protections. Like the encomenderos, many individuals who received land grants were given parcels from among those that had been abandoned by Indians because of either death or flight. Native Americans were also enslaved in Florida by the encomienda system. [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). The encomenderos did not own the land on which the natives lived. Initially, the natives labored without limit, benefit, or tenure. An error occurred trying to load this video. [26], In most of the Spanish domains acquired in the 16th century the encomienda phenomenon lasted only a few decades. Dominican priests played an important role in the movement to abolish it . The New Laws removed all hope of perpetuity being granted. Conquistadors were fortune hunters granted authority by the Spanish Crown to establish colonies. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture. What was the encomienda system? In Mexico, for instance, it was not until the constitutional reform after the Mexican Revolution that the encomienda system was abolished. Mit'a was effectively a form of tribute to the Inca government in the form of labor, i.e. The spanish monarchy abolished the encomienda system because? Adoption of an encomienda system of labor and tribute in Spanish colonies was expected under any circumstances. He argues that the Spanish unwittingly carried these diseases to the New World.[40]. Encomenderos ignored the terms of the grant and demanded as much labor as could be had. The Spanish monarchs abolished the encomienda system when they realized how cruel and abusive it was. (February 23, 2023). In 1550, Spain abolished the encomienda system and replaced it with a new repartimiento system. a system in which land was distributed to the native people. . The New Laws abolished Indian slavery and also ended the encomienda system. The encomienda system (in theory) was a feudal-like system where Spaniards would offer protection and education to the native populations in exchange for labor and money/gifts. Along with those lands came the power to exact tribute. ." They screened applicants for formal citizen status in the town and gave out house lots and suburban lands for kitchen gardens and orchards. 3 vols. The owners of the encomiendas were not supposed to ever visit the encomienda lands: this was supposed to cut down on abuses. As legally defined in 1503, an encomienda (from Spanish encomendar, to entrust) consisted of a grant by the crown to a conquistador, a soldier, an official, or others of a specified number of Indios (Native Americans and, later, Filipinos) living in a particular area. In the Americas, the Crown portion amounted to 20% of the production of a colony; the system was an important money-making proposition. Under the encomienda system, prominent Spaniards were entrusted with Native Peruvian communities. The Crown granted the use of land to encomenderos, but not ownership. . As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 88,000 Raphael Lemkin's History of Genocide and Colonialism, Holocaust Memorial Museum, 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, Timeline of abolition of slavery and serfdom, Marriage of enslaved people (United States), Population history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Historiography of Colonial Spanish America, "A History of the Mexican-American People", "Blasco Nez Vela Cronologa histrica", "La encomienda en hispanoamrica colonial", "La rebelin indgena de 1712: los tributarios de Chilo contra la encomienda", https://www.ushmm.org/confront-genocide/speakers-and-events/all-speakers-and-events/raphael-lemkin-history-of-genocide-and-colonialism, "The new book 'The Other Slavery' will make you rethink American history", "Encomienda, Hacienda, and Corregimiento in Spanish America: A Structural Analysis", Spain's American Colonies and the Encomienda System, Independence of Spanish continental Americas, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, northernmost France, Colonial universities in Hispanic America, Law of coartacin (which allowed slaves to buy their freedom, and that of others), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Encomienda&oldid=1142735044, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from July 2022, Articles with dead external links from December 2019, Articles with permanently dead external links, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2023, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Chamberlain, Robert S., "Simpson's the Encomienda in New Spain and Recent Encomienda Studies", This page was last edited on 4 March 2023, at 02:28. Journey to the New World. [35], Yale University's genocide studies program supports this view regarding abuses in Hispaniola. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. The encomienda system amounted to the practice of a spoils system. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/spains-american-colonies-encomienda-system-2136545. How did the encomienda system work? Some of the encomenderos managed to secure title-deeds to certain lands: unlike the encomiendas, these could be passed down from one generation to the next. 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. Although there were never enough such grants to reward all those who felt they deserved one, the encomienda proved a useful institution, from the crown's point of view, in the first two or three decades after the discovery and conquest of the New World kingdoms of Mexico and Peru. a corve. After the Spanish established a colony in the Rio Grande valley in 1598, they seized Indian land and crops and forced Indians to labor, In its most general sense, this word means "estate" or "all worldly possessions of an individual." Encyclopedia.com. 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. The colonial elite was livid with rage when the provisions of the New Laws became known. [33][citation needed] Economic historian Timothy J. Yeager argued the encomienda was deadlier than conventional slavery because of an individual labourer's life being disposable in the face of simply being replaced with a labourer from the same plot of land. The New Laws were a series of royal ordinances designed to halt the abuses of the encomienda system, particularly in Peru. Christopher Minster, Ph.D., is a professor at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. 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. The encomienda system was one of the many horrors inflicted on the Indigenous people of the New World during the conquest and colonial eras. The system of encomiendas was aided by the crown's organizing the indigenous into small harbors known as reducciones, with the intent of establishing new towns and populations. "Slave Resistance in the Spanish Caribbean in the Mid-1790s," in. [8] As the number of natives declined and mining activities were replaced by agricultural activities in the seventeenth century, the hacienda, or large landed estates in which labourers were directly employed by the hacienda owners (hacendados), arose because land ownership became more profitable than acquisition of forced labour. An encomienda was a royal grant to collect tribute in the form of goods or labor. ", Johnson, Lyman L. "A Lack of Legitimate Obedience and Respect: Slaves and Their Masters in the Courts of Late Colonial Buenos Aires,". Spoils of war were crucial during the Crusades and the Reconquista (reconquest) in Iberia (see below). Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Christianization was also a feature of encomienda in Spanish colonies. [28] In the rest of Chile it was abolished in 1789, and in the whole Spanish empire in 1791. Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture. Encomenderos were required to provide protection and religious and cultural education to indigenous people under their control, a requirement often neglected. Slaves could be sold, and their families would break. Encomienda, familia y negocios en Charcas colonial (Bolivia): Los encomenderos de La Plata, 15501600. The encomienda system did not grant people land, but it indirectly aided in the settlers' acquisition of land. [5] However, Queen Isabella I of Castile forbade slavery of the native population and deemed the indigenous to be "free vassals of the crown". Tindall, George Brown & David E. Shi (1984). . Started in 1529 and ended in 1873. or when did it Slaves are property. [32], Raphael Lemkin (coiner of the term genocide) considered Spain's abuses of the native population of the Americas to constitute cultural and even outright genocide, including the abuses of the encomienda system. The system did, however, result in loss of life and freedom, which was similar to the loss under chattel slavery and cruelty on a historic scale. The goal of encomienda was, at least initially, to generate portable wealth. Mistreated by their supposed protectors and exposed to European diseases (such as smallpox, and measles) to which they had no immunity, the Indians died in large numbers. This right was formally protected by the crown of Castile because the rights of administration in the New World belonged to this crown and not to the Catholic monarchs as a whole.[10]. He participated in slave raids and kept slaves. Later it was adopted to the mining economy of Peru and Upper Peru. Get unlimited access to over 88,000 lessons. The repartimiento was an attempt "to reduce the abuses of forced labour". In 1542, Charles V of Spain finally listened to them and passed the so-called "New Laws.". [7][pageneeded], The heart of encomienda and encomendero lies in the Spanish verb encomendar, "to entrust". To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. In reality though, the declaration of equality did not end the . In Latin America the word is used most commonly as, Enciso, Martn Fernndez de (c. 1470c. The Indigenous people were supposed to provide tribute, in the form of gold or silver, crops, and foodstuffs, animals such as pigs or llamas or anything else the land produced. During the first years of the colonial era, Native Peruvians died by the hundreds of thousands. The encomenderos were then required to pay remaining encomienda laborers for their work. In reality, tribute and labor demands went well beyond established limits.

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