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Mita Labor Draft System

Type Object Region Andes Time c. 1400–1824

Derived from the Inca mit'a tradition of rotating corvée labor by community, the Spanish colonial authorities reshaped it in the 16th century into a …

Timeline

  1. 1400–1532Cusco · CuscoThe Inca Empire conscripted corvée labor by community for road building, army grain transport, and temple construction; after the conquest, Spanish authorities kept the name mit'a while gradually stripping away its reciprocal and religious content.
  2. 1561–1570Lima · LimaUnder Philip II, the Royal Audiencia of Lima and the viceregal government undertook to organize Andean labor obligations; officials consulted Inca tribute records to discuss how to assign quotas for mining and public works to each province, laying the groundwork for the institutionalized colonial mit'a.
  3. 1569–1581Viceroyalty of Peru · Viceroyalty of PeruToledo carried out large-scale tribute censuses (visitas), assigning Andean communities to a rotation system in mining districts such as Potosí at a rate of one-seventh of male laborers, and regulating labor terms, en-route provisions, and cacique responsibilities, forming the core operating framework of the colonial mit'a.
  4. 1565–1650Potosí · PotosíMita laborers from the provinces of Peru, the Bolivian highlands, and northern Chile were sent to the Cerro Rico silver mines; combined with mercury amalgamation refining, the colonial mit'a became the main manpower source for Spanish American silver exports in the 16th–17th centuries.

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