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Encomienda System
The encomienda was the core labor-tribute system of Spanish colonial America, whereby the crown 'entrusted' Indian communities on conquered lands to …
Timeline
- 1503–1535Island of Hispaniola · Island of HispaniolaAfter the 1503 decree, the encomienda was first carried out on Caribbean islands, with conquerors granted rights to Indian community labor, providing an institutional template for subsequent continental expansion.
- 1551–1560Lima · LimaAfter the 1542 New Laws (Leyes Nuevas) restricted hereditary encomiendas, in the 1550s the Viceroyalty of Peru and New Spain still relied heavily on encomiendas to organize agricultural and mining auxiliary labor and tribute collection, with colonial elites and the crown continually contesting the system's survival or abolition.
- 1600–1720New Spain · Viceroyalty of New SpainFrom the 17th century onward, the encomienda gradually gave way to repartimiento forced labor allocation, African slavery, and free labor markets, but the colonial tribute logic established by the encomienda long continued.
Sources
- The Encomienda in New Spain: The Beginning of Spanish Mexico — Lesley Byrd Simpson (1950)
- Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America, 1492-1830 — J. H. Elliott (2006)