Encomiendas

The encomienda (Spanish pronunciation: [eŋkoˈmjenda]) was a labor system, rewarding conquerors with the labor of particular groups of people. It was first established in Spain during the Roman period, but used also following the Christian reconquest of Muslim territory. It was applied on a much larger scale during the Spanish colonization of the Americas and the Philippines. Conquered peoples were considered vassals of the Spanish monarch and the award of an encomienda was a grant from the crown to a particular individual. In the conquest era of the sixteenth century, the grants were considered to be a monopoly on the labor of particular Indians, held in perpetuity by the grant holder, called the encomendero, and his descendants.

In the encomienda, the Spanish crown granted a person a specified number of natives from a specific community, with the indigenous leaders in charge of mobilizing the assessed tribute and labor. In turn, encomenderos were to take responsibility for instruction in the Christian faith, protection from warring tribes, suppressing rebellion against Spaniards, and protection against pirates, instruction in the Spanish language and development, and maintenance of infrastructure. In return, the natives would provide tributes in the form of metals, maize, wheat, pork or any other agricultural product. In the first decade of Spanish presence in the Caribbean, Spaniards divided up the natives, who in some cases were worked relentlessly.

With the ouster of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish crown sent a royal governor, Fray Nicolás de Ovando, who established the formal encomienda system. In many cases natives were forced to do hard labor and subjected to extreme punishment and death if they resisted. However, Queen Isabella of Castile had forbidden Indian slavery and deemed the indigenous "free vassals of the crown," allowing many natives and Spaniards to appeal to the Real Audiencias.

Encomiendas were often characterized by the geographical displacement of those enslaved and the breakup of several communities and family units, but the encomienda in Mexico functioned to rule these free vassals of the crown via existing community hierarchies, with the indigenous not forced permanently from their families, homes, and land.

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