1. Encomienda System

2. Origins of the System Forced labor common in Western Europe Means of:
providing a Spaniard a portion of land
Restricted property rights over a certain # of Indians
Became entrenched in South and Central America

3. Religion Spaniards used religion to justify system
God’s will to indoctrinate natives
Law of Burgos: any encomendero with more than fifty Natives had to educate one boy in writing and religious doctrine

4. Belief in Incompetence
Savage, incompetent people
Unable to live a Christian life and conduct money/trade
Believed they needed to be clothed, educated, & taught about God
Otherwise, would ruin New Spain’s economy

5. Responsibility of Encomenderos
Ferdinand and Isabella: issued an order
Forbade mistreatment of the natives
Granted right to persuade (religion)
Granted natives for 2-3 years at a time
Encomenderos:
Pay natives for their work
Supply with living provisions

6. Source of Immediate Revenue
Conquistadors ignored commands
Wanted to own land without doing work
Worked long hours for little pay
Led to sharp decline in native population

7. Social Classes Viceroys: Peninsulares: head of a colony
Appointed by king
Peninsulares:
born in Spain
Only group that could become viceroys

8. Social Classes Continued
Creoles: native-born descendants of Spaniards
Mestizos: mixed Spanish and Native American heritage
Native Americans: treated as minors under the law