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What is an example of encomienda system?
For example, conquistador Hernán Cortés was awarded an encomienda territory that included 115,000 Native inhabitants. Cortés’s power over his people was absolute. He could demand tribute in the form of crops or currency. He could force them to construct forts and towns, or work the mines or plantations.
What was the encomienda supposed to be?
The encomienda system was a labor system instituted by the Spanish crown in the American colonies. In this system, a Spanish encomendero was granted a number of native laborers who would pay tributes to him in exchange for his protection.
What were the characteristics of encomienda?
Name three characteristics of the encomienda system. -Natives paid tribute to the conquistadors. -Conquistadors became trustees of the land. -Indigenous population got to keep their lands.
What was encomienda like in reality?
In exchange for the stolen labor of Indigenous people and tribute, the Spanish lord would provide protection and education. In reality, however, the encomienda system was thinly-masked enslavement and led to some of the worst horrors of the colonial era.
Is slavery an encomienda?
The encomienda differed from slavery in that the Crown imposed inheritance, trading, and relocation restrictions on encomenderos. The Crown opted for the encomienda, however, to secure its rule and to satisfy an ideological bias against slavery.
What is encomienda explain?
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. …
What ended encomienda?
In 1503, the crown began to formally grant encomiendas to conquistadors and officials as rewards for service to the crown. To the crown he said, “I obey crown authority but do not comply with this order.” The encomienda system was ended legally in 1720, when the crown attempted to abolish the institution.
Was the encomienda system good or bad?
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. In reality, the encomienda system was a horrible abuse of power and essentially slavery.
How was the encomienda system like slavery?
Encomiendas devolved from their original Iberian form into a form of “communal” slavery. In the encomienda, the Spanish Crown granted a person a specified number of natives from a specific community but did not dictate which individuals in the community would have to provide their labor.
Why is encomienda bad?
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. In reality, the encomienda system was a horrible abuse of power and essentially slavery. Negatives include abuse, forced labor, and punishment.
How many Encomiendas were there?
Hernán Cortés granted the first encomiendas in Mexico, and Francisco Pizarro did so in Peru. In the sixteenth century, encomiendas ranged in size from as many as 23,000 heads of households (Cortés’s personal encomienda) to a few hundred in some areas of Central America and Peru.
How was encomienda justified?
How was the Encomienda system justified by the Spanish? The Spanish justified their position of ‘enslaving’ the Indians in a variety of ways. Basically, if the Indian resisted Spanish entry into their lands, then the Spanish could enslave them justly.
How did the encomienda system work in the Americas?
The encomienda system had been used in feudal Spain during the reconquest and had survived in some form ever since. In the Americas, the first encomiendas were handed out by Christopher Columbus in the Caribbean. Spanish conquistadors, settlers, priests, or colonial officials were given a repartimiento, or grant of land.
Where did the word encomienda come from in Spanish?
The word encomienda comes from the Spanish word encomendar, meaning “to entrust.”. The encomienda system had been used in feudal Spain during the reconquest and had survived in some form ever since. In the Americas, the first encomiendas were handed out by Christopher Columbus in the Caribbean.
What are the benefits of the encomienda plugin?
This little known plugin reveals the answer. Many historians point to the benefits of encomienda as stabilizing the local population in times of great upheaval.
Why did Spain give the encomiendas to the conquistadors?
A Troublesome System. The Spanish crown reluctantly approved the granting of encomiendas because it needed to reward the conquistadors and establish a system of governance in the newly-conquered territories, and the encomiendas were a quick-fix that killed both birds with one stone.