Table of Contents
What was La encomienda system?
The encomienda system is a labor system established by the Spanish Crown in the 1500s. This new system rewarded Spanish explorers, conquistadors, and military men with land in the New World.
What was the purpose of the encomienda?
What was the goal and purpose of the Encomienda system and why didn’t it work? The goal was to enslave Native Americans and the purpose was to use the slaves as a labor source. It didn’t work because the Native Americans knew the land and could escape easily. they also were not immune to the diseases and died.
What was La encomienda in Puerto Rico?
The encomienda system, a version of the European feudal trusteeship labor institution, reduced the Spanish-conquered American indigenous populations to a corvée (forced labor) class subject to the Conquistadors. In Puerto Rico, the Taíno primarily worked in the gold mines.
What is the difference between La encomienda and slavery?
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.
Why did the Spanish introduce the encomienda?
In the early 16th century, the Spanish crown set up the encomienda system in the Americas to divide up the American Indian labor force in order to aid the development of their mining ecomony. The encomendero provided the laborers protection from warring tribes, and teachings in the Catholic faith.
What was the basic principle of an encomienda?
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. Indigenous leaders were charged with mobilizing the assessed tribute and labor.
Was the Encomienda system successful?
The Spanish colonists abused the encomienda system, essentially rendering it a system of slave labor. The attempt failed, as encomenderos ignored the laws and revolted against any attempt to weaken their power of the their laborers.