Spanish Colonization: The Encomienda System in the Americas
The encomienda was a characteristic institution of the Spanish colonization of America and the Philippines. It was established as a right granted by the King in favor of a Spanish subject (encomendero) with the aim of receiving tribute from the indigenous people. In return, the encomendero was responsible for the welfare of the indigenous population, including their spiritual and earthly well-being, ensuring their maintenance, protection, and Christian indoctrination.
However, there were abuses by the encomenderos, and the system resulted in forms of forced or free labor. In many cases, the payment of tribute in kind was replaced by working for the encomendero. The encomienda of Indians originated from an old medieval institution implemented during the Reconquista to protect mainland border inhabitants.
In America, this institution had to adapt to a very different situation, facing challenges and disputes not previously encountered in Spain. While the Spanish generally accepted that indigenous people were human beings, they were often defined as incapable, like children or the disabled, and not responsible for their actions. This was used to justify the argument that they needed to be “mandated” to the Spanish.
Some historians argue that encomenderos engaged in labor and sexual abuse of their charges, while others contend that such excesses were not widespread and that indigenous people had consensual sexual relations with the colonists. The indigenous tax in kind (which could include metals, clothing, or food such as corn, wheat, fish, or poultry) was collected by the chief of the indigenous community, who was responsible for delivering it to the encomendero. The encomendero was in contact with the indigenous community, but their place of residence was typically the city, a stronghold of the Spanish colonial system.
The encomienda was an institution that helped consolidate domination over conquered territories by organizing the indigenous population as forced labor in ways that benefited the Spanish crown. It was established by a royal decree on December 20, 1503. This system provided a way to reward Spaniards for their services and to ensure the establishment of a Spanish population in newly discovered and conquered lands. Initially, encomiendas were inherited; later, they were granted for a limited time.
The encomienda also served as a center for acculturation and compulsory evangelization. Indigenous people were grouped by encomenderos into settlements called “doctrines,” where they had to work and receive instruction in Christian doctrine, generally from religious members of various orders. The indigenous people were also responsible for the maintenance of the religious personnel.
Constant complaints about the abuse of natives by encomenderos and the demographic catastrophe of the indigenous population caused the encomienda to enter a crisis by the late seventeenth century, although in some places it survived into the eighteenth century. The encomienda was gradually replaced by a system of open slavery, involving people kidnapped in Africa and forcibly brought to America. Criticisms of this system by Bartolomé de Las Casas led monarchs to limit the actions of encomenderos, ultimately abolishing the encomienda of Indians in 1542 with the New Laws.