PARCELS IN THE NEW SPAIN: BACKGROUND, CHARACTERISTICS, TYPES - HISTORY - 2025

The encomiendas in New Spain were a legal system, used by the Spanish Crown, to define the status of the indigenous population in the colonies conquered in America. In 1505 it was legally defined as a grant consisting of a number of Indians, awarded by the Crown to a conqueror.

Although the original intention of the encomiendas was to reduce the abuses of forced labor that occurred during the repartimiento, in practice the result was a new form of slavery.

Bartolomé de Las Casas, missionary who defended the humanity of the indigenous people. Source: José and Vicente López de Eguídanos, via Wikimedia Commons.

Those who benefited from the encomiendas were called encomenderos. They demanded tribute from the Indians in the form of gold, spices, or labor. The encomenderos had to protect and instruct the indigenous population under their command in the Christian faith. The encomiendas were designed to meet the mining needs of the American colonies.

The encomienda system lost power as the indigenous population declined and as agriculture displaced mining activities in importance. In New Spain the hacienda system later replaced the encomiendas, although they were not officially abolished until the 18th century.

Divisions and encomiendas should not be confused in New Spain, as they are different concepts, although they were implemented almost simultaneously. The distribution, as the word indicates, only referred to the distribution of land, Indians or any benefit without any obligation. In the encomienda, the Spaniard in charge of Indians was obliged to take care of them and give them religious instruction.

Historical background

The origin of the parcels is not located in America. They had their first appearance in the Iberian peninsula, during the Reconquest movements in the 10th century. At that time the King was in charge of assigning the conquerors the ownership of the lands or people they were dominating, in exchange for protection.

Already in the New World, Cristóbal Colón, Francisco de Bobadilla, Nicolás Ovando and Diego Colón were in charge, on behalf of the Crown, of the same distribution. The birth of these initial divisions is located around the year 1496, and it was practiced with little assiduity.

Columbus used the repartimientos for three basic reasons. First, because he believed that the indigenous population was so abundant that doing so would not affect their interests; second, to avoid rebellions; and finally, to satisfy the conquerors.

In 1503 the divisions were legalized and the Indians were forced to work, but they were paid a salary so that they could maintain their status as free persons. These elements gave rise to what a couple of years later would begin to be called parcels.

Start of parcels

The change of name to "encomiendas" arises as an initiative of the Crown to satisfy the religious in New Spain, unhappy with the brutality of the distribution system. The name encomienda, furthermore, made it possible to emphasize that the responsibility was of the Indians with the encomenderos and in turn of the encomenderos with the Crown.

The first stages of the encomienda established that when the encomendero died, the Indians were at the disposal of the Crown. This changed so that indigenous people could be inherited.

In New Spain, once the process of conquering Tenochtitlán was completed, in 1521, the Spanish Crown had the need to establish measures to repopulate the conquered areas and to strengthen the colonial system.

Due to the high price of African slaves, and with the experience acquired during the occupation of the Antilles, the Spanish decided to apply the encomiendas, to satisfy the need for labor in crops and mines.

In 1550 there was a dispute between Bartolomé de Las Casas and Fray Juan de Sepúlveda. Bartolomé de Las Casas defended the humanity of the indigenous people based on Natural Law.

Therefore, the Indians could not continue to be enslaved. Sepúlveda maintained that certain groups were more suitable for forced labor, supporting the application of encomiendas.

Measures to control abuse

The Spanish Crown had several attempts to avoid the abuses that could be caused by the encomienda system. The Laws of Burgos were promulgated (between 1512 and 1513) and religious supervision was established, but the most important modification appeared with the New Laws in 1542.

The New Laws eliminated the delivery of new encomiendas and the succession of existing ones. This measure would allow the end of the encomiendas over time, but was opposed by the encomenderos. In the end, the encomiendas had to be maintained, although with some variations.

The encomiendas passed to be inherited for four generations and forced labor was replaced by the payment of taxes from the Indians to the Spanish crown.

In what is now known as New Mexico in the United States, Juan de Oñate awarded more than sixty encomiendas as a reward to his armies for military defense in the 1600s. These encomiendas did not survive the Indian rebellion in 1680.

Characteristics and types

There were several elements that characterized the encomiendas during their application in the colonial era of New Spain. To begin with, there was no land grant at any time, although the encomenderos enjoyed control of it.

The Spanish were not the owners of the Indians who were under their orders. The freedom of these individuals had to be respected, although this was not fully guaranteed.

To be an encomendero, at least two norms had to be met: first, swear loyalty to the King and defend him if necessary; then, give protection and education to the indigenous people. Certain groups could not access the encomiendas, as was the case of people under 25 years of age, the lower social classes such as mestizos and mulattos, and foreigners.

Only the Crown could determine who benefited from the encomiendas, establishing the number of Indians under its command and the time that this royalty should last.

In this way the Crown sought to pay the debt it owed to the conquerors for their participation in the establishment of the colonial regime, but also to satisfy its own needs and economic interests.

Finally, at the beginning the encomiendas did not have a hereditary character, but this was changed over the years by amendments from the Crown. The Indians could not be sold or rented.

There were two types of encomiendas in New Spain, which had to do with tribute and personal service respectively. The tribute consisted of financially supporting the encomendero and his family, since they were given products that they could commercialize such as metals, animals and corn, among others.

In addition, there was a type of encomiendas for personal service where the indigenous people carried out domestic work and helped with tasks that could include construction, agriculture or crafts.

Decline

The fight against the encomiendas began very early in the history of New Spain. Since the 16th century, missionaries complained about the conditions and mistreatment of indigenous peoples.

The decline of the indigenous population in New Spain and some decisions of the Spanish Crown (such as the New Laws) also led to the encomienda system beginning to disappear.

The encomiendas were present until the 18th century. By the end of the seventeenth century, it began to be replaced by another type of slavery, which had blacks from Africa as protagonists. On the other hand, the hacienda was acquiring value as an economic element as the parcels lost value.

Reductions and townships also took center stage. They first had the name of reductions and referred to groups of indigenous people who lived, with some autonomy, in a non-sedentary way and far from the Spanish. Then it changed to corregimientos and the figure of the Indian town mayor appeared.

Felipe V was in charge of promulgating the first measures to suppress the encomiendas. In 1701 it began by eliminating the encomiendas of the Spaniards who lived in Spain and could not defend the country or indoctrinate the Indians in their charge.

Six years later, the encomiendas of the encomenderos, which had less than fifty Indians, were eliminated. Until finally, in 1721 it was ordered to suppress the encomiendas without exceptions.

The Indians, between 18 and 50 years of age, also had to pay tribute to the Crown when they were already considered free. Some groups of Indians were exempted from these measures, as was the case with women, the Yanaconas in Peru or the Tlaxcala Indians in Mexico.

References

1. Lipset, S., & Lakin, J. (2004). The democratic century. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
2. Pelozatto Reilly, M. (2016). The encomienda in colonial Latin America. Recovered from revistadehistoria.es
3. Rodriguez, J., & Patterson, O. (1999). Chronology of world slavery. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO.
4. Ruiz Medrano, E. (1991). Government and society in New Spain: second Hearing and Antonio de Mendoza. Zamora, Mich: Colegio de Michoacán.
5. Zubicoa Bayón, J. (2019). The encomiendas or divisions of Indians. Recovered from hispanidad.info