Life in Encomienda

The spread of Catholicism was the stated goal of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, but the Spanish also wanted to profit from their new territories. Once the treasures of Indigenous civilizations were looted, colonists turned to mining and plantation farming to make their fortunes, and they needed to find cheap labor to maximize their profits. In her early instructions for the governance of the colonies, Queen Isabella I of Spain required all Indigenous people to pay tribute to the crown or its representatives. The encomienda system was created as a result of this directive.

In this system, encomenderos were awarded the control of all the Indigenous people who lived in a defined territory and did not convert to Christianity. This power was usually awarded in recognition of special services to the crown. For example, as recognition for his conquest of the Aztec Empire, conquistador Hernán Cortés was awarded an encomienda territory that included 115,000 Indigenous inhabitants. Hernán’s power over the Indigenous people in his territory was practically absolute. He could demand tribute in the form of crops or currency. He could force them to construct forts and towns and work the mines and plantations. He could sexually exploit the women, and even sell the people who worked for him to other encomenderos. The horrors of life on the encomiendas would eventually spark outrage back in Spain.

Bartholomé de las Casas first arrived in the Americas in 1502. He was part of one of the early waves of the Spanish invasion. Bartholomé was rewarded with an encomienda for his services to the crown. Over time, he grew horrified by the outrageous abuses suffered by Indigenous people under the encomienda system. In 1515 he gave up his own encomienda and began a campaign to end the system. This illustration comes from A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, Bartholomé’s firsthand account of the abuses he witnessed. Published in 1542, the illustrations were intended to shock readers. 

This illustration centers the suffering of women and children. It also hints at the sexual exploitation Indigenous women experienced at the hands of their enslavers.

Bartholomé’s work outraged readers in Spain and prompted the Spanish government to pass the New Laws in 1542. The New Laws aimed to free all Indigenous people from the encomienda system within a generation. This was not a definitive end to the exploitation of Indigenous people in the Spanish colonies, but it was an important step in addressing their oppression.

• Catholicism: A Christian religion that is led by the pope in Rome.
• conquistador: The name for the Spanish or Portuguese military leaders who conquered Central and South America in the 1500s.
• encomenderos: The name for people who controlled encomiendas.
• encomienda: A grant by the Spanish king or queen that allowed a person to demand tribute and forced labor from the Indigenous people in a defined territory.
• tribute: Payment made to a ruler.

• APUSH Connection: 1.5 Labor, Slavery, and Caste in the Spanish Colonial System
• Include this image in a lesson about Christopher Columbus and the Spanish colonization of the Americas. This image illustrates the devastating effects colonization had on the local Indigenous population.
• This image was created as part of a campaign to end the encomienda system. Ask students to write a letter to King Charles V of Spain describin