Encomienda System

Definition

The encomienda system was a labor system instituted by Spain in American colonies where settlers were granted land and given control over local indigenous people who were compelled to work for them in exchange for conversion to Christianity and protection.

Related terms

Conquistadors: Spanish explorers who conquered large areas of Central and South America for Spain after its discovery by Columbus.

Columbian Exchange: The widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases between Americas and Old World in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Repartimiento System: A colonial forced labor system imposed upon the indigenous population of Spanish America and the Philippines.