The encomienda was a system where Spanish adventurers and settlers were granted the legal right to extract forced labour from indigenous tribal chiefs in the Americas colonies of the Spanish Empire. In return, the Europeans were expected to give military protection to the labourers and offer them the opportunity to be converted to Christianity by funding a parish priest.
More about: EncomiendaDefinition
Timeline
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1502The encomienda system is first applied to the Americas on the island of Hispaniola.
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1503The use of the system of encomienda in the Spanish Empire receives approval from the Spanish monarchy.
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1512The Laws of Burgos set out how indigenous peoples should be treated within the Spanish Empire.
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1522Bartolomé de Las Casas writes a graphic description of the Spanish colonial encomienda system in his "A Very Brief Recital of the Destruction of the Indies".
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1542The New Laws unsuccessfully attempt to reduce the application of the encomienda system in the Spanish Empire.
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1573Philip II of Spain prohibits the application of the encomienda system in any new territories of the Spanish Empire.
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c. 1700The encomienda system goes into decline in most parts of the Spanish Empire.
