Encomienda or Slavery? The Spanish Crown's Choice of Labor Organization in Sixteenth-Century Spanish America

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from Yeager's discussion of the encomienda versus slavery in 16th-century Spanish America.

Encomienda

A Crown-granted labor system in which encomenderos receive restricted rights to Indian labor in exchange for protection and Catholic instruction; Indians provide tribute or labor; not owned, and with restricted inheritance, trading, and relocation.

Encomendero

The Spaniard who holds an encomienda and can extract labor or tribute from Indians under Crown grant; does not own Indians or land.

Inheritance restrictions (encomienda)

Encomiendas could not be passed to heirs; they revert to the Crown after the second generation, limiting wealth accumulation and increasing Crown control.

Trading restrictions (encomienda)

Encomenderos could not trade or rent Indian labor to other Spaniards; labor mobility is constrained, reducing economies of scale.

Relocation restrictions (encomienda)

Indians could not be relocated beyond their proximate geographic area; labor remains locally fixed rather than moved to higher-productivity regions.

Paradox of the encomienda

Despite lowering Crown revenue, the Crown preferred the encomienda because it strengthened rule and reflected an ideological bias against slavery.

Crown's objectives in the New World

Expand and defend the Spanish empire, spread Christianity, and extract wealth from colonies using a cost-minimizing labor arrangement.

Conquest strategy as share contract

The Crown used share contracts with caudillos (leaders of conquest) rather than wage or fixed rent contracts to secure efficient incentives and reduce direct financing needs.

Caudillo

Leader of a conquest granted rights to a geographic area; responsible for raising capital and organizing labor within Crown-approved bounds.

Factory system (Brazil)

Portuguese alternative: large coastal trading posts exchanging European goods for Brazilian dyewood; mutual gains from trade; different model from Spain's encomienda.

New Laws of 1542

Spanish law that abolished slavery of Indians, reflecting evolving attitudes toward native labor in the early colonial period.

Indentured servitude (England)

Labor system in which servants work for a fixed period; used in English colonies; temporary solution with Indians unlikely to stay after terms end.

Centralist Castilian tradition

Unification of Castile and Aragón created centralized institutions; transplantation to the Americas limited economic/political freedom and contributed to long-run stagnation.

North's institutional theory (Institutions)

Institutions determine costs of transactions, incentives, and potential for endogenous technological progress; explains differing growth paths between the US and Latin America.

Security motive in the encomienda

Property-right restrictions and control mechanisms embedded in the encomienda strengthened Crown security over New World assets.

Ideological bias against slavery

The Crown held a general belief that natives should be free, which biased its preference toward encomienda over slavery, independent of Church pressure.

Ownership and land under encomienda

Encomenderos held rights to labor, not land; Indians were not owned and could not be bought or sold; land remained with the Crown.

African slavery vs. Indian rents

Relying solely on African slavery would forgo rents from Indian labor; the Crown weighed combinations of labor systems to maximize rents and control.