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42-510: With the New Laws of 1542, the repartimiento was instated to substitute the encomienda system that had come to be seen as abusive and promoting of unethical behavior. The Spanish Crown aimed to remove control of the indigenous population, now considered subjects of the Crown, from the hands of the encomenderos, who had become a politically influential and wealthy class, with the shift away from both

84-514: A few years, he had resettled about 1.4 million Indians into 840 communities, many of which were the nuclei of present-day cities, towns, and villages. Probably the most famous of the reductions were in the areas of present-day Paraguay and neighboring Argentina , Brazil , and Bolivia in the 17th and 18th centuries. These were created and governed by the Jesuit order of the Catholic Church. In

126-685: A rotational labor system from the Incan mit'a . The decline of rotational draft labor in New Spain paved the way for one of the first capitalist societies in the world as Amerindian laborers who left their pueblos de indios were landless and instead sold their labor to purchase food and housing. Peru did not experience this same development because the Amerindians remained landed for longer, having access to their own means of production. New Laws The New Laws ( Spanish : Leyes Nuevas ), also known as

168-476: A serious crime or some exceptional circumstances. Granting extra protection for Native Americans was an attempt by the crown to address its inability to monitor, from Spain, the legitimacy of the claims regarding reasons to enslave a person in the New World, and it acknowledged that false claims could be fabricated to enslave and exploit the native peoples. The introduction and corruption of the encomienda system

210-479: A similar draft labor system the Inca used also called mit'a . In New Spain, the collapse of indigenous populations from conquest and disease led to a shift from the encomienda system to pueblos de indios , as the encomienda system no longer made economic sense since there were not enough Amerindians remaining. They needed to consolidate labor, which they did in a process known as reducciones . The encomienda system

252-540: A weekly application for labor with the district magistrate or a special judge who is in charge of repartimiento labor. Adult males of the community whose turn it was to go were assembled by the jueces repartidores (the Amerindian governors of the pueblos de indios ) and given to the Spanish official who would move them to a different area to do whatever labor was needed. Legally, these systems were not allowed to interfere with

294-577: Is now considered to have been an alternative for outright slavery and a Castilian institution that did not work properly in America. The encomienda was a system that interchanged a person's work for military protection by a higher authority. It had been part of the Castilian legal system since the Reconquista. Given the limited size of the Crown's army, this system allowed nobles or warlords to trade protection for

336-734: The New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians , were issued on November 20, 1542, by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (King Charles I of Spain ) and regard the Spanish colonization of the Americas . Following denunciations and calls for reform from individuals such as the Dominican friar Bartolomé de Las Casas , these laws were intended to prevent the exploitation and mistreatment of

378-526: The Spanish found in place. Although the New Laws were only partly successful, due to the opposition of colonists, they did result in the liberation of thousands of indigenous workers, who had been held in a state of semi-slavery. The New Laws were the results of a reform movement in reaction to what were considered to be the less effective, decades-old Leyes de Burgos (Laws of Burgos), issued by King Ferdinand II of Aragon on December 27, 1512. These laws were

420-604: The Spanish East Indies (the Philippines ). In Portuguese-speaking Latin America , such reductions were also called aldeias . The Spanish and Portuguese relocated, forcibly in many cases, indigenous inhabitants ( Indians or Indios ) of their colonies into urban settlements modeled on those in Spain and Portugal. The Royal Academy of Spain defines reducción (reduction) as "a grouping into settlement of indigenous people for

462-570: The Spanish Philippines , the Spanish colonial government founded hundreds of towns and villages across the archipelago modeled on towns and villages in Spain . The authorities often adopted a policy of reductions for the resettlement of inhabitants from far-flung scattered barrios or barangays to move into a centralized cabecera (town/district capital), where a newly built church and an ayuntamiento (town hall) were situated. This allowed

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504-448: The encomienda system and the enslavement of the native groups. The repartimiento was not slavery , in that the worker is not owned outright—being free in various respects other than in the dispensation of his or her labor—and the work was intermittent. However, it created slavery -like conditions in certain areas, most notoriously in silver mines of 16th century Peru under the draft labor system known as mita, influenced in part by

546-400: The indigenous peoples of the Americas by the encomenderos , by limiting their power and dominion over groups of natives. Blasco Núñez Vela , the first Viceroy of Peru , enforced the New Laws. He was opposed by a revolt of encomenderos and was killed in 1546 by the landowning faction led by Gonzalo Pizarro . Pizarro wanted to maintain a political structure built upon the Incan model

588-629: The pueblos de indios had ownership over their land, but, deemed subjects of the Spanish Crown, they had to pay tribute. In practice, a conquistador , or later a Spanish settler or official, would be given and supervised a number of indigenous workers, who would labor in farms or mines, or in the case of the Philippines might also be assigned to the ship yards constructing the Manila galleons . This would come from Hispanic miners or agriculturalists putting in

630-583: The 1520s. They were begun in Baja California in the 17th century and California in the late 18th century. Reductions in Mexico were more commonly known as congregaciones . Indian reductions in the Andes , mostly in present-day Peru and Bolivia , began on a large scale in 1570 during the rule of Viceroy Francisco de Toledo . Toledo worked to remake the society of the former Inca empire , with some success. In

672-399: The Amerindians own survival, with only 7-10% of the adult male population allowed to be assigned at any time. These Amerindians were paid wages for their labor, which they could then use to pay tribute to the Crown. Native men, working around 3 to 4 weeks a year, could also be put to work by the local government in public works such as harvests, mines, and infrastructure. Mining, specifically,

714-588: The Caribbean, relocating populations to be closer to Spanish settlements, often at a distance from their home territories, and likely facilitated the spread of disease. Reductions could be either religious, established and administered by an order of the Roman Catholic church (especially the Jesuits ), or secular, under the control of Spanish or Portuguese governmental authorities. The best known, and most successful, of

756-572: The Indian population, facilitated the Spaniards' access to Indian labor, the promulgation of Christianity , and the collection of taxes and tribute. Moreover, the reduction of the Indians was intended to break down ethnic and kinship ties and detribalize the residents to create a generic, pan-Indian population, disregarding their numerous tribes and different cultures. The Spanish began creating reductions in Mexico shortly after Hernan Cortés 's conquest in

798-503: The Kingdom of Guatemala, to create another level of Crown authority in the colony. When the New Laws were passed, every European man holding an encomienda in Peru learned that his grant of labor could be confiscated if he was guilty of having taken part in the civil disturbances of Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro . As a result, privileged Spanish colonists were disturbed about implementing

840-585: The Ming Dynasty made silver the only currency for internal taxation and external trade. The repartimiento , for the most part, replaced the encomienda throughout the Viceroyalty of New Spain by the beginning of the 17th century. In Peru , the mita labor system prevailed because the Inca Empire had already established a centralized tribute system, as well as a common identity, and already had experience with

882-697: The New Laws were partly successful, they did result in the liberation of thousands of indigenous workers from enforced servitude. Most of the ordinances of the New Laws were later incorporated into the general corpus of the Laws of the Indies . In some cases they were superseded by newer laws. A weaker version of the New Laws was issued in 1552. Reductions Reductions ( Spanish : reducciones , also called congregaciones ; Portuguese : reduções ) were settlements established by Spanish rulers and Roman Catholic missionaries in Spanish America and

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924-455: The New Laws. In Peru, Gonzalo Pizarro led a revolt of protesting encomenderos, who took to arms to "maintain their rights by force" for control of Indian lands and labor. The Supreme Court of Peru invited Pizarro to take control of the government after his forces reached Lima from Bolivia. Pizarro took over Lima and Quito (now in Ecuador). Viceroy Blasco Núñez Vela, who had attempted to impose

966-489: The conquest and colonization. Eventually, the reformists influenced the King and his court to pass reforms that came to be known as the New Laws . Some of these laws were redundant. Some established protections and rights for Native Americans that native Spaniards did not have themselves . Given the distance from the colonies and the time needed to travel between there and Spain, the Crown was unable to fully monitor compliance with

1008-416: The decrees, was overthrown. Pizarro and his army killed Núñez Vela in 1546. Pizarro's power stretched from Peru north to Panama. Charles I and the court became alarmed, and were convinced that the immediate abolition of the encomienda system would bring economic ruin to the colonies. To deal with the revolt, Charles I sent Pedro de la Gasca to the colony; a bishop and diplomat, he did not command an army but

1050-410: The first intended to regulate relations between the Spanish and the recently conquered indigenous peoples of the New World. These are regarded as the first humanitarian laws in the New World. They were not fully implemented because of opposition by powerful colonists. While some encomenderos opposed the restrictions imposed by the laws as against their interests, others were opposed because they believed

1092-411: The government to defend, control and Christianize the indigenous population in scattered independent settlements, to conduct population counts , and to collect tributes . This enforced resettlement led to several revolts in the 17th century, often led by community shamans ( babaylan ). In some cases, entire villages would move deeper into island interiors to escape the reductions. A similar policy

1134-475: The indoctrination of the faith. The policy of reductions was begun in 1503 by Spanish colonists on Caribbean islands. In the words of the Spanish rulers, "It is necessary that the Indians be assigned to towns in which they will live together and that they not remain or wander separated from each other in the backcountry." The Spanish ordered Indian villages to be destroyed and selected sites where new villages should be built. The concentration, or reducción of

1176-448: The king claimed the right to assign encomiendas and assigned the most unpleasant or dangerous jobs to the natives. The New Laws established more specific regulations or stipulated the conditions under the Crown's authority: The King promulgated the New Laws in 1542. In addition to regulating encomienda and treatment of Indians, they reorganized the overseas colonial administration. Several General Captainships were established, such as

1218-546: The labor draft by paying their own curacas or employers. The diminution of the number of natives in the Americas due to European diseases ( smallpox , influenza , measles and typhus ) to which the native populations had no resistance, as well as to desertion from the work fields, led to the substitution of the encomienda system and the creation of privately owned farms and haciendas in New Spain. In order to evade these compulsory labor system of encomienda and repartimiento, Amerindians left their pueblos de indios . This

1260-594: The labor of persons under their purview. It was a way to aid in ensuring the safety of the population of the border areas during the repopulation of the no-man's-land between Castile and the southern Muslim areas. It required either the consent of both parties or the direct intervention of the king, who was responsible for setting reasonable conditions for the parties and to intervene (militarily if required) in case of abuses. In America, however, colonists used encomiendas to create conditions similar to slavery in areas that did not require such protection. Authorities other than

1302-412: The laws institutionalized the system of forced Indian labor. During the reign of King Charles I, the reformers gained strength. A number of Spanish missionaries argued for stricter rules, including Bartolomé de las Casas and Francisco de Vitoria . Their goal was to protect the Indians against forced labor and expropriation, and to preserve their cultures. Some discussions challenged the very legitimacy of

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1344-492: The more ambiguous laws. The main examples are the cases of slavery and encomiendas . The new laws included the prohibition of enslavement of the Indians and provided for gradual abolition of the encomienda system in America by forbidding it to be inherited by descendants. The New Laws stated that the natives would be considered free persons, and the encomenderos could no longer demand their labour. The prohibition against enslaving Indians "in any case, not even crime or war"

1386-450: The parts of the New Laws most objectionable to the encomenderos . Over time, the encomenderos complied with most aspects of the laws. Most already maintained a horse and arms in case of Indian rebellion, and had established a residence in a Spanish settlement. They hired priests to minister to the Indians whose labor was granted to them. While they were not allowed to retain their encomiendas in perpetuity, they were permitted to bequeath

1428-418: The properties and labor once. They allowed Indians to fulfill obligations by payment of tribute, often in produce. The dramatic declines in Indian population due to epidemic disease, however, resulted in economic losses for the encomenderos. In 1545, the Crown revoked the inheritance restriction of the New Laws. By strengthening the power of the encomenderos, the encomienda system was made secure. While

1470-437: The purpose of evangelization and assimilation." In colonial Mexico , reductions were called "congregations" ( congregaciones ). Forced resettlements aimed to concentrate indigenous people into communities, facilitating civil and religious control over populations. The concentration of the indigenous peoples into towns facilitated the organization and exploitation of their labor. The practice began during Spanish colonization in

1512-686: The religious reductions were those developed by the Jesuits in Paraguay and neighboring areas in the 17th century. The largest and most enduring secular reductions were those imposed on the highland people of the former Inca Empire of Peru during the rule of Viceroy Francisco de Toledo (1569–1581). During the early stages of Christianisation of the Americas, Spanish Catholic authorities might establish ecclesiastical missionary proto- parish subdivisions - Spanish : doctrinas ; singular: Spanish : doctrina , lit.   'doctrine' – for

1554-408: Was a concern for the Crown as well as Peruvian viceroy. Enacted by Don Francisco de Toledo , these mining drafts were brought in indigenous workers through this draft labor system to do backbreaking work. While there were attempts to guard against overwork, abuses of power and high quotas set by mine owners continued, leading to both depopulation and the system of indigenous men buying themselves out of

1596-446: Was a dangerous venture, as it left them landless and without community. If an Amerindian left their pueblo , they would look for wage labor ; others signed contracts ( asientos ) for six months to a year, during which time the worker was required to be paid a salary, and provided living quarters as well as religious services. In Northern New Spain, this was a frequent occurrence. This area was not greatly populated, and because of this, it

1638-462: Was a right that did not apply to native Castilians themselves. The enslavement of Native Americans had been declared illegal in Castile in 1501, when Isabella I declared native Americans to be both people and subjects of the Castilian crown, and so subject to the same rights and obligations as any other subject of the queen. Under those regulations, slavery was permitted almost exclusively as a penalty for

1680-557: Was given full powers to rule and negotiate a settlement with Pizarro and his followers. However, Pizarro declared Peru independent from the King. La Gasca provisionally suspended the New Laws. Pizarro was later captured and executed, accused of being a "traitor to the King." Although in New Spain (now Mexico ), the initial reaction of encomenderos was noncompliance, they did not organize a rebellion as in Peru. New Spain's first viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza , prudently refrained from enforcing

1722-404: Was harder for the Spanish to enforce reducciones , meaning they could not create pueblos de indios to pull repartimiento labor from. Northern New Spain had the most silver mines, and because repartimiento labor was unreliable, wage labor was the dominant form of labor used in New Spain. Although not ideal, the Spanish Crown allowed this as silver was their priority for trade with China after

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1764-439: Was replaced by “two parallel yet separate ‘republics’.” The república de españoles "included Spaniards, who lived in Spanish cities and obeyed Spanish law," and the república de indios “included natives, who resided in native communities, where native law and native authorities (as long as they did not contradict Spanish norms) prevailed.” It was in this second domain where the pueblos de indios resided. Amerindians who lived in

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