Spanish labor systems and indi
Spanish labor systems and indiIn the US it is very common to still hear of the poor way
African Americans were treated in the early part of this
nations History. We hear stories of black slaves working 18
hour days picking cotton and the trauma of slaves being
beaten for disobeying their masters. For many African
American families, it seems, that was the way of life not
long ago. While it is very important to realize what these
African Americans went through, I think it is often
forgotten that indigenous people of Latin America were
exploited in similar ways but through different Labor
Systems.
From Spain’s early arrival in the Caribbean through
their establishment of the Spanish empire indigenous people
were exploited through cheap, slave like labor. One of the
most incredible subjects raised by the documents presented
in Colonial Spanish America is the topic of Labor Systems
that were imposed on the indigenous people. Spain tried to
excuse this exploitation by claiming to save these
indigenous people by teaching them the ways of Christ but
many of the Articles in Colonial Spanish America, Struggle &
Survival, and The Limits of Racial Domination prove
otherwise. Through letters, personal stories, and other
documents these books present accounts that tell about the
labor system used in this area. They tell of the Spanish
labor systems such as the encomiendos and later
rapartamientos and how these operations were run. In
discussing the Labor system that existed during the time of
Spanish rule it is important to understand what labor
systems that were used, why the Spanish used them, how they
justified using indigenous people in such a way, how the
indigenous as well as black slaves were treated in these
systems, and the effects the Labor Systems had on the
indigenous population.
As soon as the first Spanish entradas arrived in the
New World they realized the vast resources that had been
virtually untapped. They saw incredible wealth in the sugar
cane crops and the wood dyes in Brazil, and the silver mines
in Potosi and other northern areas, plus many other raw
resources. At first the Labor systems were very
underdeveloped in Colonial America, the indigenous people
had produced just enough to use what they needed and in some
cses a little extra for some trade with neighboring peoples
but there was no large scale operations anywhere until the
invasion of the Spanish. Spain saw all the resources in the
Americas as great wealth for the Crown and the entrada
leaders saw the opportunity for themselves. They also new
that the development of the resources “ultimately depended
on the labor of non-Spaniards. At the begging of the
Spanish arrival there were millions of indigenous people
throughout the lands who were willing to trade and
incorporate the Spanish peacefully. However the early
entrada leaders knew that the most efficient way to fulfill
their greed and honor the...
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