Encomienda, in Spain’s American and Philippine colonies, legal system by which the Spanish crown attempted to define the status of the indigenous population. It was based upon the practice of exacting tribute from Muslims and Jews during the Reconquista (“Reconquest”) of Muslim Spain. Although the original intent of the encomienda was to reduce the abuses of forced labour (repartimiento) employed shortly after Europeans’ 15th-century discovery of the New World, in practice it became a form of enslavement.
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Columbian Exchange
One of the most important links between ecological history and world history is the so-called Columbian exchange, through which pathogens from the Americas entered Europe and those from Europe devastated the indigenous populations of the Americas. The Native Americans got much the worse of this exchange; the population of Mexico suffered catastrophic losses, and that of some Caribbean islands was totally destroyed. The effect on Europeans was much less severe. It is now thought that syphilis entered Europe from Asia, not the Americas. The plants involved in the Columbian Exchange changed both the economy and the culture of the New and Old Worlds. There was an abundance of new plants discovered in the Americas (including beans, squash, chili peppers, sunflowers, chenopods, peanuts, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, manioc, avocado, pineapple, and cacao), but the two most important were the potato and maize. These New World crops dominated the total number of crops that the Old World had almost 3 to 1.
Enconmienda System
In the 1500's, Spain systematically conquered parts of North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean. With native governments such as the efficient Inca Empire in ruins, the Spanish conquistadors needed to find a way to rule their new subjects. The encomienda system was put in place in several areas, most importantly in Peru. Under the encomienda system, prominent Spaniards were entrusted with native communities. In exchange for native labor and tribute, the Spanish lord would provide protection and education. In reality, however, the encomienda system was thinly-masked slavery and led to some of the worst horrors of the colonial era. The word encomienda comes from the Spanish word encomendar, "to entrust." The encomienda system had been used in feudal Spain during the reconquest and had survived in some form ever since. In the Americas, the first encomiendas were handed out by Christopher Columbus in the Caribbean. Spanish conquistadors, settlers, priests or colonial officials were given a repartimiento, or grant of land. These lands were often quite vast. The land included any native cities, towns, communities or families that lived there .
