The heart of encomienda and encomendero lies in the Spanish verb encomendar, "to entrust". The encomienda was based on the reconquista institution in which adelantados were given the right to extract … See more

The encomienda system was generally replaced by the crown-managed repartimiento system throughout Spanish America after mid … See more

Raphael Lemkin (coiner of the term genocide) considered Spain's abuses of the native population of the Americas to constitute cultural and even outright genocide, including … See more

The first grantees of the encomienda system, called encomenderos, were usually conquerors who received these grants of labour by … See more

In 1501 Isabella I of Castile declared Native Americans as subjects to the Crown, and so, as Castilians and legal equals to Spanish … See more

Initial controversies
The encomienda system was the subject of controversy in Spain and its territories almost from its start. In 1510, an Hispaniola encomendero named Valenzuela murdered a group of Native American leaders … See more

• Polo y servicio, a similar forced labor system in Spanish-controlled colonial Philippines
• Cargo system
• See more