USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The encomienda (Spanish pronunciation: [eŋkoˈmjenda] ( listen)) was a Spanish slave labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military protection and education.

Detailed explanation-2: -As legally defined in 1503, an encomienda (from Spanish encomendar, “to entrust”) consisted of a grant by the crown to a conquistador, a soldier, an official, or others of a specified number of “Indios” (Native Americans and, later, Filipinos) living in a particular area.

Detailed explanation-3: -Eventually, the encomienda system was replaced by repartimiento, in which the native workers were allotted directly to the Spanish monarchy rather than individual Spaniards in the colonies.

Detailed explanation-4: -Under encomienda, Spanish colonists were granted a certain amount of land and the labor of the people who lived on it. The system was later transported to Spanish settlements on the mainland. Supposedly, the colonists would pay the native people for their labor and convert them to Christianity.