USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -What was one way the encomienda system affected indigenous Americans? They became wealthier. They were forced to pay fines. They practiced traditional beliefs.

Detailed explanation-2: -The encomienda system affected Native American populations negatively through abuse and led to the loss of their land.

Detailed explanation-3: -The encomienda system permitted the Spanish Crown to convert its invading army of conquistadors into colonial settlers, but the system’s flaws – maltreatment and significant population reductions from diseases – meant that it was eventually replaced by a system of low-paid labour and large estate management.

Detailed explanation-4: -Encomiendas devolved from their original Iberian form into a form of “communal” slavery. In the encomienda, the Spanish Crown granted a person a specified number of natives from a specific community but did not dictate which individuals in the community would have to provide their labour.

Detailed explanation-5: -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.