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Encomienda or Slavery? The Spanish Crown's Choice of Labor Organization in Sixteenth-Century Spanish America

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  • Yeager, Timothy J.

Abstract

When the Spaniards conquered the New World, they resorted to a form of native labor organization called the encomienda. The encomienda differed from slavery in that the Crown imposed inheritance, trading, and relocation restrictions on encomenderos. Such restrictions cost the Crown revenue by providing incentives for colonists to deplete more quickly the stock of native labor and by keeping native labour in areas of low-revenue productivity. This loss of revenue makes the Crown's Preference for the encomienda curious. The Crown opted for the encomienda, however, to secure its rule and to satisfy an ideological bias against slavery.

Suggested Citation

  • Yeager, Timothy J., 1995. "Encomienda or Slavery? The Spanish Crown's Choice of Labor Organization in Sixteenth-Century Spanish America," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(4), pages 842-859, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:55:y:1995:i:04:p:842-859_04
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    Cited by:

    1. Camilo García Jimeno, 2005. "Colonial Institutions And Long-Run Economic Performance In Colombia: Is There Evidence Of Persistence?," Documentos CEDE 2152, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    2. Jean-Paul Faguet & Camilo Matajira & Fabio Sánchez-Torres, 2022. "Constructive extraction? Encomienda, the colonial state, and development in Colombia," Documentos CEDE 20105, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    3. Calixto Salomão Filho, 2015. "Monopolies and Underdevelopment," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16587.
    4. Cuenca Botey, Luis Emilio & Célérier, Laure, 2023. "On the relentless labour of deconstructing domination logics: The case of decolonial critical accounting research in South America," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    5. Ho, Chi Pui, 2016. "GeoPopulation-Institution Hypothesis: Reconciling American Development Process and Reversal of Fortune within a Unified Growth Framework," MPRA Paper 73863, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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