Spanish Labor Systems and Indi

In the US it is very common to still hear of the poor way
African Americans were treated in the early part of this
nations History.   We hear stories of black slaves working 18
hour days picking cotton and the trauma of slaves being
beaten for disobeying their masters.   For many African
American families, it seems, that was the way of life not
long ago.   While it is very important to realize what these
African Americans went through, I think it is often
forgotten that indigenous people of Latin America were
exploited in similar ways but through different Labor
Systems.
From Spain’s early arrival in the Caribbean through
their establishment of the Spanish empire indigenous people
were exploited through cheap, slave like labor.   One of the
most incredible subjects raised by the documents presented
in Colonial Spanish America is the topic of Labor Systems
that were imposed on the indigenous people.   Spain tried to
excuse this exploitation by claiming to save these
indigenous people by teaching them the ways of Christ but
many of the Articles in Colonial Spanish America, Struggle &
Survival, and The Limits of Racial Domination prove
otherwise.   Through letters, personal stories, and other
documents these books present accounts that tell about the
labor system used in this area.   They tell of the Spanish
labor systems such as the encomiendos and later
rapartamientos and how these operations were run.   In
discussing the Labor system that existed during the time of
Spanish rule it is important to understand what labor
systems that were used, why the Spanish used them, how they
justified using indigenous people in such a way, how the
indigenous as well as black slaves were treated in these
systems, and the effects the Labor Systems had on the
indigenous population.  
As soon as the first Spanish entradas arrived in the
New World they realized the vast resources that had been
virtually untapped.... [continues]

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