Unit 1: Topic 5 - Labor, Slavery, and Caste in the Spanish Colonial System Flashcards
Labor, Slavery, and Caste in the Spanish Colonial System
What was the encomienda system?
The encomienda system was an attempt to replicate feudalism in the Americas, and it placed the Spanish on top.
In the encomienda system, the Spanish conquistadores were granted the legal right to extract forced labor from Native Americans. In return, the Europeans were expected to give military protection to the laborers and offer them the opportunity to be converted to Christianity.
Native slave labor was used in order to create a profit, mainly by mining silver or working in sugar plantations.
Why did the Spanish turn to Africans for labor in the Americas?
As Native American population declined due to diseases (like smallpox), demand for labor increased.
As a result, they turned to Africans since they were immune to most European diseases.
What allowed the Spanish to extract slaves from West Africa?
The Spanish were able to extract slaves from West Africa because West African tribes willingly captured other African tribes to sell them to the Europeans in return for guns and profit, thus leading to the widespread devastation of several cultures and kingdoms.
Over time it allowed Europeans to further exploit West Africans and take advantage of the conflict within West Africa.
Describe the caste system the Spanish developed in the Americas.
It placed every kind of person in a social hierarchy.
The social hierarchy from top to bottom:
Peninsulares: Spaniards born in Spain.
Creoles: Spaniards born in the Americas.
Mestizos: Descendants of a Spaniard and a Native American.
Mulattos: Descendants of a Spaniard and an African slave.
Zambos: Descendants of an African and a Native American.
Native Americans
Enslaved Africans
