Encomienda to Hacienda and Latifundio in Latin America

Amanda Zielony, Hispanic Literature

The encomienda system developed in the Antilles (the islands of

the West Indies except the Bahamas) when the group of settlers Columbus

brought with him on his second voyage to the New World were, essentially,

unwilling to work (Vigil 218). They solved this problem through forced

Indian labor. Queen Isabella I of Spain considered the native people

"free crown vassals" (Vigil 218) and instructed Governor Nicolas de

Ovando, Comendador Mayor of the military order Alcantara, to inform the

Indians that they had to pay tribute to the crown equal to the other

subjects. But the Indians refused to have anything to do with it,

resulting in a series of royal decrees starting in 1503 that resulted in

the encomienda system.

 

As legally defined in 1503, an encomienda consisted of a grant by

the crown to a conquistador, soldier, official, or others rewarded for

assisting in the conquest, of a specified number of Indians living in a

particular area. The receiver of the grant, the encomendero, could exact

tribute from the Indians in gold or labor ("Encomienda"). Basically, the

natives were gathered into villages under the supervision of a trustee and

forced to work in the construction of buildings, in mines, and in the

cultivation of the soil. In turn, the trustee (the encomendero) was to

civilize, Christianize, and protect the Indians (Thomas 51). Through this

system, the crown intended to both reward deserving conquerors and

settlers and to incorporate the Indians into Christian civilization by

placing them under the protection of responsible individuals (Vigil 218).

However, the system quickly became corrupted.

 

Although the encomienda did not technically include a grant of

land, the encomenderos soon gained control of the Indians lands and failed

to fulfill their obligations to them, leading to the severe exploitation

and swift destruction of the native population. Essentially, the

encomenderos viewed the system as a right to demand services and collect

tributes from the conquered people (Thomas 51). The system was first

protested in 1511 in the Dominicans, resulting in the Law of Burgos

(1512-1513), which said that the encomienda system could continue but that

the mistreatment of the Indians had to stop. However, this law was not

largely enforced and nothing changed significantly. Finally, the New Laws

of the Indies (1542-1543) decreed better treatment of the Indians and

looked to the gradual extinction of the encomienda system by forbidding

new grants and the transmission of existing encomiendas by inheritance

(Delpar 219). Upon the death of holders, ownership was to be relinquished

to the crown, eventually leading to only one encomendero, the king.

However, these laws were greatly protested by the colonists and suspended.

But the number of encomiendas did decrease after 1550 as new forms of

labor exploitation arose and the system was modified, even though it was

not officially abolished until the late 18th century ("Encomienda").

 

As the encomienda system lost its effectiveness, it was gradually

replaced by the hacienda and latifundio systems of landed estates. These

are quite similar systems, but with some important differences. The

hacienda, called estancia in Argentina and Uruguay and fazenda in Brazil

("Hacienda"), is a more neutral term that can mean the same as a ranch.

It was a labor-intensive enterprise cultivating only a portion of land

under its control for a small-scale market; haciendas were usually

self-sufficient. The hacienda provided the owner with economic return as

well as social prestige and political influence. The labor force was

usually Indians who were theoretically free-wage workers. However, in

practice, their employers were able to bind them to the land by keeping

them in an indebted state by giving them loans or advances on wages

(Delpar 271). In fact, by the 19th century, up to half of the rural

population of Mexico was entangled in this peonage system ("Hacienda"),

reflecting the influence of the encomienda system. Many of these estates

were broken up as the result of the Mexican Revolution of 1911.

 

The latifundio is very similar to the hacienda, including that it

derived from the encomienda system. However, it is much more prevalent in

recent times and has a more negative connotation. The main difference is

that the landowner is generally absent and lives in the city, delegating

his supervision to others and merely deriving income from the operation.

This makes exploitation of the workers and misuse of the land much easier.

In fact, the latifundio is usually characterized by relatively

unproductive holdings of land with a dependent labor force, reliance on

primitive technology, and low capital investment (Delpar 325). The land

is passed down from landowners to generation to generation, leaving the

peasants with no hope of ever owning their own land. In the Bolivian

Agrarian Reform Decree of 1953, the latifundio was outlawed. However, a

capital-intensive agricultural enterprise producing for a large market and

employing wage-earning workers who have the right to organize and bargain

collectively (more similar to the theoretical hacienda), was still allowed

(Delpar 325).

 

The Bolivian Agrarian Reform Decree is part of a larger effort of

the past two hundred years, including the Mexican Revolution, to change

these land-owning practices whose origins date back to the encomienda of

Spanish colonization. The reformers have tried to find ways to more

evenly distribute the land in order to more evenly distribute wealth in

Latin America. The situation has improved and the middle class is

stronger than ever. There are also other ways to gain wealth now besides

land, giving more people opportunities to gain control over production.

As improvements of these economic systems continue to be made, the

situation of the Latin American people also continues to improve,

hopefully ensuring a brighter future for the entire region.

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Works Cited

Delpar, Helen. "Hacienda." Encyclopedia of Latin America. New York:

McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1974.

 

Delpar, Helen. "Latifundium." Encyclopedia of Latin America. New York:

McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1974.

 

"Encomienda." Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/6/0,5716,33166+1,00.html.

 

"Hacienda." Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/4/0/,5716,39504+1,00.html.

 

Thomas, Alfred Barnaby. Latin America: A History. New York: The MacMillan

Company, 1956.

 

Vigil, Ralph H. "Encomienda." Encyclopedia of Latin America. New York:

McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1974.