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000669 Visit since July 1, 2005
| TRIUMPHS and TRAGEDY... A history of the Mexican people (part 36th). |
| By Prof. German Estrada - July 2005 |
III - A NEW SPAIN
The encomienda, at first glance, appeared to benefit crown, encomenderos and, not unimportant, the religious goal of the Conquest. The encomenderos, the principal beneficiary, received the labor of the Indians, who worked without pay of any kind. He was entrusted with the care of the Indians, he saw to their welfare and maintained order in the villages and, at the same time, helped Christianize them. In return, he had first claim on the tribute of his vassals, a share of their corn and beans, some of the fish they caught, and part of the eggs and chickens.
During the early years, the encomienda served as a mechanism for colonization, as well as for the acquisition of wealth by Spaniards. Theoretically, the encomenderos protected and controlled the Indian for the crown, while his labor helped Spaniards settle the land. From the vantage point of Cortés and his men, everyone profited from this arrangement. Even the mendicant friars, originally hostile, viewed favorably the encomiendas when they acquired their own; so did town dwellers, especially when Cortés put Indians to work rebuilding Tenochtitlan (now called Mexico City) and, ultimately, mine owners who coveted unpaid labor.
From the start, nevertheless, the encomendero exploited his vassals. The Indian was compelled to work for Spaniards unwilling to till the land, forced to supply parasitical men with food, clothing, and shelter. So began the exploitation of the "bronze" man by the white, the subjugation of one race by another, the New World by the Old. Ironically, the law judged encomienda Indians "free men" because they were not slaves. Theory and fact stood at opposite poles. Intent notwithstanding, crown legislation conferred sanction on encomenderos waiting to transform themselves into a colonial aristocracy. Not a few of them succeeded. Lacking the responsibilities of the feudal lord, the encomendero dealt heavy-handedly with his workers, not merely exploiting them but inflicting cruelty and even death. The encomienda, in actuality, headed the list of Spanish institutions responsible for the fast decline of the Indian population, a tragic occurrence of the sixteenth century.
Its evils were endless. Encomenderos, first off, had their pick of the Indian women, whether with husband or not. They used them as domestics and as concubines and, when they were not longer useful, drove them away. On the sugar plantations, the encomenderos "married" them off to their slaves. Some beat the Indians to death; others buried them alive; the less cruel killed them with guns. When the fled from his grasp, the encomendero pursued them with bloodhounds. Cortés and fellow encomenderos earned money by selling the Indians into slavery. Juan Ponce de León, one of these encomenderos, beat the Indians so badly that the authorities arrested him for crimes. The best of the encomenderos drove their Indians from dawn to dusk, while the heart-less robbed them of their goods. All of the early encomenderos, writes a noted scholar, looked upon the encomienda as a license to exploit, not excluding robbing villages of their lands.
The crown ultimately corrected the worst of these ills but failed to eliminate them entirely; they survived to corrupt even mestizo encomenderos such as Gonzalo Cano, son of Isabel Moctezuma and a Spanish father, a tyrant in Tacuba legendary for his cruelty to Indians.
Nor did the crown prevent the encomenderos from becoming a lord of the land. At first, the land had little appeal; without tools and oxen to plow it or without markets, it was useless. Slowly, however, encomenderos began to find buyers for agricultural products in the nearby Spanish towns, which gave value to the land. Encomenderos, therefore, were the first to buy land, when they could not steal it. Eventually, the encomienda divorced from the ownership of land by Spanish law, had nonetheless planted the seeds for the big estates, precisely what the crown did not want. Troubled by these developments, the crown abolished the encomienda. The New Laws of 1542 declared that no encomienda would survive its holder and that henceforth no more would be granted. The laws freed Indians unjustly enslave, and the crown sent Francisco Tello de Sandoval to enforce them.
Close up of part of mural by Diego Rivera
** Source: From the book Triumphs and Tragedy, a History of the Mexican People by his author Ramon Eduardo Ruiz, and with his authorization. (. (W.W. Norton & Company. New York-London).
In the next issue we'll continue with Chapter III of this fascinating book: A NEW SPAIN
Prof. Germán Estrada
estradanav@yahoo.com
Prof. Germán
Estrada is the author of the best selling book,
"México
Mágico: Everything You Wanted To Know
About... But Nobody Told You..." available in Puerto
Vallarta at The Net House, Mail Boxes, Etc., Books,
Books as well as directly from the author by internet.
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