The encomienda was a pervasive labor system established during the 16th century to organize the workforce in the Spanish colonies. Under this arrangement, the Spanish Crown granted conquistadors the right to the labor of specific groups of Indigenous people, who were legally considered vassals of the monarch.
While the system was theoretically designed to provide the laborers with military protection and religious education, it frequently devolved into forced labor and conditions akin to slavery. Following the implementation of the New Laws of 1542, the system underwent significant changes, eventually being replaced by the repartimiento as the Crown sought to limit the perpetual power of the encomenderos.