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The ''Repartimiento'' () (Spanish, "distribution, partition, or division") was a colonial labor system imposed upon the indigenous population of Spanish America. In concept, it was similar to other
tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conq ...
-labor systems, such as the ''
mit'a Mit'a () was mandatory service in the society of the Inca Empire. Its close relative, the regionally mandatory Minka is still in use in Quechua communities today and known as ''faena'' in Spanish. Historians use the Hispanicized term ''mita'' ...
'' of the
Inca Empire The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts",  "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The adm ...
or the
corvée Corvée () is a form of unpaid, forced labour, that is intermittent in nature lasting for limited periods of time: typically for only a certain number of days' work each year. Statute labour is a corvée imposed by a state for the purposes of ...
of the Ancien Régime de France: Through the pueblos de indios, the Amerindians were drafted work for cycles of weeks, months, or years, on farms, in mines, in workshops (''obrajes''), and public projects.


Establishment of the ''repartimiento'' and decline of the ''encomienda''

With the
New Laws The New Laws ( Spanish: ''Leyes Nuevas''), also known as the New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians ( Spanish: ''Leyes y ordenanzas nuevamente hechas por su Majestad para la gobernación de las Indias y buen ...
of 1542, the ''repartimiento'' was instated to substitute the ''
encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...
'' system that had come to be seen as abusive and promoting of unethical behavior. The Spanish Crown aimed to remove control of the indigenous population, now considered subjects of the Crown, from the hands of the ''encomenderos,'' who had become a politically influential and wealthy class, with the shift away from both the ''encomienda'' system and the enslavement of the native groups. The ''repartimiento'' was not
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, in that the worker is not owned outright—being free in various respects other than in the dispensation of his or her labor—and the work was intermittent. However, it created
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
-like conditions in certain areas, most notoriously in silver mines of 16th century
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
under the draft labor system known as ''mita,'' influenced in part by a similar draft labor system the Inca used also called ''
mit'a Mit'a () was mandatory service in the society of the Inca Empire. Its close relative, the regionally mandatory Minka is still in use in Quechua communities today and known as ''faena'' in Spanish. Historians use the Hispanicized term ''mita'' ...
''. In New Spain, the collapse of indigenous populations from conquest and disease led to a shift from the ''encomienda'' system to ''pueblos de indios'', as the ''encomienda'' system no longer made economic sense since there were not enough Amerindians remaining. They needed to consolidate labor, which they did in a process known as ''reducciones''. The ''encomienda'' system was replaced by “two parallel yet separate ‘republics’.” The ''república de españoles'' “included Spaniards, who lived in Spanish cities and obeyed Spanish law,” and the ''república de indios'' “included natives, who resided in native communities, where native law and native authorities (as long as they did not contradict Spanish norms) prevailed.” It was in this second domain where the ''pueblos de indios'' resided. Amerindians who belonged lived in the ''pueblos de indios'' had ownership over their land, but, deemed subjects of the Spanish Crown, they had to pay tribute.


How it worked

In practice, an
encomendero The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...
, or Spanish settler or official, would be given supervisory control over a number of indigenous workers, who would labor in farms or mines. This would come from Hispanic miners or agriculturalists putting in a weekly application for labor with the district magistrate or a special judge who is in charge of ''repartimiento'' labor. Adult males of the community whose turn it was to go were assembled by the ''jueces repartidores'' (the Amerindian governors of the ''pueblos de indios'') and given to the Spanish official who would move them to a different area to do whatever labor was needed. Legally, these systems were not allowed to interfere with the Amerindians own survival, with only 7-10% of the adult male population allowed to be assigned at any time. These Amerindians were paid wages for their labor, which they could then use to pay tribute to the Crown. Native men, working around 3 to 4 weeks a year, could also be put to work by the local government in public works such as harvests, mines, and infrastructure. Mining, specifically, was a concern for the Crown as well as Peruvian viceroy. Enacted by Don
Francisco de Toledo Francisco Álvarez de Toledo ( Oropesa, 10 July 1515 – Escalona, 21 April 1582), also known as ''The Viceroyal Solon'', was an aristocrat and soldier of the Kingdom of Spain and the fifth Viceroy of Peru. Often regarded as the "best of P ...
, these mining drafts were brought in indigenous workers through this draft labor system to do backbreaking work. While there were attempts to guard against overwork, abuses of power and high quotas set by mine owners continued, leading to both depopulation and the system of indigenous men buying themselves out of the labor draft by paying their own ''curacas'' or employers.


Decline of the ''Repartimiento'' System in New Spain

The diminution of the number of natives in the Americas due to European diseases (
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
,
influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...
,
measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...
and
typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...
) to which the native populations had no resistance, as well as to desertion from the work fields, led to the substitution of the ''encomienda'' system and the creation of privately owned farms and
hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchard ...
s in New Spain. In order to evade these compulsory labor system of ''encomienda'' and ''repartimiento,'' Amerindians left their ''pueblos de indios''. This was a dangerous venture, as it left them landless and without community. If an Amerindian left their ''pueblo'', they would look for
wage labor Wage labour (also wage labor in American English), usually referred to as paid work, paid employment, or paid labour, refers to the socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer in which the worker sells their labour power unde ...
; others signed contracts (''asientos'') for six months to a year, during which time the worker was required to be paid a salary, and provided living quarters as well as religious services. In Northern New Spain, this was a frequent occurrence. This area was not greatly populated, and because of this, it was harder for the Spanish to enforce ''
reducciones Reductions ( es, reducciones, also called ; , pl. ) were settlements created by Spanish rulers and Roman Catholic missionaries in Spanish America and the Spanish East Indies (the Philippines). In Portuguese-speaking Latin America, such red ...
,'' meaning they could not create ''pueblos de indios'' to pull ''repartimiento'' labor from. Northern New Spain had the most silver mines, and because ''repartimiento'' labor was unreliable, wage labor was the dominant form of labor used in New Spain. Although not ideal, the Spanish Crown allowed this as silver was their priority for trade with China after the Ming Dynasty made silver the only currency for internal taxation and external trade.


Capitalist development

The ''repartimiento'', for the most part, replaced the ''encomienda'' throughout the
Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Amer ...
by the beginning of the 17th century. In
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
, the ''mita'' labor system prevailed because the
Inca Empire The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts",  "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The adm ...
had already established a centralized tribute system, as well as a common identity, and already had experience with a rotational labor system from the Incan ''
mit'a Mit'a () was mandatory service in the society of the Inca Empire. Its close relative, the regionally mandatory Minka is still in use in Quechua communities today and known as ''faena'' in Spanish. Historians use the Hispanicized term ''mita'' ...
''. The decline of rotational draft labor in New Spain paved the way for one of the first capitalist societies in the world as Amerindian laborers who left their ''pueblos de indios'' were landless and instead sold their labor to purchase food and housing.
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
did not experience this same development because the Amerindians remained landed for longer, having access to their own means of production.


See also

*
Cargo system The cargo system (also known as the civil-religious hierarchy, ''fiesta'' or ''mayordomía'' system) is a collection of secular and religious positions held by men or households in rural indigenous communities throughout central and southern Mex ...
*
Encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...
*
Encomiendas in Peru An encomienda in Peru was a reward offered to each of the men under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro who began the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire in 1532. In the early colonial period of the New World, land had little economic value wi ...
*
Reductions Reductions ( es, reducciones, also called ; , pl. ) were settlements created by Spanish rulers and Roman Catholic missionaries in Spanish America and the Spanish East Indies (the Philippines). In Portuguese-speaking Latin America, such r ...
*
Jesuit Reductions , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...
*
Genízaro are detribalized Native Americans who, by war or payment of ransom, were taken into Hispano and Puebloan villages as indentured servants, shepherds, general laborers, etc., in Santa Fe de Nuevo México in New Spain, which is modern New Mexico, ...
s


References


Bibliography

*Cole, Jeffery A. (1985). ''The Potosí Mita, 1573-1700: Compulsory Indian Labor in the Andes''. Stanford: Stanford University Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Repartimiento Encomenderos Spanish colonization of the Americas History of the Philippines (1565–1898) Spanish West Indies Colonial Mexico Colonial Peru Colonial Puerto Rico Indigenous topics of the Caribbean History of indigenous peoples of North America Indigenous topics of South America Unfree labour Labor history