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Difficulty: MediumSpanish Encomienda and Labor Systems

"The ninth plague was the labor in the mines, to which the Indians went from great distances to seek gold, carrying their own provisions... Some Spaniards treated them with such cruelty that they died at the mines or on their journey back. The greed of the Spaniards for gold led to the destruction of entire towns, as the tribute demanded of the native inhabitants exceeded their capacity to produce. These labor demands disrupted their traditional agriculture, leading to widespread famine."

��� Toribio de Benavente (Motolinia), *History of the Indians of New Spain*, c. 1541

Based on the excerpt, the labor practices described most directly contributed to which of the following developments in the Spanish colonies during the sixteenth century?

  1. A
    The development of a voluntary system of indentured servitude modeled on Northern European labor contracts
  2. A growing reliance on the transatlantic slave trade to import African workers to replace the declining indigenous labor forceAnswer
  3. C
    The transition of the encomienda into a system of simple land ownership that relied entirely on free-market wage labor
  4. D
    The total unification of indigenous populations into a single resistance movement that permanently restored pre-contact agricultural practices

Answer

A growing reliance on the transatlantic slave trade to import African workers to replace the declining indigenous labor force
The correct answer is correct because the severe labor shortage caused by the high mortality of Native Americans under the encomienda system and European diseases led the Spanish Crown and colonists to import enslaved Africans to sustain their mining and agricultural industries.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the source text to identify the main historical issues being described.
The excerpt highlights the extreme mortality, physical exhaustion, and agricultural disruption experienced by Native Americans forced to work in Spanish gold mines and pay heavy tribute.
Understanding the source is necessary to connect the local effects of the encomienda system to broader demographic and economic shifts.
2
Connect the high mortality rates of the indigenous population to the subsequent shortage of labor in Spanish colonial enterprises.
As the native population declined rapidly due to forced labor and epidemic diseases, the Spanish colonial economy faced a severe labor shortage in critical sectors like mining and plantation agriculture.
This establishes the causal link between indigenous population decline and the search for alternative labor sources.
3
Identify the primary historical solution implemented by the Spanish to resolve the colonial labor crisis.
The Spanish Crown and colonists turned to the transatlantic slave trade to import enslaved Africans, who possessed agricultural skills and partial immunities to Old World diseases.
This identifies the correct development resulting from the conditions described in the excerpt.

Key Concept

Spanish Encomienda and Labor Systems
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Spanish Encomienda and Labor Systems

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