Continuities And Changes In Labor Systems In The Americas

Continuities and changes in the labor systems in the Americas can be seen between 1450 and 1750. The continuation of the forced labor systems that American Indians had used was a major labor system continuity of the time. Such systems also experienced changes, such as the the introduction of new forced labor systems such as the Spanish encomienda system that helped Europeans in the Americas developed large and valuable plantations.

Before Europeans colonization began in the Americas in 1492, American Indians would actually enslaved other American Indians. The practice of slavery was quite common in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica amongst the indigenous peoples of the the Americas. Soon after the Spanish reached the Americas in the late 15th century,

Spaniards began enslaving American Indians to search for gold and other riches. This is a clear continuation of the forced labor systems of enslavement that American Indians used before the Europeans came to the Americas. Slavery would become a major Spanish objective in the New World, with Christopher Columbus enslaving and sending over 500 American Indians to Spain. When tobacco and sugar cash crop agriculture was discovered, Europeans exploited the enslaved natives for free labor. Sadly, many American Indians died due to overwork and European diseases to which they did not have immunity. After the shortage of American Indian slaves and workers, Europeans turned to Africa and the Atlantic slave trade to bring enslaved Africans to the Americas as the Europeans’ new source of forced free labor. The use of slavery in the Americas eventually turned into a labor system of chattel slavery, the system in which enslaved persons are owned forever and their descendents are automatically enslaved. Through the years of 1450 to 1750 the institution of slavery represented a continuity in the Americas in the forced labor system.

A major change occurred during the time period of 1450 to 1750, as the Spanish sought to exert greater control over the native populations. The encomienda system, which was essentially a system of coerced labor, was implemented. Spanish landowners were granted control over a great number of American Indians who were forced to work on plantations. In return, the landowners were responsible for teaching them Spanish, converting them to Catholicism, and looking after them, or so they were instructed by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Primarily in South America and the Caribbean islands, the Spanish would use this system to extract labor from American Indians on cash crop plantations.

Western European nations began to compete for overseas empires during the 15th century as their desire for direct access to Asian trade goods grew. When the Western European nations discovered the New World, Portugal, Spain, and France all attempted to secure some kind of income. With the discovery of new and rich plants, animals, and metals, the European powers sought to colonize the Americas. To successfully colonize the Americas and earn an income for the European empires, the European explorers and businessmen knew that they needed help producing the goods they would trade. This realization amplified the European desire for such a structure, eventually leading to the demand for coerced labor in the New World. The original labor systems that existed in the Americas, including chattel slavery and the Spanish encomienda system, helped the European nations acquire steady incomes from plantation farms by trading with other countries.

In the Americas, the labor systems of chattel slavery resulted from a continuity that persisted for the entire 200-year timespan of 1450 to 1750. The Spanish encomienda system marked a change in the labor systems that existed in the Americas during these years. These labor systems were strongly supported by Europeans in the Americas for the entire span of 1450 to 1750.