Question

In 1550, spain abolished the encomienda system and replaced it with a new repartimiento system. identify the key characteristics of the repartimiento system.

Answer 1

The repartimiento system was a labor practice instituted by the Spanish for their colonies in the indies:

a.Natives were paid wages; it abolished enslavement of the native Americans
Natives remained legally free; the new system treated the native Americans as Spanish citizens
Natives were required to preform a fixed amount of labor to the conquistadors, but the mestizo were exempted, which served to further decline of American Indians as they intermarried further with the creole and the Spanish.