🇺🇸ap us history review

Encomienda

Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated August 2025
Verified for the 2027 exam
Verified for the 2027 examWritten by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated August 2025

Definition

A Spanish labor system in the Americas that granted colonists control over Native American workers, forcing them to work in mining and agricultural production.

AP course connection

Topic 1.5: 1.5 Labor, Slavery, and Caste in the Spanish Colonial System

Unit 1