Economy in New Spain

Economy in

New Spain​

Encomiendas, mining, slaves, and other economic activities that emerged.

The Viceroyalty of New Spain

What were the Encomiendas?

• The first conquerors received comissions known as encomiendas; that is, the right to exploit the work of the indigenous people.

• The Encomendero had to teach them the Christian doctrine, European farming techniques, and other trades.

• Many times the encomederos made the natives work brutally.

• The work that the natives did in the New Spanish system was only beneficial for the Spaniards; a lot of indigenous communties lost their lands.

The Viceroyalty of New Spain

The Encomienda was the main economic system of the first years of the Viceroyalty period.

• In the mid-16th century, silver mines were discovered in Taxco, Pachuca, Guanajuato, and Zacatecas; the Spanish Crown set out to exploit those deposits.

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Viceroyalty of New Spain

​Mining

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• From these deposits, materials such as gold, silver, copper, and iron were extracted.

• The main privilege of mining was that, at the time, wealth was measured by precious metals.

Viceroyalty of New Spain

• Due to the death of the natives and the fact that enslaving them was prohibited, the Spaniards brought several thousand African slaves for the mines, sugar mills, textile mills and domestic service.

Viceroyalty of New Spain

​Slave work and other economic activities

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• The mines particularly occupied a lot of slaves and workers.

• ​The discovery of mines meant the birth of new cities.

• The creation of mining cities, around mines, produced the emergence of new agricultural and livestock operations dedicated to their supply, which together with the construction of roads to give way to production of the mines, resulted in an important economic boost.

The Viceroyalty of New Spain

Open Ended

What was an encomienda?

Multiple Select

What was the job of the encomendero?

• To teach Christianity to the natives

• To give them work to do

• To teach natives other trades, like carpentry

Open Ended

What were some of the effects (negative or positive) that mining brought to New Spain?