Topic 1.5 · AP U.S. History

Labor, Slavery, and Caste in the Spanish Colonial System

Analyze how Spanish colonization connected Indigenous tribute and coerced labor, African chattel slavery, mineral and plantation wealth, and an unequal caste hierarchy.

16 min overview3 objectives

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What you will understand

Use these objectives to guide your reading and to check whether you can explain the topic in your own words.

  1. 01

    Explain how encomienda and repartimiento mobilized Indigenous labor and tribute for Spanish colonial economies.

  2. 02

    Describe why Spanish colonists imported enslaved Africans and identify the varied work Africans performed.

  3. 03

    Connect colonial labor systems to the development of a ranked but locally variable caste hierarchy.

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