With the great navigations and the maritime expansion of the Iberian nations (Portugal and Spain) from the 15th century onwards, occurred, as we know, the discovery of the American continent, which was also called the "New World", by the Europeans. Well, shortly after this discovery, the Europeans began a process of colonization of this continent, in order to explore its natural resources and establish organizations administrative.
In the specific case of assembly of the spanish colonial system, the process took place in three ways: 1) the divisions; 2) the orders and 3) the haciendas.
You divisions were the first form of organization of the extraction of precious metals. It is known that, unlike Portuguese America (Brazil), in Spanish America, the extraction of metals started right away in the early years, because the natives themselves (Aztecs, for example) already mastered the techniques of extraction and smelting of the gold. After the conquest of the land and the subjugation of the native peoples, the Europeans needed to set up the system of divisions, employing the compulsory labor of the natives in the extraction of metals.
With orders (whose meaning is to recommend, to delegate), the Spanish colonists perfected the system of partition, managing to establish agreements with the tribal chiefs of the natives and, from that, apply the labor both in the extraction of metals and in small crops. In return, they pledged to educate the natives according to the precepts of the Catholic religion. You order they had some limitations determined by the crown, such as not taking over indigenous lands.
already the haciendas (whose approximate meaning is ranch or farm) consisted of a system of large plantations, called plantations, in which, generally, only one type of plant was cultivated (a practice known as monoculture). the owners of haciendas they were, in this way, qualified as large landowners. The type of work performed in haciendas it was compulsory and heavily supervised by the owner, who subjugated his workers through social and economic dependencies.
The main product cultivated in the haciendas was sugar. Thus, the latifundios (large properties of arable land) in Spanish America, for the most part, were dedicated to the planting of sugar cane.
By Me. Cláudio Fernandes
