New Laws of 1542

The New Laws of 1542 were Spanish regulations intended to curb Indigenous enslavement and limit encomenderos’ hereditary control over Indigenous labor and tribute.

Encomienda: A Spanish colonial grant that assigned Indigenous communities to a Spaniard for tribute and labor in exchange for supposed protection and Christian instruction. The laws sought to restrict the labor demands and hereditary transmission tied to this institution.
Laws of Burgos: Spanish ordinances issued in 1512 and 1513 that regulated Indigenous labor and treatment in the Caribbean. They were an earlier royal attempt to regulate colonial labor without ending the encomienda system.
Gonzalo Pizarro's rebellion: A rebellion in Peru from 1544 to 1548, led by Gonzalo Pizarro against royal officials and the New Laws. The rebellion forced the Crown to suspend the laws’ most contested encomienda provisions.
Encomendero: A Spanish holder of an encomienda, entitled to collect tribute or labor from assigned Indigenous communities. Encomenderos resisted restrictions that threatened their control over labor and inheritance.
Indigenous slavery in the Americas: The enslavement of Indigenous people by European colonizers and colonial authorities in the Americas. The laws prohibited the enslavement of Indigenous people, with exceptions and uneven enforcement.
Requerimiento: A Spanish declaration demanding that Indigenous peoples accept the Catholic faith and Spanish sovereignty before conquest. Its coercive logic formed part of the legal debate over conquest that reformers challenged.
Blasco Núñez Vela: The first viceroy of Peru, appointed in 1543, who attempted to enforce the New Laws. His enforcement campaign brought him into conflict with Peru’s encomenderos and ended in his death.
Repartimiento: A colonial labor draft that required Indigenous communities to supply workers for limited periods. It became a regulated labor system after the Crown curtailed encomenderos’ control.
Bartolomé de las Casas: A Spanish Dominican friar and writer who denounced abuses against Indigenous peoples in the Americas. His advocacy helped press the Crown to reform colonial rule and protect Indigenous communities.
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire: The Spanish-led campaign from 1519 to 1521 that overthrew the Aztec Empire in central Mexico. Conquest created the colonial grants and labor demands that the New Laws later sought to restrain.

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