The Church and the Repartimientos in the Light of the Third Mexican Council, 1585
1963 ◽
Vol 20
(1)
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pp. 3-36
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Keyword(s):
If, as has been asserted, the Mexican Indian owes his daily wage to the Third Mexican Council, then the attitude of that Council toward the question of Indian labor must be of surpassing importance for Mexican history. The transition of the Indian from an economy in which the wage system was unknow to a totally European system was the aim of the Spanish crown, despite such aberrations as the encomienda and the repartimiento. Any influence exercised on this progress by the Church is deserving of special study, not only because of the positive accomplishments that resulted but also because of the light that it can shed on the labor system as actually practiced in colonial Mexico.