The Valladolid Debate

 The Valladolid debate is about slavery in the new Spanish colonies. The two sides discussed whether the natives of the land should be slaves and should stay as slaves. The other side of the argument said that these people are Spanish subjects. They believed that they should be treated as equals to the Spaniards since they are part of the Spanish colony. The natives did not put up much of a fight when the Spanish conquered the land. The Spanish had guns, horses, and more men to overpower the natives. The Spanish also brought diseases which the natives could not fight off. The Spanish also used the encomienda system in the new territories that they conquered. “The encomienda system is a way of granting groups of indigenous people to specific Spaniards. Encomiendar means to entrust and it’s a reciprocal system where the Spaniard's give Christianity, civilization, and protection to a group of indigenous people in exchange for tribute from the people. This can be in the form of labor or gold or goods that they produce” (In Our Time, The Valladolid Debate). In reality, the encomiendar turns into a forced labor service for the native and indigenous people. Most of the time the Spaniards would end up just taking the natives lands because that’s what happens when they take control of the natives. Some people compare the encomienda to slavery, but the people have many more rights in the encomienda system compared to slavery. The main debate is to figure out what is a slave, who is a slave, and how they arrived at that conclusion.  

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