Labor systems in the period of 1450-1850 were extremely popular due to the fact that people needed labor in order to get work done on large plantations or other sites, especially in the Americas where new and valuable resources were found. This type of labor was cheap and usually controlled. Many labor sites had great amounts of people in order to complete all the labor necessary. Two popular labor systems of this time period include The Encomienda System and Russian Serfdom. The Encomienda System was a system that was developed by Spain in order to grant labor to former conquistadors by taking Native Americans and “requesting” tribute. Russian Serfdom was a system developed by the Russians for free Russian peasants to accept servile status …show more content…
In Russia, the government encouraged Serfdom because it let the government keep the nobles happy and regulate the serfs when they seemed to lack power. The Encomienda System was encouraged by the Spanish government because of the three G’s, God, glory, and gold. The system encouraged people, especially conquistadors, to come to the Americas and help colonize them. In addition, the Spanish kept this system because they needed labor in mines and plantations, especially the many silver mines around the area of Bolivia, Church building, and building new Spanish cities. However, in Russia, Czar Alexis passed an act in 1649 that said if you are born into serfdom you can not legally escape it. This contrasted the Spanish Encomienda system because the Encomienda system was a type of draft. Labor was needed by the indigenous people and they had an obligation and when they were done with they work they returned home and awaited their next service …show more content…
The indigenous people were required to listen to the encomendero at all times. Similarly, Russia’s serfs were like slaves because the serfs also had to obey their nobles. Serfdom was hereditary, just like slavery. This kept the nobles with constant labor help and essentially kept them happy. In addition, serfs also had to work in agricultural areas, but also in mining and manufacturing. Although, these two systems differed because the encomiendas were not legally allowed to punish the indigenous people because of the many deaths in labor. The encomiendas were not even allowed to see their servants in person to decrease any unwanted abuse. Nevertheless, in Russia the serfs were constantly punished by their owners, usually whenever there were rebellions. When rebellions occurred, the serfs were punished by either many forms of torture or were forced to enter the imperial army because the Russians wanted to prevent any further