Name: ___________________________________________ The Encomienda System Big Idea Questions Guided Notes Areas of Concern Who groups benefited from encomiendas? Who was an individual that was instrumental in the decline of encomiendas? The New Curriculum and Encomiendas ? Key Concept 1.2, I, D. ?In the economies of the Spanish colonies, Indian labor, used in the encomienda system to support plantation-based agriculture and extract precious metals and other resources, was gradually replaced by African slavery.? ? Page 24 of the Curriculum framework ? Since the encomienda system is specifically mentioned in the framework, there is a good chance you will be directly assessed on it.