During the Spanish colonial period, the economy was based on exploitation, both of land and of Indian labor. The first Spanish settlers organized the encomienda system by which Spaniards were given title to American land and ownership of the villages on that land. In return for promises to convert the Indians to Christianity, the Spanish were allowed to use the land and labor any way they saw fit. This system quickly turned into something very close to outright slavery: Indians were paid exceedingly low wages—if anything at all—to peform backbreaking labor on plantations and in mines. The Spanish believed that their God-given duty was to convert the Indians, and that the European notion of eternal salvation was a reward great enough to justify any possible mistreatment in this life. The result was a race for control of people more than of land, and not too surprisingly, abuses were so widespread as to become the norm.
By 1550, the Spanish were involved in a heated debate about the rights of natives in the New World, and the New Laws were promulgated ordering the Indians to be treated with more dignity and outlawing outright exploitation. However, as the American proverb goes, "if death came from Spain, we would all live a long life"; in other words, orders from Madrid took a great deal of time to reach the New World, and were heavily diluted in the process. The encomienda system was officially abolished in 1717, but it continued in outlying regions until Mexico achieved independence in the 1820s.