| − | A legal system in Colonial Spanish America by which the Spanish crown made slaves of the Native Americans. | + | A legal system in Colonial Spanish America established by the explorer [[Christopher Columbus]] by which the Spanish crown made slaves of the Native American tribes. It was a trusteeship system, in which the conquistadors who conquered the land were given feudal authority over it. But unlike European [[feudalism]] the natives had absolutely no rights because in accordance with Church doctrine they were not human. |