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New Laws

1542 · 16th century · Also known as New Laws of 1542

The New Laws were a set of regulations issued by the Spanish crown in 1542 to govern the treatment of indigenous peoples in the Americas. Influenced by Bartolomé de las Casas and debates over the legitimacy of conquest, they sought to limit the encomienda system and prohibit indigenous enslavement. Fierce resistance from colonists meant they were enforced with mixed success in the Spanish Empire.

New Laws
Image: Juan de Brocar (impresor), Jean de Vingles (grabador) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 profiles

Spanish EmpireGovernanceViceroyalty of PeruFoundation, Summary

Mentioned in 3 state histories

Governorate of New CastileGovernorate of New ToledoViceroyalty of Peru

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). New Laws. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/new-laws
MLA
“New Laws.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/new-laws. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “New Laws.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/new-laws.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘New Laws’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/new-laws (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻