hacendado

Central American and South American landowners

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June 29, 2026

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A hacendado was the owner or proprietor of a hacienda, which is a large landed estate in Spanish America. Originating in the colonial period, haciendas were a traditional institution in rural life and persisted in many areas until the late 20th century.12

Hacendados held significant local government power and often kept laborers, typically Indigenous peoples, bound to the land through debt peonage. In Mexico, many of these large estates were broken up after the Mexican Revolution in 1911. The hacienda system, characterized by large, self-sufficient estates, relied on a permanent labor force of peons who were allowed to farm small plots for themselves in exchange for their labor and credit.23

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hacienda
…American Indians, who worked for hacendados (landowners) were theoretically free wage earners, but in practice their employers were able to bind them to the land, especially by keeping them in an indebted state; by the 19th century probably up to a half of the rural population of Mexico was thus…
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…American Indians, who worked for hacendados (landowners) were theoretically free wage earners, but in practice their employers were able to bind them to the land, especially by keeping them in an indebted state; by the 19th century probably up to a half of the rural population of Mexico was thus…
Read More