ABSTRACT
The structure and composition of precolonial society in America created favorable conditions for the prompt subjugation of the indigenous population by the Spaniards. Since Andean indigenous society was never organized as an integrated nation, it was impossible for Spanish penetration to be countered with unified opposition. The "Kingdom of Quito" was never a political entity, strictly speaking, and it never extended beyond the central region of the Sierra. The cultural dependency of the Indians, the concentration of land in the hands of the whites, and the restriction of Indian lands, worked to inhibit the development of a society of free men in the New World colonies. The encomienda formed the nucleus of colonial political organization since it was the instrument whereby the Spaniards collected in well-defined communities the dispersed indigenous populations, an indispensable measure without which it would have been impossible to carry out the religious and economic objectives of the conquest.
