Answer:
The correct answer is C. The encomienda system exploited the labor of Native Americans, whereas slavery more typically extracted labor from enslaved Africans.
Explanation:
The Encomienda system and slavery were the two main forms of labor exploitation that were used by the Spanish during the conquest of the American continent. Both methods, although in practice they were quite similar, had differences in their purpose that separated them diametrically.
Thus, the Encomienda had as its purpose the conversion of the natives to Christianity, for which the King of Spain granted its most prominent nobles in the American continent, with the objective of evangelizing the natives who were within it. This evangelization also implied the development of populations in the European style, for which the use of these natives as labor was contemplated, being paid with their "re-education".
Instead, slavery had no other purpose than the mere use of cheap labor for the production of goods. Therefore, the slaves did not have an ideological or religious value as if the natives could have it, but they were acquired in the African continent as mere merchandise.
