History
The Spanish colonies in the Americas were from survival conflicts between indigenous peoples ('Natives' or 'Indians') and the Spanish invaders, due to the Indian Reductions and other policies. At the same time conflicts on policy and implementation occurred between the colonists and the Crown.
Two of the main sets of laws issued in the 16th century regulated Spanish contact with the indigenous people, an issue about which the crown quickly became concerned soon after the voyages of Christopher Columbus and his governorship. The Laws of Burgos (1512), signed by King Ferdinand II of Aragon, focused upon the welfare of the conquered native Americans. The issue was revisited after Bartolomé de las Casas brought attention to abuses being carried out by encomenderos. The Laws of Burgos were revised by the New Laws of 1542 issued by Charles I and quickly revised again in 1552, after the laws met resistance from colonists. These were then followed by the Ordinances Concerning Discoveries in 1573, which forbade any unauthorized operations against independent native Americans.
To guide and regularize the establishment of presidios (military towns), missions, and pueblos (civilian towns), King Phillip II developed the first version of the Laws of the Indies, a comprehensive guide composed of 148 ordinances to aid colonists in locating, building, and populating settlements. They codified the city planning process and represented some of the first attempts at a general plan. Signed in 1573, the Laws of the Indies are seen as the first wide-ranging guidelines towards design and development of communities. These laws were heavily influenced by Vitruvius' Ten Books of Architecture and Alberti's treatises on the subject.
After some of the northern Spanish colonies became a part of the United States, the Laws of the Indies were influential in the creation of regulations that guided the development in the United States, particularly the Land Ordinance of 1785, which introduced townships and sections as organizing devices.
Read more about this topic: Laws Of The Indies
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