Spanish colonial society was structured around enconmiendas camps. Enconmiendas were villages and towns structured and centered around a Catholic mission. The Spanish would gather nearby indigenous peoples into these villages to work on farms and convert to Catholicism. However, the Spanish soon learned the dangers of keeping so many non-Europeans in close contact with Europeans. Whereas the Spanish had been exposed to deadly diseases for centuries, indigenous peoples were less immune due to their healthier lifestyles and less concentrated populations. When the Spanish gathered them into one spot, diseases ran rampant.
