Page "Hacienda" Paragraph 2

Haciendas originated in land grants, mostly made to conquistadors.

It is in Mexico that the hacienda system can be considered to have its origin in 1529, when the Spanish crown granted to Hernán Cortés the title of Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca, which entailed a tract of land that included all of the present state of Morelos.

Significantly, Cortés was also granted an encomienda, which included all the Native Americans then living on the land and power of life and death over every soul on his domains.