Marcela Ternavasio

History of Argentina
1806-1852
Index
Introduction
To be part of a great empire
A monarchy with imperial vocation. The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. A new map for America. The limits.
of the imperial adjustment. The English invasions. The adventure of Popham and Beresford. The reconquest of the capital. The
Dismissed viceroy. The legacy of the British occupation
A monarchy without a monarch
The consequences of an empty throne. Napoleon occupies the Iberian Peninsula. The crisis of the monarchy is transferred.
America. America, 'an essential and integral part of the Spanish monarchy.' The Rio de la Plata facing the crisis
monarchical. To which king to swear allegiance? The disobedience of Montevideo. The frustrated junte attempt of
Cabildo of Buenos Aires. The last viceroy. Watch and punish. The lost Peninsula?
A new political order is born
1810: the first autonomous government. A hectic week. The revolution and its uncertainties. Buenos Aires at the
Conquest of the Viceroyalty. The political directions of the revolution. The Río de la Plata facing the new nation
Spanish. City Council or Congress? What to do with the cities? Crisis of the Board. From autonomy to
independence. 1812: a crucial year. Constituent Congress without independence. From the power vacuum to a new
provisional government. The independence of the United Provinces of South America
4. From the civil war to the war of independence
The war as a military enterprise. The Northern army. The conquests of Chile and Montevideo. The war and the
social transformations.
The costs of the war enterprise. Redefinition of social hierarchies. The war and the new liturgy
revolutionary. Freedom and equality. New identities. Contesting representations
5. The disunity of the United Provinces
Agony and death of the central power. A new acetaba. The crisis of 1820 in Buenos Aires. Path to the
pacification. A new map for the Río de la Plata. The provincial republics. On the autonomy of the peoples
to the provincial autonomies. Leaders and constitutions. Unequal experiences. The Northern provinces. The
Republic of Buenos Aires: a happy experience? Institutionalization without a constitution. Modernizing the space
political. Reorient the economy
6. The impossible unity
A new attempt at constitutional unity. From political consensus to the division of the Buenos Aires elite. Unitarians and
federal. The Constitution of 1826. The war against Brazil. The civil war. The legacy of failure
constitutional. Buenos Aires regains its provincial borders. Pacts and regional blocks. Confederation without
Constitution
7. The Buenos Aires federal
The rise of Juan Manuel de Rosas. The Restorer of the Laws. The extraordinary powers. A new
way of doing politics. The divided Buenos Aires federalism. Contested constitutional projects. The
Restorers' Revolution. The Desert Campaign. An unstable order. A mediator for the provinces
in conflict. BarrancaYaco
8. Roses and Rosismo
The unanimous republic. The sum of public power. The visibility of consensus. The intolerance of dissent.
Santa Federation. The new order in the provinces
9. From the republic of terror to the crisis of the Rosista order
The besieged republic. The fronts of conflict. The opposition in Buenos Aires. The consolidation of the regime and the
terror. Pacification and crisis. The peace of the cemeteries. The battle of ideas. The final battle: Caseros
Epilogue
Bibliography
 Introduction
The story that the reader will find narrated in the following pages presents, from the beginning, a
naming problem. The habit of calling 'Argentine history' the period that opens with the Revolution of
May 1810 responds to a convention accepted by the majority and to the naturalization that at the point of
the departure of that story was inscribed the destination point. The Argentine Republic, as it was formed
during the second half of the 19th century, it was for a long time the mold, both geographical and political,
about which the stories about the past of that republic were built, even before it was formed
as such.
However, what the historian finds today when exploring that past is a heterogeneous set of
men and territories with very changing borders. Before 1810, they were part of the empire
Hispanic and its inhabitants were subjects of the Spanish monarch. In the last quarter of the 18th century, the city of
Buenos Aires became the capital of a new viceroyalty, that of the Río de la Plata, which brought together under its
dependency on an extremely vast territory, which included not only the current Argentine provinces but also to
the republics of Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia. With the May Revolution, that viceroyalty unity began to
to fragment, while the empire of which that viceroyalty was only a part began to crumble. In
Within the framework of that process, the alternatives born from the imperial crisis were numerous and very versatile.
This book presents some of these alternatives and aims to show the winding path taken by a
history that will only be identified as "Argentine" several decades later. To achieve this, it is necessary, first
place, expand the horizon both towards broader geographies and towards smaller scales than those
represented in the current political maps. Secondly, given the limited scope of a book like this
characteristics, it is necessary to select an angle from which to approach the cluttered process opened by the
revolution. For this reason, the following pages focus on the political dimension of the unfolded history.
during the first half of the 19th century and focus on some of the conflicts that arose for the
construction of a new order.
The territorial issue takes on particular relevance here because a large part of the disputes analyzed arose
and developed within human groups that claimed privileges, rights, or powers for the
territories they inhabited - Throughout this period, such disputes were transforming and presenting
different challenges and various alignments of social, economic, and political forces. If at the end of the century
In the 18th century, within the framework of the reforms implemented by the Spanish Crown, the American colonies were faced with

subjected to a new political-territorial design that generated resistance among those who were harmed
due to those measures, with the crisis of the monarchy, following the occupation of the Iberian Peninsula by the troops
In 1808, the American territories took on an unprecedented role. Mainly due to the fact that
The King was held captive by Napoleon Bonaparte, so the inhabitants of each jurisdiction
they began to demand different margins of self-government, in the name of the rights that were assigned to them
their respective territories. From that date on, the cities and provinces that three decades earlier had
Once the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was established, they were not only settings for wars and conflicts of various kinds.

nature, but subjects of sovereign attribution. From there on, disputes were expressed through different
levels of confrontation: colonies against metropolis, cities against the capital, Americans versus
peninsulares, provinces vs provinces, unitarios vs federales, federales vs federales.
In each and every one of these facts, the territorial dimension of politics is a fundamental key to
to understand why and in the name of what those men faced, both through words and through
weapons. By the way, this is not the only key to understanding the conflicts that plagued this southern region.
of the Hispanic world, and that would give rise, only at the end of the story told in this book, to the formation of
Argentinian state. YES, the decision to prioritize such a dimension here is basically for three reasons. First
place, because in this record it is possible to combine the account of relevant events with explanations
around the profound changes that occurred in those years regarding the patterns that regulated relationships
of obedience and command or, in other words, between rulers and the ruled. The fact that, between ends
from the 18th century and the first decades of the 19th, there has been a shift from a conception of power founded on the

divine right of kings to one based on popular sovereignty had enormous consequences. Among them, the
which led to the invention of an activity, politics, in which men began to create new
types of connections and relationships, and in which they disputed the legitimate exercise of authority through
mechanisms that were practically unknown until recently. The second reason derives from this first:
politics, as it was configured after the revolutionary event, as a new art and as a space of
conflict not only includes other dimensions —social, economic, cultural, ideological— but also, to a great extent
measure, was the one that set the pace of many transformations produced in other spheres. Thirdly,
because in that plot there is a change, perhaps quieter than others, but no less relevant for that: the
the idea that power almost exclusively involved the governance of territories began to shift and give way
place to another that began to conceive it in terms of governing individuals.
From this perspective, since it is a period in which the disintegration of the Spanish empire
left as a legacy the emergence of new and changing territorial entities that claimed autonomy
Cities, provinces, countries - in this story, greater attention is paid to Buenos Aires. This stems not only from
fact that this city was first established as a viceroyal capital and then as the center from which it radiated
revolutionary process, but because it was due to that same central condition that Buenos Aires sought
to conquer that produced the most virulent conflicts of the period. To focus attention on the role that is
awarded Buenos Aires and in which the territories linked to it were assigned to her - a classic topic in the
Argentinian historiography does not imply constructing, once again, a port-centric history, but rather exposing the
various modulations that the complex web of relationships between territories and men adopted.
The structure that the chapters of this book adopt, then, follows a periodization that seeks to make
these modulations are visible. At the starting point, the scale of analysis is imperial, because it starts from
supposition that it is not possible to understand the changes that occurred after 1810 if the
peculiar nature of the Spanish Empire and the effects of the reforms applied at the end of the century
XVIII in the events that occurred from 1806, when the viceroyal capital was invaded by an expedition
British, and especially after 1808, when the Spanish monarchy suffered the most devastating crisis of its
history. The first two chapters are dedicated to analyzing those processes, while the third delves into
the avatars of the Revolution of 1810 and the different courses of political action that autonomy opened
experienced from that date, going through the proclamation of independence in 1816 until the crisis and
dissolution of central power in 1820. The war of independence is the central theme of the fourth chapter; its
treatment is not limited to the military field but also includes social and economic aspects as well as the role
that played a role in the formation of new identities and values. With the fifth chapter, the scales of analysis are
they adjust to the new situation that arose following the fall of the central power established in 1810. After
1820, it is no longer possible to adjust the narrative to an imperial scale - practically disintegrated by that date - nor to the

unit that, although fragile, represented the revolutionary power based in Buenos Aires. From then on the
territorial spaces became even more imprecise and the process was characterized by new republics
provinces that, without renouncing to form a political unit guaranteed by a written constitution,
they disputed among themselves and formed very changing leagues.

If in chapter 5 the common and at the same time diverse characteristics of those new republics are developed,
In section 6, the last attempt to create a unified constitutional state with the provinces is analyzed.
After the wars of independence were completed, they had remained linked to their former capital, a process that had
place during the first half of the 19th century. This link became increasingly conflictual, as evidence
the failure of the third Constituent Congress convened between 1824 and 1827 and the subsequent civil war between blocs
regionals, which respectively adopted the names of "unitarians" and "federals." The last three chapters
they are dedicated to the period when the hegemony of one of the opposing sides in the 1820s was
almost total. The triumph of the federal party, both in Buenos Aires and in the rest of what adopted for 1831
the name 'Confederation' - and gradually that of Argentine Confederation - expresses the imprecision of a
an order that was neither strictly federal nor confederal. As demonstrated in chapter 7, dedicated to
analyze the rise of Juan Manuel de Rosas to his first governorship in Buenos Aires, as in the two
last chapters, intended to examine the federal order imposed from 1835, when Rosas assumed power
second time the government of Buenos Aires with the accumulation of public power and the representation of affairs
the external aspects of the Confederation, that federalism was as ambiguous as it was effective in imposing an order
centralized, dominated from Buenos Aires.
This book concludes with the fall of Juan Manuel de Rosas in 1852. In that ending, there are unresolved matters.

some of the inherited problems from the revolution. Among them, the formation of an order stands out.
stable political system guaranteed by a set of rules that, according to new experiences and theories, posited
Policies of the time had to be sanctioned in a constitutional text. By that date, if the constitutional issue
it appeared as a complex but unavoidable challenge to unify provinces under a modern state
supposedly autonomous within the framework of the Confederation seemed urgent. It was a process that, without
embargo, it could not be resolved so easily. The National Constitution enacted in 1853 was only accepted by
all the territories after 1860, once reformed and recognized by the most rebellious province: Buenos Aires.
Only from there would the history of the Argentine Republic begin, strictly speaking.
But, if we accept to maintain here the convention that the story narrated before 1852 is that of the first
the period of independent Argentina is because, even admitting that this Argentina is nothing more than the
post hoc projection of a non-existent unit for the time in question remains an effective label
when it comes to reconstructing the past, as it allows for the deconstruction of old interpretative models without intending to
with it to make a kind of Copernican revolution. Although the courses of action opened with the revolution do not
they were enrolled in a process that naturally and necessarily had to lead to the unity of the nation-state
Consolidated after 1860, it is true that in part of that framework, the country that adopted the
name of Argentina.
This book is dedicated to my colleagues from the Argentine History I chair of the Faculty of Humanities and
Arts of the National University of Rosario and to all the students who have been through it since the year 2003,
when I took on the position of tenured professor of the subject. Over the course of these years, I learned a lot from everyone

I enjoyed -and fortunately continue to enjoy- my teaching work. What is reflected in the following
pages is, therefore, a product of that shared work, and in them I try to offer a narrative that can be read as
a set of 'classes' on Argentine history.
 1. Be part of a great empire

In the second half of the eighteenth century, the Spanish Crown initiated a series of reforms.
political, administrative, economic, and military. In permanent wars with other powers,
Spain sought to overcome the crisis that had plagued it for some time and strengthen its empire.
Transoceanic. America became yet another stage for the inter-imperial disputes for dominance.
the Atlantic; in that context, in 1776, the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was created, with its capital in Buenos
Buenos Aires. In 1806 and 1807, British forces invaded the new viceroyalty capital and occupied part of the
Eastern Banda. Although the British conquest was ephemeral, it left a deep crisis as a legacy.
politics and institutional in the River Plate.

A monarchy with imperial vocation The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata

On June 27, 1806, the routine life of the men and women who inhabited the city of Buenos
Buenos Aires was shocked by the advance of a British expedition made up of one thousand six hundred soldiers and
led by Scottish commander Home Popham and Brigadier General William Garr Beresford. The rapid
the conquest of the English troops, which left the population in a state of astonishment and stupefaction, occurred thirty
years after Buenos Aires was established as the capital of a new viceroyalty. In 1776, the Spanish Crown
provisionally ordered the creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, implemented in a way
definitive in 1777. The following year, the Free Trade Regulation was issued, which authorized the port of the
the shiny virreinal capital to trade legally with other American and Spanish ports, and in 1782 it was applied
a system of intendancies that reorganized territorially and administratively the entire new viceroyalty. These
measures were part of a general reform plan implemented by the metropolis, known as 'reforms'.
"Bourbon reforms," which, with varying degrees of success, were applied in almost all domains of the Spanish monarch.

The Bourbon dynasty, which had been the legitimate ruling house in Spain since the early 18th century,
was determined to give an imperial face to her monarchy. Although since the early 16th century the world
The Hispanic had acquired imperial shades by annexing overseas territories, yet still presented a...
peculiar constitution. The gigantic expansion of the domains of the king of Spain, which legally passed to
depending on the Crown of Castile, stemmed from a process of the expansion of the monarchy that was different from
the classical empires. One of the main differences lay in the Catholic nature of that expansion.
The universal vocation of the Spanish monarchy fundamentally responded to a prophetic design and to a
religious project. On these bases, the legitimacy of the conquest was established and the bond of all
kingdoms with the monarch, which were supposed to reproduce the modes of community and institutional organization
own of the Peninsula, and implied the reciprocity of rights and obligations between the king and his kingdoms. This
it gave rise to the consolidation of broad territorial and corporate autonomies during the 16th and 17th centuries
in America.
However, in the mid-18th century, the Crown aimed to transform the nature of order.
Hispanic. In the face of the diagnosis that the system established since the 16th century was in crisis, it began to
conceive the idea that this order should transform into a commercial empire, following the model of
Great Britain. This shift aimed to create a more decisively imperial image of the monarchy, and
replace the reciprocity bond between the king and his kingdoms with a type of relationship that favored the
maximization of profits for the metropolis from the exploitation of resources of the now
considered colonies. This shift became more palpable after the Seven Years' War - a war
international conflict that took place between 1756 and 1763 in Europe, America, and Asia, and that changed the balance of power in

the New World-, when concrete measures were implemented with decisive consequences for the government of
America. Among such measures, the military imprint of the reforms applied during the reigns of
Charles III (1763-1788) and Charles IV (1789-1808) Strengthen the transoceanic empire, constantly threatened
due to the presence of other powers in America, it became a priority objective. To achieve it
It was necessary to strengthen the military defense of the most vulnerable points of that enormous territory and ensure
a more effective economic exploitation in order to remedy the crisis and stagnation that was being experienced
metropolis. The new political-territorial design of the entire empire stood out as one of the transformations
more ambitious of the new dynasty.
Thus, in the heat of this reformist climate, the Río de la Plata region became a strategic point.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the southernmost corner of the Spanish dominions had not acquired any greater significance.

interest for the Crown. As they did not possess wealth in precious metals - which others certainly presented in abundance

regions like New Spain and Peru-, the River Plate had remained a marginal area within the
empire. But Portugal's manifest expansionist vocation over the south Atlantic and the importance that all
the area assumed for maritime trade led the metropolis to redirect its attention towards this region and to
create the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.

The Enlightenment
The reformist plan was inscribed in the new climate of ideas that the Enlightenment brought with it. The political formula that
the Bourbons adopted was enlightened despotism. Their goals were to promote welfare, technical progress.
and economic, education and culture from a perspective that started from an optimistic and positive utilitarianism.
The political power -in this case the Crown- was responsible for carrying out these goals and therefore had to
to position oneself as the promoter of progress. The trust in education as the foundation of public happiness
it implied a change of conception regarding traditional teaching, based on scholasticism. Nevertheless,
the emphasis of the Spanish illustrated reformists on the dissemination of practical and rational knowledge did not question in

at no time the principles of the Catholic religion. In this sense, a selection process took place and
adaptation of the intellectual innovations of the Enlightenment to Catholic dogmas. For this reason, some
Authors have classified as 'Catholic Enlightenment' the set of novelties introduced in the Hispanic world.
during the 18th century.

However, despite the martial origins of the new political-administrative jurisdiction, the invasions
The British invasions of 1806 and 1807 exposed the weakness of the Spanish authorities to defend their
domains in America. The reforms implemented during the three decades that elapsed between the viceroyal foundation
and the conquest of the British forces revealed both the remarkable changes that occurred on an imperial scale and
regional as its limits.
A new map for America
With the Bourbon reforms, Spanish domains in America changed from an organization into two
viceroyalties of immeasurable extensions -New Spain and Peru- to one of four viceroyalties -New
Spain, New Granada, Peru, and Río de la Plata - and five captaincies general - Puerto Rico, Cuba, Florida,
Guatemala, Caracas and Chile-. Until the creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, the entire territory of present-day
The Argentine Republic -and even more so- depended directly on the Viceroyalty of Peru, with its capital in Lima, and
was divided into two large governorships: that of Tucumán and that of the Río de la Plata. In 1776, the new
Viceroyalty with its capital in Buenos Aires brought together the governorships of the Río de la Plata, Paraguay, Tucumán, and the

Upper Peru (in this latter case it referred to a region somewhat larger than the current Republic of Bolivia),
taking away broad jurisdiction from the authorities residing in Lima.
Shortly thereafter, with the Ordinance of Intendants applied in 1782, the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was
divided into eight intendancies: La Paz, Potosí, Charcas, and Cochabamba (located in Upper Peru), Paraguay,
Salta, Córdoba, and Buenos Aires. The Banda Oriental (now Uruguay) remained as a military governorship.
integrated into the Viceroyalty, but with a greater degree of autonomy regarding the viceroyal seat. The same happened
with other border districts such as the towns of Misiones, Mojo, and Chiquitos. In turn, this
the ordinance redefined the territorial hierarchies by establishing different ranks among the cities: at the top
it was the capital city of the viceroyalty; the head cities of the provincial governments followed it,
which in turn were subordinate to the subordinated cities; finally, there were the rural areas, which did not
they were more than enormous territories dependent on the councils of the respective cities. If taken as
example the governorships and intendancies whose territories correspond approximately to the current Republic
Argentina, the ranking was as follows: the intendancy of Salta had its capital in the homonymous city and
it included the subordinate cities of Jujuy, Santiago del Estero, San Miguel de Tucumán, and Catamarca; that of
Córdoba included La Rioja, San Luis, San Juan, and Mendoza, subordinate to the capital city of Córdoba; and that of
Buenos Aires had jurisdiction over Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Corrientes. The city of Buenos Aires was, at the same time,
viceroyal capital and of its own intendancy.
What did the new territorial design imply? Although the complicated divisions and subdivisions may
to induce to think that it was an attempt to decentralize the administration of American domains, the
the purpose was the opposite. The reforms aimed to centralize the power of the Crown, reinforcing the figure of the
monarch and ensure greater control of overseas possessions by the peninsular authorities.
For this, officials were sent directly from Spain - among them, the mayors based in the ...
capitals, governance and the sub-delegates in the subordinate cities-, in order to limit the enormous
influence that the most powerful local Creole families had acquired in the main cities. This
The situation of dominance was due not only to their great wealth but also to the fact that they were linked in networks.
of social relationships that opened doors to positions and trades in the main corporations of the world
colonial, in which, moreover, they were managed with a wide margin of autonomy from the Crown. For
Thus, the purpose of this was to reduce that margin of autonomy through officials who would depend on
directly from the king. It was assumed that these individuals, who were legally prohibited from establishing ties
family or business ties with the population in which they exercised their functions would not give in to the temptation of

to get involved in client networks or local alliances. The fact that many of them were military expresses,
Furthermore, the strong militaristic content of the reforms. Spain tried to strengthen its presence in America.
through strategically located military plazas.
On the other hand, the Free Trade Regulation of 1778 also sought to reinforce this process of
centralization. Of course, beyond its name, it was far from liberalizing trade with the powers.
foreigners, prohibited by the monopoly system imposed by Spain, which only allowed trade
legally to a few American ports with the port of Cádiz. The only thing that the regulation enabled was the
direct trade between the colonies and with some Spanish ports. Among the ports now authorized in
America was that of Buenos Aires. This measure legalized a de facto situation: through the
smuggling and semi-legal trade, that port had operated in a more or less visible manner in front of the
authorities that were often involved in such exchanges. The truth is that this way, it was sought
legalize the transit of goods - especially precious metal - to the metropolis to control and
maximize the resources that the colonies had to provide to the Crown's treasury, within the framework of a
crisis juncture for the empire and ongoing wars with other European countries. The flexibilization of
the commercial system aimed to further strengthen the existing monopoly and reposition Spain as
power in the Atlantic stage.

The limits of imperial adjustment

The reforms implemented since the late 18th century disrupted the social, political, and territorial balances.
existing in the affected areas. The most powerful Creole groups, accustomed to having a strong
incidence and autonomy in the management of government affairs at the local level were felt to be very affected.
Some cities viewed their new ranks within the Bourbon territorial design unfavorably and
they questioned their hierarchy of subordinate cities or even the fact that some had not become capitals of
new vice royalties. In many regions, indigenous peoples resisted implementing some of the measures
imposed by the new officials, especially those aimed at exerting greater pressure on them
fiscal. The new treatment that the American inhabitants received from the Crown was perceived by many
as humiliating, when they realized that they were losing old privileges or that they were forced to increase the payment of

tributes to the metropolis. In some cases, resistance to reforms took the form of uprisings.
violent, as occurred with the rebellion led in 1780 by Tupac Amaru in Peru, which was brutally repressed by
the colonial authorities, while in others it manifested in muted political and legal disputes. The
local groups used more than ever the classic formula 'it is complied but not fulfilled', through which
Creoles used to justify decision-making with a certain degree of autonomy from the metropolis,
without this meaning to disregard the authority and loyalty to the monarch.
Now, the resistance to the reforms manifested primarily in the central areas of the empire.
In the case of the Río de la Plata, the new measures were largely meant to benefit a region up to that point.
marginal moment. Buenos Aires not only became the seat of a viceroyal court and new corporations
—like the Audiencia created in 1783 and the Consulate of Commerce in 1794—but also in a port
legalized, where the Real Customs was established, favored by the businesses and resources that flowed from the circuit
mercantile centered in Upper Peru, now detached from its former jurisdiction and included in the Viceroyalty
In the rich Altiplano region were located the silver mines of Potosí. From that
at the moment, the extraction of Potosi silver began to cover a large part of the expenses that it demanded.
installation and maintenance of the new viceroyal authorities. The new political map seemed to replicate the
merchant circuits that, through a complex network of interregional and overseas traffic, between the
16th and 18th centuries, had integrated the vast area of the southernmost part of America along the Potosí-Buenos axis.

Aires. The new capital doubled its population during the three decades of the Viceroyalty (it went from about
twenty thousand inhabitants to nearly forty thousand) and the most powerful merchant groups saw their grow.
riches as they rose to the top of the social ladder. Perhaps for these reasons and because of the fact
unquestionably that the new officials, far from remaining distant, established ties and alliances with
local interests, the reactions to the reforms were, at least in Buenos Aires, much less intense
than in other regions.
In this sense, the new political map benefited the viceroyal capital, but at the same time assembled
very disparate jurisdictions. The case of Alto Perú was certainly the most striking, not only for having
detached from its traditional dependency on Lima, but fundamentally for having shattered dreams
viceroyalties of that jurisdiction. The establishment of a new capital in a marginal city that, until 1776, only
it had a governor, a council, and a few employees, which proved irritating for the regions that,
possessing wealth and much denser institutional networks, they were now becoming dependent on it. In
In a report from 1783, the people of Upper Peru pointed out the 'wrong inclusion of the province of Charcas up to the
city of Jujuy and that of La Paz" in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and, in reference to the fact that the viceroyalty seat was

resolved by the resources of the mines of Potosí, it was also said: "my son, the boy Buenos Aires to whom
viceroyalty of”. What was at stake, in this case, was the real recognition of its capital status by
of the dependent jurisdictions and, even, of Buenos Aires itself, accustomed to operating in a manner
autonomous since time immemorial as the head of a marginal government. As will be seen later,
The disorder introduced by the reforms in the pre-existing territorial hierarchies constituted a wedge into the
colonial system, whose most disruptive consequences only revealed themselves in all their power when it entered
in crisis.
This attempt at imperial redefinition occurred at a time that was not favorable for Spain. The situation
international became increasingly complicated, in the heat of events that disrupted both the
European world like the American one. The independence revolution of the United States in 1776 and the
The French Revolution of 1789 was, without a doubt, the most significant event. The war unleashed between the
English colonies and Great Britain, when the former declared their independence from the latter, aligned with
France and Spain - traditionally allies against England - with the United States. Between 1796 and 1802,
Wars became widespread across Europe and their effects were felt immediately in its territories.
America. The English fleet blocked the port of Cádiz and other Hispanic American ports, which affected
substantially the trade relations between the Spanish metropolis and its American possessions. The
the monopoly system was leaking from all sides, as the Crown could not guarantee it on its own.
supply of its colonies amidst war conflicts. This forced it to grant successive
commercial concessions to the Creole groups, which were authorized to buy and sell products to others
foreign powers and colonies. In this way, merchants from the Río de la Plata were able to trade
slaves, export local goods - such as leather, tallow, and jerky - and import coffee, rice, or tobacco. Everything is
it worsened for the metropolis in 1805, when Spain -at that time allied with France- lost almost all of its fleet
upon being defeated by Great Britain in the Battle of Trafalgar.
In that conflictive context, the reformist plan of the Bourbons was sinking irretrievably. The attempt to
centralize power in the hands of the monarch and increase the efficiency of the economic exploitation of the colonies
surrendered to both external and internal threats. The reforms were unable to fulfill - or only
they partially achieved their objectives, while in some regions they could not even be applied. In
In most cases, the new peninsula officials were forced to negotiate matters.
government with discontented local elites, while fiscal collection was insufficient to
to cover the enormous war expenses. However, even though the measures implemented in the last stretch of the
the 18th century left a background of discontent among those who were most affected by them, did not change the
feeling of belonging to the transoceanic monarchy on the part of the Americans. In the same way as
the Bourbons intended to reform their empire aiming for greater control over their realms, many
Americans sought to maintain their ancient privileges, albeit within a framework of a system that continued to place
to the king at the summit. Obedience to the monarch and loyalty to Spain remained unscathed during those
years, beyond the discontent and tensions born from this attempt at imperial adjustment. Perhaps the clearest example is
this loyalty was exhibited by the inhabitants of Buenos Aires when, in 1806, Brigadier General
Beresford believed he had won the battle...

Topics under discussion

The historical process opened with the change of dynasty in Spain at the beginning of the 18th century has been the subject of many controversies in
the historiographical field. While most historians agree in stating that modern times in Spain are
They were inaugurated with the advent of the Bourbons; not everyone shares the same judgment about the objectives and effects of the reforms.
implemented both in the Peninsula and in America. In Spain, such controversies were expressed since the 19th century, when
some currents considered the reforms as the beginning of the regeneration of Spain, while others used them as
argument for a severe disqualification of the dynasty. As for America, some historians have characterized the experience
Bourbon reformist as a 'reconquest of America' and 'revolution in government'. The term 'reconquest' seeks to express
graphically the centralizing purpose of the reforms; with the term 'revolution' reference is made to the changes that the Crown
he sought to impose in the government. Disagreements arise when assessing the policies applied in the 18th century:
while some historians emphasize the changes produced at the empire level, others consider that the reforms had a
minor impact, among other reasons because the attempt to bureaucratically reconquer the colonies clashed with the logic of
imperial negotiation in America since the 16th century.

The English invasions The adventure of Popham and Beresford

Since the late eighteenth century, Great Britain was increasingly interested in the Hispanic American colonies.
Indeed, after the British occupation of Havana in 1762, various secret plans had been drawn up.
to invade the Spanish colonies in America. In these plans, Buenos Aires was presented as a stronghold
very attractive, both for its geopolitical and commercial importance by occupying a strategic location on the routes that
they joined the Atlantic with the Pacific, due to their vulnerability from a military standpoint. Although the
the creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata had as its main objective to militarily reinforce the region
southern part of the empire, given the constant Portuguese pressure on Rio Grande and Colonia de Sacramento, the
Corona did not ensure that such reinforcement was significant in terms of the deployment of regular troops and of the
organization of regulated local militias. The reports prepared by various British figures
Those interested in the Hispanic American colonies emphasized the weak defense that the capital had.
new Viceroyalty.
Among those characters was Commander Popham, who had been participating for some time in
those secret plans. At first, his adventure -which took him from the Cape of Good Hope to the
Buenos Aires port in 1806 did not have the authorization of the British government. However, after the
quick conquest of the capital of the Viceroyalty, the expedition obtained the endorsement of His Majesty. The capture of the port

from Buenos Aires was strategic for the interests of the British Crown; neither the king nor his ministers
seemed willing to waste that opportunity. On one hand, since the late 18th century, England
found itself in the midst of the industrial revolution and commercial expansion of its products. On the other hand,
the international situation was particularly conflictive. The wars arising from the heat of the French Revolution
they had become widespread and the conquests of Napoleon Bonaparte threatened to break the European balance and
the growing power acquired by Great Britain throughout the 18th century. In 1805, the Battle of Trafalgar left
England as the absolute owner of the seas, but did not manage to stop the Napoleonic advance in Europe, which
he achieved an important victory at Austerlitz that same year.
In that scenario, the two English invasions of the Río de la Plata took place in the years 1806 and 1807.
respectively. In the first instance, Popham and Beresford conceived the capture of Buenos Aires as a
easy and promising alternative in the pursuit of conquering new markets in South America. Ensure
strategic military bases on which ensuring their commercial expansion was the main objective that
England was being pursued during those years. In relation to the ease of the capture, the English themselves were left ...

surprised to be received with some enthusiasm by the main authorities and corporations of the city
and finding no serious military resistance upon their landing. Due to the shortage of regular troops and militias
Local factors were compounded by the fact that most of the troops had been assigned to guard the indigenous border.
the British took control of the Fort without much difficulty, while the highest Spanish authority, the viceroy
Sobremonte was retreating towards Córdoba.
 The Viceroy has been absent from the capital city since June 25, two days before the event occurred.
capitulation of Buenos Aires and the subsequent oath of allegiance sworn to the new British sovereignty by
part of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities and some leading neighbors and merchants of the city. In
effect, Sobremonte, in the face of the imminent advance of the English troops, abandoned the city entrusting them to the
listeners of the Audiencia direct their last resistance. But neither the Audiencia nor the Cabildo were willing to
faced a battle within the urban area and chose to surrender to the British forces. The Viceroy
he headed towards Córdoba with the purpose of organizing the defense and protecting the Royal Boxes, but he had to surrender
the flows to the new occupants of the capital, at the express request of the Cabildo of Buenos Aires, according to
it stipulated the capitulation.
From Córdoba, the Viceroy issued a proclamation -sent to all the intendants governors of his
jurisdiction - which largely complied with the plans agreed upon by the metropolitan authorities in case
that the southern flank of the empire was attacked: retreat to Córdoba and impose isolation on the invaders
to force them to a prompt withdrawal. In that proclamation, Sobremonte emphasized that he had not "entered" into the
capitulation with the English and that if the 'Royal Audience of Buenos Aires, Consulate, courts and others
the authorities established in that city had done it because they were oppressed by the forces
"enemies." Given these circumstances, the Viceroy declared the city of Córdoba the capital of the Viceroyalty until
as much as Buenos Aires returned to the dominion of the King. Since, as the proclamation expressed, the authorities
residents in Buenos Aires were without the freedom to act and issue their resolutions, except in the name of
British general, the Viceroy expressly ordered that no measure issued by those authorities
executed outside.
The points stipulated in the proclamation were important because they expressed, on one hand, the attempt to
maintaining the colonial legal order by moving the capital of the viceroyalty to Córdoba, and exhibiting, on the other hand, the

surrender of the main authorities and corporations of

Buenos Aires to British sovereignty. Despite the justifying tone used by Sobremonte, the actions
undertaken by such authorities were disallowed by the Viceroy, while the new governor,
Beresford guaranteed to the Council, magistrates, neighbors, and inhabitants their rights and privileges, as well as the
protection of the Catholic religion.

A Catholic order
The British strategy to ensure the protection of the Catholic religion - in a universe of religious unanimity like the one
ruled in the Hispanic world - was fundamental if it was intended to obtain some consensus among the population. Although the reforms
Bourbon, in an attempt to project an imperial image and centralize power, sought to reduce the influence of the communities.
Religious in the name of a new reason of state, in no way had altered the Catholic foundations of the existing order.
This continued to display a framework in which, as Roberto Di Stefano states, 'the life of the church was such that
intertwined with other manifestations of social life and with the concrete interests of the different groups that
they constituted the society -families, corporations- which is difficult to acknowledge as a homogeneous entity and
differentiated.” And this was the case, according to the author, because in the colonial era the identification between the Catholic universe and the

society reached a point so intimate that it perhaps makes the use of the current concept of church inappropriate if it refers to it
to an institution that is sufficiently integrated and differentiated from society as a whole.

The reconquest of the capital

However, these first friendly and peaceful exchanges between authorities and neighbors of Buenos Aires with
the British occupants were not meant to last. During the month of July, the situation of the troops
The English situation became more uncertain as the reinforcements that Beresford demanded from England.
they were slow to arrive. The port population became increasingly restless as they began to organize
voluntary urban militias, secretly, in order to combat the invaders. Those in charge of
to organize the improvised troops of the reconquest were the naval captain Santiago de Liniers, a Frenchman from
origin but in the service of the Crown of Spain, Juan Martín de Pueyrredón and Martín de Alzaga, mayor of
Cabildo of Buenos Aires. The latter was a wealthy Spanish merchant with significant influence in the government.
local and linked to the monopoly. When, during their brief occupation, the English issued a decree of
freedom of commerce, Alzaga and the rest of the merchants linked to the monopoly expressed their immediate
opposition.
In order to organize the reconquest, Liniers and Pueyrredón moved to Montevideo to obtain
the support of their governor, Pascual Ruiz Huidobro, who agreed to provide them with reinforcements for their company.

Pueyrredón, back in Buenos Aires at the end of July, started recruiting soldiers. In early August,
The local troops led by Pueyrredón suffered a defeat against a British detachment. But little
later Liniers embarked in Colonia to cross the Río de la Plata and, once in Buenos Aires, he managed to take control
the main accesses to the city to then advance towards the Fort. With the arrival of new reinforcements from
Montevideo, the local militias under the command of Liniers converged in the Main Square; the streets erupted
a fierce battle, which ended with the defeat of the English. It is estimated that the latter suffered around
of one hundred and fifty casualties, while the local militias lost around sixty soldiers. On the 12th of
In August, Beresford raised a white flag to declare surrender.
Although the adventure of Popham and Beresford did not aim to stimulate an independence plan in the River.
of the Plata, but to achieve the conquest of Buenos Aires, among the expedition members was not absent the
speculation about the possible tensions between peninsulares and criollos -given the imperial adjustment imposed
by the Bourbons since the end of the 18th century - to obtain support from the latter for the occupation. Not
However, such speculations quickly vanished. At the first manifestation of passivity of the
authorities and corporations of the city experienced a more widespread reaction from the population, in which
Both Spaniards and Creoles participated actively in the reconquest. The presence of tensions and conflicts
In the local scenario, it was not enough to express support for the conquest of a new power.
The first English invasion left behind several novelties. Above all, a crisis of authority without
precedents: not only had the inability of the Spanish military forces to defend been laid bare
their possessions in the southernmost corner of America, but also the dubious behavior of the authorities
colonial, harshly questioned by a large part of the neighbors and inhabitants of the city. The most prominent character
the viceroy Sobremonte himself was criticized. The Cabildo, under the pressure of part of the recently formed militias
formed, it should have called an open council two days after the reconquest.

An incorrect calculation
In John Whitelocke's testimony, he expresses the frustrated speculation of the English regarding the possibility of finding in the
Spanish colonies a spirit of adherence to the British presence.
It was supposed that the fame of this country, of liberality and good conduct towards those who come under its dominion, would assure us the
good wishes and the cooperation of at least a large part of the community.
Public hopes and expectations were exacerbated, and there was no suspicion that it could be possible for the majority of
the population of South America has feelings that are not of attachment to our Government; even less so that it is possible for there to exist
a deep-seated antipathy towards us, to the point of justifying the assertion (whose proof has been provided by the facts) that at the moment
Upon my arrival in South America, we did not have a single friend in the entire country. I have no way of knowing if the opinion of the illustrious statesman...

[Pitt], no longer among us, who often let his thoughts roam to South America, had led him to
to contemplate the possibility of establishing military outposts and to cooperate only with those who have followed [by] their own will the
example from North America and they have used our help to achieve their independence; but experience has shown that
any other course of action, even the most successful, and almost in proportion to the success, had the effect of taking us further than ever from our
ultimate objective: that of a friendly exchange and trade with the country. The attack, aided by momentary success and final failure, us
has taught to estimate the difficulty of obtaining a establishment in the country at a higher price; but the decision on the subject of the
People's feelings towards us continue to be prevalent.
John Whitelocke to W. Windham, June 20, 1807 (published in The Tríalat Large of LieutGen. Whitelocke, London, 1808).
Extracted from Klaus Gallo, The English Invasions, Buenos Aires, Eudeba, 2004.

The open councils, although they were not expressly legislated, on certain occasions, and with consent
from the political authority, they summoned the neighbors, high officials, religious prelates, and military leaders in order
to consider exceptional matters, regarding which support from the main party was sought and more
distinguished from the population to make certain resolutions that affected the entire community. In the River of the
Silver was a rarely used practice during the colonial period. But in this case, the situation arose
as exceptional and, after strong discussions, "the open council meeting on August 14 made a decision
Salmonica: to delegate political and military command into the hands of the hero of the days, Santiago de Liniers.
The viceroy had not been dismissed, as many claimed; this was an unprecedented fact in the Río de la Plata.
which, without a doubt, greatly discredited the viceroyal authority. Although Sobremonte expressed his grievances
Due to the measure, as it was diminished in its powers, its defense did not manage to change the situation.
The second novelty was the conviction that, in the face of the weakness of the Spanish troops stationed at the River of
La Plata, it was necessary to organize and strengthen the improvised militias that emerged in 1806 to confront a
eventual invasion or attack by a foreign power.

The ousted Viceroy

The British government, still unaware of the English surrender in Buenos Aires, had decided to send the
reinforcements requested by the leaders of the first expedition. The first reinforcement arrived in Montevideo at the end of
October 1806 and the officer in charge, upon learning of the defeat suffered in Buenos Aires, took possession of the island.
Gorriti and de Maldonado await a new contingent of soldiers to attempt once again to capture.
from the viceroyal capital. In February 1807, Montevideo fell into English hands and in May of that year arrived
finally the expected reinforcement under the command of Lieutenant General John Whitelocke. At the end of June, the troops

English troops disembarked at the port of Ensenada to march on Buenos Aires.

However, in the months between the first and second British occupation of Buenos Aires,
the precarious volunteer forces created by Liniers had become more numerous and organized. They emerged,
Thus, in a city that barely surpassed forty thousand inhabitants, squadrons of creoles that totaled
around five thousand men -Hussars, Patricians, Grenadiers, Arribeños, Indians, Pardos, and Morenos- and of
peninsulars who managed to gather three thousand militia men. The battalions of peninsulars took the name of
place of origin of its members: Andalusians, Asturians, Catalans, Biscayans, and Galicians. It was again
Liniers, who was responsible for organizing these urban militias based on service and training.
military for all neighbors over the age of sixteen. It is important to point out that these forces, beyond being
composed of peninsulares and criollos, they were local both in their recruitment and financing, already
the Cabildo of the capital was responsible for solving a large part of the expenses and livelihood of the troops
with its own revenues and taxes, as the treasury of the Royal Treasury is exhausted.
With those militia forces, Liniers faced the second English incursion into Buenos Aires. They were joined by the
active intervention of the mayor of the Cabildo of the capital, Martín de Alzaga. After a first setback suffered
by Liniers' troops in Miserere, Alzaga organized the defense of the city by raising barricades and
encouraging the unlisted neighbors in the militias to participate from their homes to prevent the advance of the
British troops. The latter marched in thirteen columns through the narrow streets of the city, unsuspecting.
that from the houses they would throw all kinds of objects and projectiles at them. Thus, after a fierce struggle
which left around two thousand casualties on each side, Whitelocke had to accept his defeat and
Capitulate on July 6, 3807. The Cabildo of 3a capital was consolidating its prestige and power, being the great
protagonist in the organization of defense, and Liniers further reinforced popular support and consensus
obtained since 1806 when in charge of the finally victorious militias.
The British defeat was experienced with great euphoria in Buenos Aires and was manifested through actions of
grace, like the liberation of slaves distinguished in battle and funeral honors for the fallen. In a
a city not used to interrupting its monotonous routine, the English invasions had managed
to disrupt the daily lives of its inhabitants and shake the political and social foundations upon which it relies
he established power in the recent viceroyal capital.
The political foundations were affected because the crisis of authority, already present during the first
invasion, sharpened with the second. If in 1806 the attitude of the Viceroy was questioned and he was forced to delegate part
of his power in Liniers, in February 1807, a meeting of commanders and neighbors gathered in front of the town hall
He pressed for the definitive deposition of Viceroy Sobremonte, who was accused of abandoning to their fate the...
inhabitants on both shores of the Río de la Plata did not offer any resistance when the English took over
the port of Montevideo. The climate of unrest forced the Cabildo of Buenos Aires and the Audiencia to gather a
War Council. In reality, it was a unique Junta that resembled an open council in the
the extent to which the Capital City Council, the Audience, the head of military command, Liniers, and leaders participated in it

and military commanders, senior officials, and some prominent neighbors. The Board thus constituted decided
suspend the Viceroy from his duties and temporarily imprison him. From that situation of vacancy emerged
benefited the chief of the reconquest. Given that during the first months of 1807 the Crown had changed
the criterion by which the vacancies for the position of viceroy should be temporarily filled - by establishing that in place
To occupy it, the president of the Court had to be the highest-ranking military chief—, Liniers
became the highest-ranking institutional character in the Río de la Plata.

Caricature of the degradation of Whitelocke, 1808

Upon returning to London, John Whitelocke was subjected to trial by a special Court Martial. In the sentence, said
The council declared that 'it judges that Lieutenant General Whitelocke be expelled from the army, and that he be declared totally
inept and unworthy to serve His Majesty in any military capacity.

The celebration of victory

The memorialist Juan Manuel Beruti described in detail the celebrations held in Buenos Aires after the reconquest and
defense of the city. His testimony is particularly relevant because it was written contemporaneously with the events
related.
On July 19, 1807, a mass of thanks was held in the Cathedral and the Te Deum was sung; His Excellency pontificated and preached the sermon.
Doctor Don Joaquín Ruiz and His Divine Majesty were present all day. The Royal Audience attended the function and in their
the head, the reconqueror Mr. Santiago de Liniers, as its president the Illustrious City Council of this city who
he brought among his councilors and gave a seat to the gentlemen Don Bernardo de Velasco and Don Juan Gutiérrez de la Concha, for
having behaved well in the defense of this plaza, as they were division chiefs, and at the same time the first is a governor
from Paraguay and the second elected from Córdoba del Tucumán. In the presbytery, our patron Saint was placed on a litter.
Martin, and beside him the royal ensign of this city; the event was made as magnificent as possible: two orchestras were set up.
of music, one in the choir by the singers who sang the mass in solfeggio, and at the end the Te Deum, and the other behind the
tabernacle that was the music of the Patricios body which had three drums and over twenty musicians of various
instruments that were playing a marvelous march, which alternated with the drums and fifes, from the raising until the
to consume. Here was the most worthy of sight that caused all reverence to the God of hosts, who had given us such happiness
victory, for all the flags and banners of our army were there, those that were surrendered from the raising of the host
dedicated until consumption. All infantry and cavalry troops were formed on the four fronts of the Main Square, and
twenty-something cannon pieces that were placed in various parts, which made three salutes, one at the beginning of the mass, another at
raising and the last to the Tedeum, having done the same for the other bodies with their rifles, those of the infantry and with their
pistols or rifles the cavalry each body on its own, and in the same acts as the artillery. In this function it was presented the
body of mountaineers with their flag and on their left side the English flag taken in Santo Domingo, half surrendered
as a sign that she was a prisoner, the one who took her was the soldier who won her, who had the rifle slung and in his hand the
flag. This enemy flag did not enter the church with ours but remained outside. The Chapter when it left its
the chapter houses led by the music of the body of patricians until he entered the church, and then when he left was
Similarly with the music, and the body of patricians was accompanied from behind by their flags until it was left at the houses.
capitularies, where he also left his flags, and with his music he retreated to his barracks. Finally, for three nights it was lit up.
the city, which began on the night of the 18th, the eve of the thanksgiving mass
Juan Manuel Beruti

The legacy of the British occupation

One of the first marks left as a legacy by the brief British occupation was the dispute unleashed
among the different powers existing in the viceroyal capital. The Viceroy, in his capacity as interim, did not manage to stop
the conflicts of interest and power embodied by the Cabildo of Buenos Aires, the Cabildo and the governor of
Montevideo and the Audience. A new political actor, born during the invasions, was now involved in them.
urban militias. The effects of the rapid militarization that took place in Buenos Aires in less than a year were
multiple - On one hand, the neighborhood militias became a factor of power to which the
existing authorities should have been called upon to arbitrate conflicts. On the other hand, its organization moved the
social bases on which the colonial order was organized.
The presence in public life of these uniformed armed individuals disrupted the usual scene of
the city, according to the testimonies of the time. Some of these testimonies emphasized -with a certain disdain-
that the streets of Buenos Aires were invaded by the "lower class" that swelled the militias and by officers
who sought to "make a fortune" at the expense of the public treasury. Indeed, although the popular component of the
Soldiers were a certain fact, the officer corps did not precisely come from the 'lower people', but was recruited.
among the members of the elite. Nevertheless, this belonging to the highest sectors of society should not
obscure the change that involved the emergence of more than a thousand officers in the city. These
uniformed, chosen in those years by the same troops, now competed with the most prominent groups,
high-ranking officials and large merchants, due to prestige and power. The popularity they enjoyed
The protagonists of the reconquest of the capital of the Viceroyalty seemed to have no rivals.
The impact of these dizzying changes was also evident in other aspects. For the inhabitants
Portenos -and even for the local authorities themselves- who embarked on the resistance against the invader.
British, the perception was that the metropolis had left them in a sort of abandonment by not fulfilling its obligations.
original purposes of strengthening the defense of this strategic region. In fact, the requests for...
Viceroyal authorities for the sending of regular troops from the Peninsula were prior to 1806 and, of course, they
they had become more insistent starting in June of that year. However, the events that occurred demonstrated that
The true defenders of loyalty to the Spanish Crown had been the inhabitants of Buenos Aires.
This discovery had immediate consequences. On one hand, it consolidated in that juncture the communion of
Americans and Spaniards in the defense of the integrity of the empire to which they belonged; on the other hand, it gave rise to a

unprecedented institutional crisis.

 The deposition of Viceroy Sobremonte undoubtedly opened a vertical crack in the colonial order of the Río de la Plata.
Not only because it mortally wounded the prestige of the highest authority, but because it deprived the Viceroyalty, erected

barely thirty years ago, the first link on which the relationship of obedience and command was based on
America, and in a very particular situation at the international level. Such a void created a local framework of
legal uncertainty that left the region in a situation of political provisionality and gave rise to the
emergence of a certain margin of autonomy on the part of colonial authorities with respect to the metropolis. Of
In agreement with this perspective, one could assert that the English invasions were the epilogue of the reformist plan.
Bourbon in the Río de la Plata, whose first objective had been to provide America with a military force.
appropriate as a safeguard against foreign attacks. The martial origins of the Viceroyalty remained in
interdict when the entire administrative and military complex failed during the first expedition
British. The display of such vulnerability and abandonment, combined with the evident fact - although not less so for that reason

relevant - that it was a very young viceroyalty, located in an area that until recently was marginal
within the empire, they help understand the immediate discrediting of the highest viceroyal authority and the
also a rapid institutional crisis. The latter, however, did not question the monarchical loyalty - which, for the
On the contrary, it seemed to come out strengthened after the victories over England, but rather the type of bond that the

reforms they had wanted to create. If their goal was to more closely link their domains to the Crown, what in
1806 revealed that this type of bond was fatally wounded. The autonomy experienced by the
bodies and colonial authorities, although it did not imply a legal break with the metropolis or proposals
deliberate to redeem the imperial ties, seemed to show the limits of the 'revolution in government'
intended in the 18th century.
 2. A monarchy without a monarch
In 1808, the French armies under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain, which led to a
crisis without precursors: the Spanish Crown became leaderless and was occupied by José Bonaparte, brother of
French emperor. On the Peninsula, as a war of independence began against the armies
Napoleonic, a juntista movement took place that, in the name of the "captive" king, reassumed the guardianship of the
sovereignty. The crisis of the monarchy immediately affected its American possessions. From that point on
At this moment, international bonds were redefined and various alternatives were opened for the colonies.
Hispanic. In the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, these vicissitudes were added to the conflictive situation that
they had left as a legacy the English invasions, which exacerbated the disputes between the different bodies and
colonial authorities.

The consequences of an empty throne Napoleon occupies the Iberian Peninsula

At the beginning of 1808, both the viceroyal authorities and the port population in general saw
heightened their fears over the possibility of a new British invasion, especially after receiving
news about the presence of the Portuguese court in Brazil under the protection of England. Napoleon
Bonaparte had conquered Lisbon with the support of Spain, and King John VI of Portugal, along with his entire retinue,
he fled to his American colonies to settle in Rio de Janeiro, at least while the occupation lasted
French. This transfer aroused an immediate concern in Buenos Aires. In an agreement of the Cabildo of
Buenos Aires on March 15, 1808, the council members echoed news that was spread 'in the town',
According to which the Portuguese allied with the English planned to invade the viceroyal capital once again.
These events occurred when the Napoleonic expansion in Europe encountered a barrier
apparently insurmountable: English maritime dominance. Until that moment, Spain had maintained its
traditional alliance with France. For Napoleon, the only way to advance on Great Britain was to occupy
Portugal, thus reducing the power that dominated the seas of its most secure anchorage in the European continent;
therefore, he advanced over Spain under the pretext of occupying Portugal. In that advance, Spain went from being an ally to

country occupied by Napoleonic forces.

When Bonaparte showed his ambitions over Spain, King Carlos IV and his court did not react the same way.
Transatlantic route of its Portuguese counterparts. The reign of Charles IV was discredited, about
everything due to the bad reputation of his favorite minister, Godoy, and the disputes within the royal family were becoming
increasingly evident. Amid these disputes, in March 1808, the Aranjuez Mutiny occurred, in the
that Godoy was removed and Carlos IV abdicated in favor of his son Fernando. Napoleon knew how to take advantage very well.

the dynastic conflicts of the Spanish Bourbons: two months after the uprising, the emperor gathered in
Bayonne -a city on the French border- to the royal family. There took place the events known
like the "Bayonne events," where three abductions occurred almost simultaneously: that of Ferdinand, which
he returned the Crown to his father, that of Charles IV in favor of Napoleon and that of Napoleon in favor of his brother Joseph

Bonaparte. These events had no precedent in European monarchical tradition, according to which a king does not
could voluntarily abdicate the crown without the consent of the kingdom. Although part of public opinion
The Spanish tried to hide the unprecedented attitude of the royal family, presenting the abdications as forced before
as an act of betrayal and disloyalty, the truth is that the Spanish Bourbons left the throne -and the lands
that were under their dominion - in the hands of a king and a foreign occupying force. Meanwhile,
Fernando VII remained in Bayonne, guarded by the Napoleonic forces.
The events in Bayonne shook the very foundations of the empire. The principle of unity of
the immense territory under Spanish rule resided under the authority of the king. With the legitimate monarch captive in
Napoleon's hands, there were two options left: either swear allegiance to the new French king or disregard his
authority. In fact, many authorities from the Peninsula and part of the Spanish public opinion chose to
first alternative. The rapid French occupation would not have been possible without the complicity and support of
many Spaniards who were Frenchified. But, while the French forces managed to conquer several cities of the
Peninsula, in many others its inhabitants resisted accepting the new monarch. The insurgent Spain
Thus, he began a war of independence against the invader, and found an ally in his traditional
archenemy: Great Britain.

Caricature of Napoleon and Godoy

A large part of the Spanish public opinion held Minister Godoy responsible for the French occupation due to his alliance with Napoleon.
Both Godoy and Bonaparte were demonized in the publications of the time.
Napoleon and Godoy
Viñuales, Spain and America: Images for a History

Now then, among the many problems that the Spaniards had to face at that time, one stood out.
one, fundamental: in whom or in whom would the government now reside and, therefore, the command of a war
against the foreigner, if the legitimate head of that entire empire, the king, was captive? In the framework of that
monarchy, no one had the authority to replace the king. Even less so when he was not dead or lacking in
descendants, but resided in a neighboring country, under the tutelage of the enemy. The way to resolve
Provisionally, the legal dilemma of the vacant throne was to establish neighborhood councils in the cities.
occupied by the invader so that, in the name of the protection of the sovereignty of King Ferdinand VII, they would assume in

deposit and temporarily some attributions and government functions. Although its formation was planned in
the ancient laws of the monarchy and there were examples of boards and collegiate committees of territorial government in the
Peninsula, the juntismo - understood as autonomous governments of the territories - was an unusual event in the
framework of the lavacatio of the king, at least in the terms in which it occurred in 1808. The main purposes of
these local councils were to expel the illegitimate occupants and restore the Bourbon monarch to the throne.

A plurality of boards
The formation of councils in Spain was preceded, in most cases, by popular movements of rejection against the
French invader and protest against the crisis situation. Eighteen provincial supreme boards were formed, all in a manner
spontaneous, some by election of the most notable neighbors and others in tumultuous assemblies. Its composition was very heterogeneous
and the number of vowels, very varied. They involved, to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the region and the situation, authorities
provincials or local councilors, military of various ranks, clergy, bourgeois, and members of the main corporations.
The Junta of Seville was established as the Supreme Junta of Spain and the Indies in May 1808 and was granted numerous prerogatives.
until the formation of the Central Junta in Aranjuez, with thirty-five members.
Simultaneous uprising of the provinces of Spain against Napoleon. Salvador Mayol and J. Masferrer, 1808, Municipal Museum of
Madrid,
Spain, Reproduced in Ramón Gutiérrez and Rodrigo Gutiérrez Viñuales
Spain and America: Images for a History, Madrid, MAPFRE Foundation, 2006.

The problem lay in the fact that local councils lacked an organization capable of centralizing certain decisions.
especially those related to the command of the war against France. For this reason, in September 1808, it
formed the Central Governing Board of the Kingdom, made up of representatives from the city councils. This
he had to deal with the resistance of many local boards, reluctant to delegate part of the power they had.
provisionally resumed in the absence of the king, amidst an unprecedented crisis, without resources
sufficient economic resources to sustain the war and without a secure basis of legitimacy to exercise government.
Its members were beset by countless difficulties; among them, one issue stood out.
primordial: how to behave in front of the American territories dependent on Spain.

Fernando VII 'The Loved One'

For a large part of the Spanish public opinion, the new king Fernando Vil, absent and at the same time held by Napoleon, is
converted into a sort of popular myth. Turned into a hero, facing the 'villain Godoy' ally of Napoleon, Fernando Vil
came to be considered the "Desired." The rapid spread of this image in all towns and cities of the
The Peninsula contributed to consolidating the junta movement.
Aguafuerte, Ministry of Culture. General Archive of the Indies {Maps and Plans, Prints 142 [1]), Seville, Spain.
Reproduced in Ramón Gutiérrez and Rodrigo Gutiérrez Viñuaies, Spain and America: images for a history, Madrid,
MAPFRE Foundation, 2006.

The crisis of the monarchy is transferred to America

While in Spain the entire institutional system was crumbling with the abolition of fundamental bodies of the
kingdom such as the Council of Castile, the captaincies or the courts, in America the institutional system
remained, in principle, intact. No viceroy or American audience recognized the new dynasty of origin
French, unlike what had happened with many authorities of the Peninsula. However, a little more
In the afternoon, the crisis of 1808 inevitably transferred to this continent. The first link of the
monarchical system, and since the American kingdoms belonged directly to the Crown, the break of the
The chain of obedience affected all the territories of the empire. The formation of councils in the Peninsula had
its replica in America, although in this case the first junta movements that emerged between 1808 and 1809 did not
they did not have the extension of the peninsulars nor enjoyed the support of the Spanish authorities.
In the vast map of Spanish possessions in America, there were regions that reacted in a way
more immediate than others, and in all there was a profound loyalty to the captive monarch. Mexico was the
city that exhibited the first reaction to the novelty of the abdications. Although the attempt to call for
a council of cities, led by the city council of Mexico and supported by the viceroy Iturrigaray, was
reprimanded by the Court and the Consulate, the events that took place there in the summer of 1808 were in accordance with the

idiosyncrasy of New Spain. First of all, for having responded very quickly from the point of
Legal view on declaring abdicating illegal; secondly, because the proposal to create a council there
of cities reports the reaction of a true kingdom, which immediately appealed to its bodies
constitutive; thirdly, because the City Council of Mexico moved as the true head of that kingdom,
claiming its role as a capital, in harmony with the Hispanic legal-political tradition.
However, not all the reactions and assemblies formed —or that were attempted to be formed— between 1808 and 1809 in

America gathered these characteristics, so typical of the capital of the most important viceroyalty of the empire.
As will be seen later, the first juntista movements in South America were in Montevideo.
September 1808, and the aborted movement of Buenos Aires, on January 1, 1809. In both cases, the
they did not claim the deposit and self-defense of sovereignty, but declared themselves subordinate to the Board
from Seville, in the first case, and from the Central Board, in the second. Meanwhile, in Caracas - capital of the
General Captaincy of Venezuela-, in November 1808, the attempt to create a council by a group of
distinguished characters of the city -known as the 'Conjura de los Mantuanos'- asserted their right to
exercising supreme authority in that city, although 'subordinated to the Sovereign of the state', in reference
to the newly constituted Central Board. This attempt was quickly thwarted by the authorities, although it is worth noting
It is worth highlighting that, already in July 1808, the captain general of Venezuela and the capital city council had

promoted the formation of a board, without obtaining the support of the Audience, which recommended recognition
from the Junta of Seville, as it was done in August of that year.
It is important to highlight that the autonomy claims of some of the South American councils formed
Between 1808 and 1809, they referred more to their viceroyal dependency than to the authorities substituting for the king in the

Peninsula or were inscribed in the plinth of discontent generated by the Bourbon reforms, as could be
the case of Quito -belonging to the Viceroyalty of New Granada, whose capital was Santa Fe de Bogotá-, where the
The junta maintained loyalty to Fernando VII but launched a strong diatribe against the peninsulars.
according to the testimony of said Board - they had "all the jobs in their hands" and "had always looked with
I despise the Americans.” On the other hand, these meetings arose in cities with different hierarchies.
territorial: both in heads of military government (Montevideo) and in heads of provincial government (La Paz) and
audience heads (Charcas and Quito). In the new capitals created by the Bourbon reforms, it did not reach
none of the juntas' proposals that emerged before 1810 materialized: to the failed attempts in Caracas and
Buenos Aires joined the request of the members of the Cabildo of Santa Fe de Bogotá to create a board.
presided over by the Viceroy of New Granada, although subordinate to the Central Board, to confront the Board
formed in September 1809. The argument of the capitulars was that the viceroyal government was
discredited in the eyes of the people of Quito, while the Audience advised the Viceroy not to accept such
proposal. These various territorial qualities also implied different claims and behaviors by
part of the local actors, as manifested in the two head audience cities, Charcas and Quito,
where councils were formed in that initial biennium, seeking the support of their cities directly
dependents, behaving in this way as true kingdoms. However, there is a common fact to
all, including the New Spanish experience: the reaction movements against the dynastic crisis are
they expressed themselves through the traditional jurisdictional conflicts between the existing colonial bodies.
In contrast, in the Viceroyalty of Peru, not only was there no recorded autonomist reaction, but the viceroy
Abascal, in addition to sponsoring an emphatic and effective anti-Napoleonic propaganda, behaved like a sort of
of the 'super viceroy' of all of South America, when during the junta movements of Charcas and La
Peace in the South, and from Quito in the North, abandoned its defensive military strategy to adopt the initiative of a
military offensive, as he considered that the viceroys of the two Bourbon creatures — New Granada and Río de la
They were unable to act in the pacification of these provinces.

Topics under discussion

For a long time, the national historiographies of the Hispanic American countries interpreted the formation of the first juntas
American movements between 1808 and 1809 as failed independence manifestations or as precedents for the emancipations.
posteriors. The bet consisted of creating origin myths of the revolutionary feats that occurred after 1810. In recent years,
the renewal of Hispanic American political history has reviewed and questioned those interpretations by highlighting, first of all,
that this movement was characterized by a deep loyalty to the Spanish monarch and did not show intentions of breaking ties with the
metropolis. Secondly, it was also not a confrontation between Spaniards and Creoles or between peninsulars and Americans,
but it was the response to the peninsular crisis and the fear that the possibility of becoming dependent on France would awaken. And thirdly,
that the fact that the Creole sectors and even the colonial authorities themselves took advantage of the situation to negotiate with the
Metropolis a greater margin of autonomy in managing its local affairs does not imply that this demand can be read in key
of an independentist vocation.

America, 'an essential and integral part of the Spanish monarchy'

The Central Governing Board of the Peninsula quickly warned of the potential risk involved in not integrating
in its bosom the representation of the American territories. Although the reactions of the overseas possessions
they did not stop showing fidelity to the captive king, the fact that they could claim the same rights as the
Peninsular juntas were a drift that the authorities substitute for the monarch were not willing to tolerate. If
that Junta intended to represent all the kingdoms and be the legitimate body that replaced
provisionally to the king, he had to devise a system that could also include America. He devoted himself to this, and in
January 1809 decreed that the American territories were no longer 'colonies' but 'essential and integral parts of'
the Spanish monarchy" and that, in such capacity, they had to elect representatives to the Central Junta.
It was the first time that America would have representation in the government of the metropolis, although much
less than that granted to the peninsular kingdoms. The Central Junta stipulated for these territories the election of a
deputy for each viceroyalty, captaincy general or province, while for Spain it assigned two deputies for
province, except for the Canary Islands, which had only one. The electoral mechanism consisted of each
the city council of each provincial capital chose a shortlist, from which a candidate was drawn by lot. Then, the
the viceroy and the Audience would in turn choose a shortlist from the candidates of the various cities to then
to draw lots, in a Real Acuerdo presided over by the viceroy, for the deputy of the viceroyalty destined to represent his

jurisdiction in the Central Board.

The Royal Order of January 1809 stirred various reactions in America: from discontent or the
indifference to the display of unrestrained enthusiasm. In some cases, discontent channeled
pending demands. In Peru, for example, in the instructions given to the elected deputy, a proposal was made to a
general reform of the viceroyalty and many of the Bourbon reforms applied were being questioned. In other cases,
The extension of electoral participation was requested for all councils - and not just for those in the capitals.
that were enabled - or questioned the representative inequality granted to America, as denounced.
Camilo Torres in New Granada.

Memorial of Grievances
The Neo-Granadan Camilo Torres drafted a 'Representation to the Supreme Board' for the Cabildo of Santa Fe de Bogotá.
Central Spain", which the Cabildo ultimately decided not to elevate. In that representation, known as the "Memorial of
"grievances," Torres denounced the following: "The Cabildo received, therefore, in this royal determination of Your Majesty, a pledge of

true spirit that today inspires Spain, and sincere desire to walk in accordance with the common good. If the government of
England might have taken this important step, perhaps it would not be mourning the separation of its colonies today; but a tone of pride and a...

the spirit of arrogance and superiority made him lose those rich possessions, which they did not understand how it was that, being
vassals of the same sovereign, integral parts of the same monarchy, sending all the other provinces of
England, its representatives to the legislative body of the nation, would like it to dictate laws and impose contributions that
they had not sanctioned with their approval.
More just, more equitable, the Supreme Central Junta has called to the Americas and has known this truth: that among equals, the
a tone of superiority and dominance can only serve to irritate minds, to upset them, and to induce a disastrous...
separation.
But in the midst of the just pleasure that this Royal Order has caused, the Town Hall of the capital of the New Kingdom of Granada does not

has been able to see without a deep pain that, when in the provinces of Spain, even those of lesser consideration, have been sent
two voices to the Supreme Central Board, for the vast, rich, and populous domains of America, only one deputy is requested from
each of the kingdoms and captaincies general, to such an extent that there was a difference as notable as that between nine and
thirty-six
Camilo Torres, 'Memorial of Grievances' (1809), in José Luis Romero and Luis Alberto Romero, Political Thought of the
Emancipation, Caracas, Ayacucho Library, 1985.

Although the American congressional elections began to be held in the year 1809, the delay of
process - due to the slowness in communications and the complexity of the electoral system stipulated by the
The junta led to the fact that, in the end, no American congressman could join it. In reality, when
some were already ready to embark on the journey to the Old World to assume their representation, the Central Board
ceased to exist, due to the upheavals of war on the Peninsula. At the beginning of 1810, the Napoleonic troops
had advanced southward to occupy all of Andalusia. The Junta, moved from Seville to Cádiz, was
he dissolved himself and decided to appoint a Regency Council of only five members.
 Now, although during the almost two years that elapsed between 1808 and 1810 a wave of dynastic loyalty
maintained obedience to the Central Board throughout America, the alternatives posed by the crisis of the
monarchy opened, at least potentially, different options for the American colonies. First of all
place, the dominion of José Bonaparte could be accepted, as had occurred in part of the Peninsula. A
the second option was to swear allegiance to the provisional authorities created in Spain, embodied first by
the Central Board and then by the Council of Regency. The third was to establish local boards that, following the
metropolitan example, they would temporarily govern in the name of the captive king. A fourth alternative was
associated with the crisis that Portugal was simultaneously experiencing.

Departure of Juan VI and the royal family to Brazil

The Portuguese royal entourage moved from Lisbon to Brazil on thirty-five ships. The installation of the royal family and the court in
Rio de Janeiro had a very large impact on the city. The difficulties in accommodating the entire entourage, the need for improvements
Urban planning, the urgency in the delivery of food and all types of supplies were some of the problems faced by the new
royal headquarters.

Anonymous watercolor, National Library Foundation, Rio de Janeiro.

As mentioned before, the Portuguese court had moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1808 to flee from the
Napoleonic occupation. On that transatlantic voyage was the wife of the King of Portugal, the infanta.
Carlota Joaquina, sister of Ferdinand VII of Bourbon. The infanta claimed rights over the territories.
Americans based on their lineage: since the king of Spain was captive and none of the
male descendants were in a position to assume the throne, Carlota Joaquina requested to be the Regent of
the domains belonging to the Crown. Another possibility was that, during the crisis, the creole groups
they will seek to negotiate with the metropolis mechanisms of integration into the monarchy that would grant the peoples

Americans a greater margin of autonomy and self-governance and thus mitigate the most
pernicious effects of the Bourbon reforms implemented since the late 18th century. Finally, there was a last
alternative: to completely separate from Spain by declaring independence.
The last option was the one that received the least support in the early years of the crisis. On the other hand,
before 1810, the few juntas formed in America -always loyal to the Spanish Crown- failed, while
that the 'carlotista' alternative seemed viable only in the Río de la Plata. Neither did the support for France and
Napoleon had sufficient strength, not even in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, where the new viceroy
The interim that arose from the crisis caused by the English invasions, Santiago de Liniers, was of French origin.

The River Plate in front of the monarchical crisis: Which king to swear allegiance to?

At the end of July 1808, the Royal Decree arrived in Buenos Aires ordering to recognize as king of
Spain to Ferdinand VII, after the abdication of Charles IV, on the occasion of the Aranjuez uprising in March of
1808. There is no need to reiterate the obvious fact about the delays with which news from Europe arrived in
America in the discrepancies produced by the whirlwind of events that occurred in Spain during those months.
and its diffusion across the Atlantic. But it is essential to reconstruct certain chronologies on both sides.
scenarios to understand the action logics of the actors. Thus, the oath ceremony to the king
Fernando VII was scheduled for August 12, but the Viceroy ordered it to be suspended, in unanimous agreement with
the Audience and the Council, after becoming aware on July 30 of printed materials that arrived from Cádiz in the
which announced Carlos IV's protest against his abdication and his return to the throne.
On August 13, the Marquis of Sassenay, sent by Napoleon, arrived at the Río de la Plata.
Bonaparte. The objective of his mission was to inform about the state of Spain and the change of dynasty, and to observe
the reactions of the people from the Río de la Plata in response to this news. During those days, it had circulated in Buenos Aires the

proclamation of the Supreme Council of Castile -which had accepted the abdications as a legitimate act and
promoted the recognition of the new dynasty-, in which it condemned the events of as anarchic
Madrid on May 2, when a popular uprising occurred against the French troops, and it threatened
to severely punish those who tried to break the alliance between Spain and France. The bewilderment
explain, largely, that the news of the arrival of the Napoleonic emissary will fuel some unease. Liniers
received Sassenay along with the Cabildo and the Audiencia; there they examined the papers in which it was reported that
abdications, the election of King Joseph Bonaparte, and the call for a congress in Bayonne. For further
confusion, many of those papers were endorsed with the signature of Spanish authorities.
Although local authorities quickly understood how dangerous it was to spread such news, the
the attempt to keep them secret was in vain. The rumor of Sassenay's presence in Buenos Aires had
It was leaked, and it awakened all kinds of infidelities. To calm the spirits, on August 15 the Viceroy issued a
proclamation to the inhabitants of Buenos Aires in which the considerations of the moment were expressed. The
the expressions stated there were far from condemning Napoleon, although they reaffirmed the loyalty of the people of
Buenos Aires to its legitimate sovereign. Although it is assumed that the proclamation was drafted by one of the judges.
and it had the agreement of the Court and the Council, it was later used by Liniers' opponents to
argue your indecisive stance regarding Napoleon.

Of news and rumors

In those years, news spread through rumors disseminated in various private and public spaces.
gatherings, cafes, small markets, fighting arenas, markets, and the street were settings for conversation and exchange of
news and opinions. The climate of uncertainty experienced during the tumultuous months of 1808 and the vocation of the
authorities for hiding the news from Spain were exposed -among other testimonies- in the statement of a witness
during the process initiated against some individuals accused of conspiracy at the end of 1808 for having questioned the
oath of loyalty to Fernando VII. Ignacio José Warnes declared before the court:
On the day the decree was published in this capital regarding the exaltation to the throne of Mr. Don Fernando VII, entering the café of
don Juan Antonio Pereira, the declarant, and the mentioned Peña [Nicolás], asked the exponent to don Domingo Basavilvaso, that
there was, what the mentioned decree was reduced to, and he replied that it was the exaltation to the throne of our sovereign lord
Don Fernando VII, for which reason Peña said it was very good that Lord Don Fernando VII was crowned, but that it was not
he understood how that was, since according to a printed ballot that had come to Don Juan Antonio Lezica, he had returned to
to occupy the throne of Spain don Carlos IV, to which Basavilvaso replied that this should not be believed, but rather the royal
certificate that had been published by decree, in which the one declaring was withdrawn.
"Statement of Ignacio José Wárnes", Buenos Aires, December 23, 1808, Collection of works and documents for the
Argentine history, Biblioteca de Mayo, volume XI: Summaries and Files, Buenos Aires,
Senate of the Nation, 1961.

In that climate, on August 21, the oath of loyalty to King Ferdinand VII was taken, and only on the 2nd
In September, a proclamation declaring war on France and the signing of a
peace truce with England. The announcement of the change of alliances did not reassure anyone in the Río de la Plata.
The British government was aware of this distrust; therefore, it sent envoys to Buenos Aires to
convince the local authorities of the new situation. The unease and distrust displayed by the corner
the southernmost of the empire towards England and Portugal were undoubtedly understandable and were expressed in fear
that either of the two powers would stimulate an independence under their protection. The experience of
the English invasions did not help to improve the image of Great Britain, nor did they help the
intricate plots woven by Infanta Carlota Joaquina to improve that of Portugal. Although the claim of the
daughter of Carlos IV to exercise a regency in America had a legal basis, the political context in which
the proposal was presented with few chances of success. It is worth noting that the ambitions of the
princesses received no welcome among the Spaniards who resisted the French occupation in the Peninsula, which
there were differences within the Portuguese court regarding Carlota's strategy, and the networks that
he set up in the Río de la Plata - the closest jurisdiction and with which he could have more fluid contacts -
they pointed to a risky double game that reduced maneuverability. The Infanta sought support from both
among colonial authorities as well as among certain figures who, faced with the agitation experienced after the
English invasions, they could see their regency as an opportunity to redefine imperial links.
It is true that their dealings, besides arousing great fear and distrust among the authorities due to the threat
What Portugal and England represented raised suspicions about the princess's connections with individuals.
locales, to which a revolutionary and republican vocation began to be attributed.

Portrait of Infanta Carlota Joaquina

Carlota Joaquina's claim to exercise the regency in America was based, among other legal arguments, on the repeal of the
Salic Law in 1789, in force in Spain since 1713. According to that law, women could only inherit the throne if there were no
male heirs in the main line (children) or lateral line (brothers and nephews). When King Charles IV was only the father of Charlotte and
He sought to secure the succession in case he had no male descendants, so he proceeded to repeal the law.
National Library Foundation, Rio de Janeiro. JB?

The disobedience of Montevideo

The news of these dizzying changes and secret negotiations reached the viceroyal capital amid the
power disputes previously described.
Liniers was increasingly confronted with the Cabildo of Buenos Aires, as -among other rivalries-
Both were trying to have control over the militias. The peculiar thing about the River Plate case was the overlap of
two crises of authority: the local crisis triggered by the English invasions was now joined by the one that
was unleashed in the Peninsula over the vacant throne. In that context, Liniers was undoubtedly a victim of the choices
that were opened. First of all, because the contacts initiated by Infanta Carlota led to the Cabildo
he will accuse him of collusion with the Portuguese and English in pursuit of declaring independence regarding the
Spanish metropolis. Secondly because, in that particular situation, their condition as a French person
birth placed him in a complicated situation. A piece of information that was trivial until recently, but
that now cast a mantle of suspicion of collusion with the Napoleonic forces over Liniers that
They occupied the Peninsula. In fact, the argument was used by their local enemies, especially afterwards.
upon the arrival in Buenos Aires of the Marquis of Sassenay.
The character who most fervently accused Liniers of being pro-French was the governor of Montevideo.
After the evacuation of the English from the Banda Oriental, the Viceroy had appointed as governor
interim of that position to Francisco Javier de Elío. A character of 'fiery and hasty genius' -according to the
portrait that was made of him in a report from the Audiencia— and prone to 'arbitrariness, despotic handling' and
“ambition for glory.” Although, since his appointment, Liniers tried to curb some excesses of authority.
exhibited by Elío, he always showed a certain insubordination towards the viceroyal authority, reigniting
old rivalries between Montevideo and Buenos Aires. The open conflict between the two took place in the context of
the visit of the Marquis of Sassenay to Buenos Aires. In September 1808, Elío accused Liniers of misconduct
"suspicious" and "infidelity" through a document signed by the governor himself and four members of the
Cabildo of Montevideo, addressed to the Audience and Cabildo of Buenos Aires. In that document, the signers
they requested that Liniers be removed from command. The Viceroy reacted by sending Captain of the Ship, Juan Angel
Michelena, to relieve Elío from his position. However, once he arrived in Montevideo, he was unable to fulfill his
committed, since the latter resisted obeying the order.
In that atmosphere, Montevideo was repeating the scene that Buenos Aires had experienced not long before.
to hold an open council that, in this case, resolved to "establish a subordinate board to that of Seville"
imitation of those of Spain.” In this way, the Banda Oriental achieved what within the framework of legality
colonial would not have been possible: absolute autonomy from Buenos Aires. An autonomy that, to
recover the example of the Spanish junta and the declaration of loyalty to King Ferdinand VII, aimed to provide itself with

a new legitimacy. At this point, it is important to emphasize that there was no claim in that meeting of
right to self-government against the substitute authorities of the king in the metropolis —on the contrary, it sought
strengthen that bond, which at that moment was with the Junta of Sevilla-, but rather a claim for autonomy regarding - or
against their old rival Buenos Aires.
However, as happened in most of the regions of the empire, the formation of councils provoked the
immediate rejection by the colonial authorities residing in the capital, especially from the
Hearing. The listeners, faced with the uncomfortable situation of having to comply with the Spanish junta movement and
to condemn any replica in America, they argued that the establishment of the Montevideo Junta was
opposite to the laws because, unlike the peninsular boards, formed to resist the occupation of the
French troops, in America there was no invading army that justified following the example of the metropolis. The high
The tribunal qualified Elío's procedure as revolutionary, scandalous, and an example of insubordination to the
authority. Liniers and the Audiencia demanded Elío dissolve the Junta, but he argued that it was
impossible due to the resistance of the 'people'. Efforts were made to resolve the situation by avoiding the use of force, at the
waiting for the newly appointed owner governor in the Peninsula. The truth is that, in such a scenario
conflictive, the expressions of absolute loyalty towards King Ferdinand VII and the Central Board were not enough
to discourage cross suspicions about Liniers.

The frustrated attempt of the Cabildo of Buenos Aires

The disputes reached their climax on January 1, 1809, during the chapter elections, when the
Cabildo of Buenos Aires -led by its first elected mayor, Martín de Alzaga- attempted to form a council
similar to that of Montevideo. During that day, the Plaza Mayor -now called Plaza de la Victoria, in
tribute to the victories over the English - it became a sort of imminent battlefield. The
the militia forces that the Cabildo had did not amount, according to reports, to more than three hundred or
four hundred men, while the Viceroy had the support of most of the troops. At that
climate of unrest, and despite Liniers confirming the council elections, the City Council called for a
open cabildo in which it was resolved to establish a board under the motto 'Long live King Ferdinand VII, the Homeland and the

Supreme Junta! Following the example of Montevideo, the attempt of the porteño councilors was not expressed in
a claim of self-defense of the deposit of sovereignty against the authority of the metropolis, but rather it
it was expressed as a blow against the Viceroy.
Liniers met with the auditors and proposed to resign from his position, but they warned that if he resigned,
the blow to the other authorities would then occur. The Audience was once again watching over a legality whose
the guarantee was the rest of the troops -who did not support the movement of the Cabildo-. The presence of several
battalions occupying the Plaza Mayor -among them, the one from Patricios, whose commander was Cornelio Saavedra-
it was enough to highlight the failure of the movement led by Alzaga. The conflict culminated with the
immediate arrest, exile, and prosecution of those responsible for the mutiny, and with an act filled with
symbolism: Liniers ordered to lower the clapper of the bell of the town hall and take it to the Fort. With this gesture, it was

he was stealing from the City Council the instrument used to summon the people, emblem of his power during the
last years.
Shortly after the failed joint attempt of the capital council, Liniers received the Royal Order of the
January 22, 1809 from the Central Junta, which invited the Viceroyalty to elect a deputy to represent it.
It will represent in its bosom. He then sent the new regulations to the capital councils of the intendancy for their
compliance, through a circular dated May 27, 1809. The letter from the Viceroy was sent
directly to the head councils, bypassing the established hierarchical route with the reforms
Bourbon, which imposed on the head of each jurisdiction the intendants governors, as stipulated by the
Royal Order of the Board. The councils did the same by processing any doubts or resolutions from the electoral process.
directly with the Viceroy. Once the implementation of the ordinance was underway, some councils arose
Questions or difficulties basically related to the candidates' requirements and the cities that
they enjoyed the privilege of choice. Elevated the cases to the Central Board, it responded with an order
complementary of October 6, 1809, which partially modified the previous one by stipulating that all the
Councils, whether or not belonging to head cities, had to intervene in the election. By the time when...
the Central Junta was dissolved, representatives had already been elected from Córdoba, La Rioja, Salta, San Juan, San
Luis, Mendoza, Potosí, Cochabamba, Mizque, Corrientes, Asunción, Montevideo, Santa Fe, and La Plata.
In some jurisdictions, such as Córdoba, the implementation of the Royal Order unleashed numerous
conflicts between some groups of the previously opposed elite, in addition to jurisdictional disputes with the
mayor governor. These significantly delayed the process of the election of the shortlist and the draw,
nullifying the actions taken on several occasions and raising inquiries to the Viceroy and the Central Board. In Buenos
In contrast, the election was not verified, largely due to the conflicting context in which it was located.
city at the moment of receiving the order from the Central Board. Although the movement of the l° of January had been
suffocated, the relations between the Viceroy and the capital Cabildo had not improved since then, and not
they would have to do it until the end of Liniers' term.

A hectic life
A compelling example of the accelerated changes that occurred after the monarchical crisis and the effects they produced on
the realignments of internal forces is the process opened to Juan Martín de Pueyrredón at the end of 1808, accused of
revolutionary and seditious. Pueyrredón was one of the heroes of the reconquest of 1806 against the British forces. In such
character, the open council held on August 14 of that year entrusted a mission to Spain, whose objective was to give
tell the King of the merits of the vice-regal capital in its fight against the English. In fact, the envoy fulfilled in his
First sections with the mission, but in March 1808, when he was about to return, the Aranjuez Mutiny occurred.
As stated in a written communication in 1809, after being accused and arrested, 'this happy event should
stop me to tribute to my new sovereign the first honors of vassalage," and especially after that His
Your Majesty, "before embarking on your unfortunate journey," he will order "in public court" to say that "he should wait for his return because

I wanted to return happy and to please my countrymen." In that situation, he waited for the King's return, "until
seeing him misled to Bayonne and convinced of all the horror of the French intrigue, I left precipitously from
Madrid on the 1stoof May, the eve of the first misfortunes of that capital." From Madrid he went to Cádiz with the aim of
proceed to England and from there to Buenos Aires. But in Cadiz, things began to get complicated for the envoy.
Porteño. For this reason, he returned to Madrid in the first days of June, and shortly after he left, in flight, to Seville, where he
the Board of that city (the Central Board had not yet been formed), which, after approving his conduct, denied him the
permission to return until they received 'official news of having recognized the viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata by
supreme government of Spain and the Indies to that Junta." It was at that precise moment, on September 10, 1808, a few
Days before the formation of the Central Junta, when Pueyrredón wrote from Cádiz, the letter that earned him the accusation of
seditious, directed to the Cabildo of Buenos Aires. In it, he described what was happening in the Peninsula while clearly displaying a
perception of the problems derived from the royal washing: "The kingdom divided into as many governments as there are provinces:
the crazy claims of each of them to sovereignty, the disorder that is observed in all of them and the ruins that awaits them
French army... they prevent me from remaining longer in the performance of a mission that I now see as pointless. In
As a consequence, I have withdrawn from the Board of Seville because it does not have more faculties than the others to understand in the
matters in my charge1On September 27, Pueyrredón sent a new letter to the Cabildo, in which he emphasized the 'disorder
and the anarchy in which the Peninsula finds itself
that a prudent detention is the party that reason offers." On that same day, he wrote a letter to Justo José Núñez, in the
who spoke more freely about the future of Spain: "The ruin of this kingdom will follow immediately, and do not believe
you another thing, although some write hiding the divisions in which the provinces are and the evils that threaten them
under the hope of a central and supreme Board. This will have no effect and when the monstrous meeting that is held
It prepares only in the minds of those who love order, it would only serve to increase disorder.” In an image, by the way, very
adjusted to reality, continued warning that 'the provinces want to maintain their sovereignty and be absolute in their
department; indeed they are, and woe to the one who does not obey in their territories." While the author of these letters is
Finally boarding towards Buenos Aires, the Cabildo welcomed them and reacted through an official letter sent to the governor.
from Montevideo on December 10, 1808, in which he expressed "horror" at the "so scandalous propositions" and for the
"brave and depraved language" with which the deputy expressed himself "against the honor of the nation." The councilors maintained that the
Pueyrredón's sayings contrasted with the public papers that reached them about the state of Spain, and that therefore
it was necessary to prevent his landing, confiscate all his papers as soon as he arrived at the port of Montevideo, and send
immediately on a ship "at the disposal of the established Central Board" to whom had been awarded the Order
Carlos III had just arrived in Spain as the hero of the reconquest. Pueyrredón arrived at the port of Montevideo on the 4th of
January 1809, where he was detained and isolated. There they embarked him towards Spain on February 18, but a storm
he brought the ship to a port in Brazil, where he managed to escape; finally, he disembarked in Buenos Aires on July 5, 1809.
Once there, he placed himself at the 'disposal of the higher government,' which claimed to have never doubted his loyalty. However,
Shortly after, the news arrived of Liniers' replacement by the new viceroy Cisneros, and the arrest order for Pueyrredón. He managed
to flee and move to the court of Brazil in late 1809.
Texts taken from the 'Faithful Exposition made by Don Juan Martín de Pueyrredón of his public conduct since the year 1806.
until the present of 1809 in vindication of the note in which they must have placed the insults made to his person by the
Council of Government of Montevideo, Collection of works and documents for Argentine history, Library of Mayo, volume XI:
Summaries and Files, Buenos Aires, National Senate, 1961.JB?

The Last Viceroy Watch and Punish

On February 11, 1809, the Central Government Junta appointed Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros as viceroy.
owner of the Río de la Plata. This was the first viceroy whose appointment did not come directly from the
royal authority, not a minor detail in the context in which he took office. His instructions were to pacify
the disputes that had ravaged the capital of the Viceroyalty and, at the same time, to monitor and punish any type of
sedition or revolutionary plan. Its mission to restore the prestige of the viceroyal authority in a city
exposed to 'a viceroyalty revolution' —as the chronicler Beruti claimed in those days— quickly became
revealed impossible. The recommendation suggested by the Audience to the Central Junta that the new viceroy
The owner will arrive assisted by officers and veteran troops; it was not attended to. Even though it had been projected the

embarkation of five hundred naval men to secure Cisneros' authority, at the last moment he was
suspended.
Cisneros arrived in the Banda Oriental in July 1809, but it was not until August that he was recognized as the new one.

viceroy of the Río de la Plata. In fact, the militia regiments expressed certain resistances and the
troop commanders previously held several meetings and imposed certain conditions on
Cisneros. Among them, it is important to highlight the demand not to innovate the 'method of government' of Liniers, not to comply

with the order that the latter would return to Spain and not touch the structure of the militias.
In that climate of internal agitation and uncertainty about the future of the Peninsula, Cisneros tried
to steer the situation. One of his first measures was to calm the spirits by suspending the trial that had been initiated against

the rebels of January 1, 1809, and restoring the arms and flags to the dissolved battalions of
Basques, Catalans, and Galicians. Shortly after, he formed a monitoring committee against 'propaganda and maneuvers'
subversives. The recent formation of juntas in the far north of the Viceroyalty had increased the atmosphere
conspiratorial. Its creation -in Chuquisaca and La Paz in May and July of 1809 respectively- manifested the
the fragile character of the assembly of that new Viceroyalty. The high Peruvians saw in the abdications of
This is an opportunity to reaffirm regional and local autonomies and thus acquire centrality.
governmental that would allow them to resolve what they called an "unmerited dependence" on the Viceroyalty of
Rio de la Plata. Both together also invoked the argument that they opposed not only the occupation
French from the Peninsula -something common to all jointist expressions in this stage-, but also to the
potential interference of Carlottism and a supposed Portuguese protectorate in the Río de la Plata. The Audience
Charcas rejected the Portuguese proposals, denying the Portuguese court any right to send documents to
the legitimate authorities of the Spanish kingdom, and accused the viceroy Liniers -still in office- of acting in
collusion with that alternative. In May, the high court removed its president, formed a board that took over
all powers in the name of King Ferdinand VII, disregarded the authority of the Viceroy and sent delegates to
several cities of its dependency to seek support. This Board, like that of Montevideo, declared itself
autonomous with respect to Buenos Aires, but unlike the one that arose in the Banda Oriental, it did not recognize

officially to the Junta of Seville —for considering it suspicious of encouraging Portuguese intervention in
America was not led by a military governor and the Cabildo, but by one of the Audiences most
ancient ones from the south of the continent (created in 1564 and from which they depended for justice matters the
intends of Chuquisaca, La Paz, Potosí, and Cochabamba). The Audiencia assumed, therefore, the deposit of the
sovereignty, largely the product of its viceroyal dreams, independent of both Lima and Buenos
Aires. These dreams were shared by the people of Quito and had been frustrated, like in Charcas, with the
Bourbon reforms. In both cases, the boards formed in such hearings behaved like true
capitals of kingdoms, when seeking adherence among the cities of their jurisdiction.
On the other hand, the Provisional Board of La Paz, which emerged from an open council, also expressed the demand for
self-governance, which was linked to the demand to stop financially subsidizing the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.
Without a doubt, the refusal to continue sending more cash to Buenos Aires contributed to the new
Viceroy Cisneros will send troops to assist in suppressing this movement. They were in charge of
Goyeneche, sent by the viceroy Abascal, from Peru, who executed the leaders of the junta movement.
Paceño. The interruption of the metallic flow sent from Upper Peru to the capital, the main fiscal resource.
from the Viceroyalty, forced Cisneros to authorize trade with the English through a regulation issued in
November 1809, in which he sought to mitigate its most disruptive effects by maintaining the monopoly of
internal trade and retail sales in the hands of local merchants, both from the peninsula and
creoles.

The Lost Peninsula?

In that changing context, the attempt to control and monitor the populations of the colonies did not obey
not only to the fear of a potential rebellion against colonial order, but also to the certainty that free
the circulation of news about the events happening on the Peninsula could be very disturbing. Not
Spanish authorities were mistaken when they thought so. In fact, although Cisneros tried to prevent it from happening.
It will spread the news about the French advance over Andalusia and the dissolution of the Central Board, its
efforts were in vain. The novelty, which arrived in Buenos Aires on May 18, triggered a new crisis,
now driven by the strong feeling that the Peninsula was falling into French hands. The steps to follow were
They discussed in various meetings held at the houses of Nicolás Rodríguez Peña and Hipólito Vieytes, at the
who were attended by restless figures concerning the situation, among them Juan José Castelli, Manuel Belgrano, Juan José
Paso, Antonio Luis Berutü. In permanent communication with the chief of the Patricios Regiment, Cornelio
Saavedra, this group decided to meet with Cisneros to pressure him to convene an open council.
despite the Virrey's delays to avoid such a call, the pressure exerted by the militia leaders
he finally convinced him to comply with the request. Two years of a vacant throne and four years of living in a climate of
permanent authority crisis, some active residents of Buenos Aires deemed it urgent the
local deliberation. This is what the neighbors who were called to the open council held on the 22nd did.
May 1810.
Starting from that date, Buenos Aires began to play a role in events that would change the entire life of the
inhabitants of the Viceroyalty. Since 1806, the capital had been the scene of events of "nature
"extraordinary" -as expressed in a report from the Court- and a sounding board for all conflicts that
such events had unleashed. But everything seemed to reduce to the perimeter of the city and its surroundings, including the

the other shore of the Río de la Plata. Both during the English invasions and in the events that accompanied
during the dynastic crisis, Buenos Aires seemed to behave more like the epicenter of a governorship than as a capital
of a huge viceroyalty. The authorities residing in Buenos Aires were more concerned about their disputes
internals that govern the vast territory they had under their care. A fact that is certainly understandable if
it is taken into account that the Viceroyalty had only three decades of existence, and that its creation had united
very diverse jurisdictions, accustomed to operating with great autonomy, both in relation to their former headquarters
viceroyal in Lima as in the metropolitan city itself. The attempt to politically translate the map of the circuits
merchant activities configured over two centuries did not seem to have solidified at the institutional level. Perhaps because
for this reason, Buenos Aires was able to discover the true nature of its condition as a capital after May of
1810, when he led the revolutionary process and set out to conquer his dependent jurisdictions
to find in them a support that had never been sought before in the midst of the crisis that began in 1806.
 3. A new political order is born

In 1810, a new stage began both on the Peninsula and in America - The formation of juntas in different
American cities and the summons to courts in Spain redefined the terms of the crisis that began in
1808. While the most densely populated regions of the empire remained loyal to the metropolis and
they applied the Constitution of Cádiz of 1812, others refused to participate in the Cadiz constitutional process and
they embarked on the path of insurgency. The Río de la Plata was among the rebel areas. After the
formation of the First Provisional Government Junta, in May 1810 in Buenos Aires, they left
happening different authorities that, in the name of the reversion of sovereignty, assumed the government of
ex Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. The political autonomy experienced from 1810 gave rise,
immediately, to a war between the defenders and detractors of the new order, and went through multiple
roads to the declaration of independence in 1816, The disputes that faced the men who
The inhabitants of the Río de la Plata territories were of diverse nature, among them those that were settled in
the name of new subjects of sovereign accusation. The fragmentation of the previous viceroyal unit was one of
the consequences of such disputes.

1810: the first autonomous government A hectic week

At the open council held on May 22, 18X0, the attendees voted on a crucial decision:
depose the viceroy Cisneros from his position for having expired the authority that had appointed him. To that meeting
Four hundred and fifty neighbors from the capital city were invited by the school, although slightly more attended.
of two hundred and fifty. Among those present were officials, magistrates, priests, officers of the
army and militias and distinguished neighbors of the city. By the way, the voting was not unanimous: sixty and
Nine attendees supported the viceroy's stay, while the vast majority favored the
position to put an end to the viceroyal authority.
In addition to deposing the viceroy, that same day it was decided that the Cabildo of the capital would assume command as

governor and that, in such capacity, he will immediately be responsible for forming a governing board to oversee the
rights of King Ferdinand VII. The next day, the Cabildo made a final attempt to integrate Cisneros into
that Board, despite what was agreed on May 22. It was, however, a sui generis inclusion.
to resign from his position beforehand to appoint him as president of the Board, although without the status of viceroy.
But it was all useless. On May 25, Victoria Square had once again become the scene of
the popular uprising. A movement led by the Patricios regiment submitted a petition with the list of
the names that should appear in the new government. The Board was thus constituted by nine members:
Cornelio Saavedra, who was entrusted with the supreme military command, presided over it; his secretaries were Mariano
Moreno and Juan José Paso, and the rest of the members Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli, Miguel de Azcuénaga,
Manuel Alberti, Domingo Matheu and Juan Larrea.
Thus ended the ephemeral career of Cisneros in the Río de la Piafa. After three movements intended to
to depose viceroys in less than four years —the first, successful, and the second, failed—, the third was
definitive, although the circumstances surrounding this movement were different from those experienced in
the immediate past. Firstly, because it was a more widespread reaction on an imperial scale: among
April and September of 1810 saw the formation of juntas in Venezuela, Nueva Granada, Río de la Plata, and Chile. In all
In the cases, the principle of retroversion of sovereignty was invoked to provisionally reassume it until the
the king will return to the throne, following the example of the councils of Spain. Secondly, although it was not put in
the game of monarchical legitimacy, yes, questioned that of the metropolitan authorities who came to
replace it. The formation of the provisional Board implied the creation of an autonomous government, which sought
to rise as the supreme authority of the entire Viceroyalty. Autonomy at that moment meant maintaining the
link with the monarch and exercise self-government without recognition from the Peninsular Regency Council.
Although the legitimacy of the Junta stemmed from the Cabildo that had created it, very quickly its
members were reluctant to share power with the capital's City Council. To establish themselves in
it was necessary to expand its representation, integrating the rest of the cities of the Viceroyalty and
reduce the power of colonial institutions, especially that held by the capital city council. To
To fulfill the first task, the Provisional Board followed the same steps as the Central Board in 1809,
when he sought to tie his American domains more firmly by granting them representation within his ranks.
It was just that in this case it was an electoral process intended to appoint representatives of the cities.
main and subordinate for an autonomous government of the metropolis. It was the second time that in the River of the
Silver was practiced in the election of representatives. The principle of the retroversion of sovereignty to the peoples.
what was at the base of the autonomy claim forced the Board of Buenos Aires to seek representation
from those towns. To this effect, he immediately sent a circular to the dependent councils to substantiate
the elections, which were to be held in open town meetings.
Regarding the proclaimed objective of the new government to establish itself as the supreme power, the problems

were greater. In the document drawn up by the Cabildo on May 25, the Junta assumed the powers
corresponding to a viceroy -government, finance, and war-, but it was limited by the Royal Audience, which
absorbed the cause of justice, and by the Cabildo of the capital, which reserved the powers to oversee the
members of the Board, being able to dismiss them for poor performance of their duties, and to give consent to the
imposition of new contributions and taxes. In this context, marked by legal uncertainties
and the avatars of the war on the Peninsula, the Junta had to move very cautiously if it intended to establish itself in
superior authority without violating the Hispanic legality of which it was, for now, proclaimed heir. The way to
doing it was to remove the members of the two institutions intended to limit their power and place in them
loyal characters to the new government. The listeners of the Audiencia were expelled from the Río de la Plata territory in
the month of June and the chapter members replaced in October. In both cases, the reason given was suspicion
in collusion with the Regency Council of the Peninsula. If the legitimacy of the Central Junta had been
fragile, that of the Regency Council was practically null. At least, that is how the members of the
Board of Buenos Aires and many of the boards created in those months in the rest of South America. With the
the replacement of the judges maintained legality, while at the same time a path was being initiated that, for the moment,

Only the opponents of the new order dared to proclaim as revolutionary.

The revolution and its uncertainties

The fact that, in recent years, a large part of historiography has revised traditional views that
they sanctified a group of prominent men as promoters of an early independence not
it means denying the existence of certain characters who, by 1810, were in full deliberation about
the options that the crisis opened up. By the way, since 1809, it is possible to observe a climate of agitation among
active inhabitants of the capital following the events of 1808. Many of the characters that
they participated in the clandestine meetings held at the time Cisneros took office as viceroy
they were the ones who discussed the steps to be taken during the week of May. The house of the Rodríguez Peña family
and the Vieytes soap factory were, apparently, the main venues where prominent figures deliberated
like Saavedra, Belgrano, Castelli, and Moreno, among others. Now, the active participation of these men
it does not imply that we are facing a homogeneous group embodying a deliberate plan of independence. Of
Indeed, some of them proposed different courses of action. On the other hand, the term 'independence'
it began to fill with very diverse contents, and not all who invoked it granted it the same
meaning. If for some it could represent the most radical alternative of cutting all ties with Spain
-an option that was not yet expressed publicly-, for many it implied forming a government
autonomous, although not independent of the metropolis. Although the term "autonomy" was not in use at that time
for years, it refers to the possibility of seeking in the crisis the opportunity to create the framework for the
self-government of local and regional affairs, without this meaning a break with the monarchy.
The situation was very confusing for the actors of the time, attentive -among many others
variables - to the unfolding of international events to establish their changing positions. Almost all
they seemed to be open to the different possibilities that arose with the crisis, even the one that still
it fostered Carlism. In that context, marked more by perplexities than by certainties, only
Some data seems clear. Firstly, that it was the urban militias that tipped the balance to
favor of autonomy. Secondly, that the movement had popular support, especially from the
urban plebe of the capital. Finally, that the events of May had a distinctly porteno character, to
less in its early stages. This limited capital dimension led the First Junta to seek support
in the vast territory it aimed to dominate. To that end, Buenos Aires relied, more than ever, on its condition
the capital of a viceroyalty that was now beginning to explore its true dimensions. The call to
that the cities chose a deputy to join that Board was accompanied by armed expeditions,
whose purpose was to make known the new situation and persuade the jurisdictions, until that moment
dependents of the deposed viceroy, that they had to guarantee their loyalty to the newly formed Junta.

Debate topics
In response to the question of whether the events of the May week were led by a clearly defined group to which
Can be assigned, from the beginning, the title of 'revolutionary', historiography has given various answers. The
predominant perspectives since the 19th century and for much of the 20th century interpreted that the events of
May were driven by figures carrying a long-elaborated independentist plan. These perspectives,
whose starting point is the idea that around 1810 there was a sort of internal maturation in certain Creole groups
They would have been willing from the very beginning to break their ties with the metropolis, adopting different forms. The most
undoubtedly successful was the one that explained the revolutionary process as the expression of a nascent national consciousness. This
image, built within the framework of the process of forming the Argentine national state, which required - as happened for the
the same period in the rest of the Hispanic American countries - a myth of the nation's origin, was consolidated and transmitted to
through various public speeches, among which the one disseminated by the school stands out. This interpretation is
they later added others that, although from different interpretive keys, contributed to consolidating the idea of the existence of a
revolutionary group bearer, before 1810, of mature and clear interests. Thus, for example, there are those who believe that
there was a sector opposed to the Spanish monopolistic system, which promoted independence and free trade with the aim of
to ensure its economic expansion. For any of these perspectives, the crisis of the monarchy is nothing more than a cause
occasional that allowed to accelerate a supposedly emerging process.
In recent years, a vast historiography has focused on criticizing the ideological assumptions that, since the end of the century
XIX, dominated the interpretations of the Hispanic American independence processes, positing the hypothesis that
Such movements were neither a manifestation of national feelings, nor did they arise from the challenge of sectors.
socioeconomic groups with interests opposed to the metropolis, but rather emerged as a response to the power vacuum caused by the
Napoleonic occupation. The widespread acceptance of this new starting point, in which emancipations are seen
as a unique process on a Hispanic American scale, with its epicenter in the Peninsula, does not deny, however, the multiplicity
of processes that it contains, but rather gives them a new meaning. Firstly, to demonstrate that such movements do not
they were born from preconceived anticolonial plans, but from the effects produced by the monarchical crisis of 1808; secondly
place, to discover the different alternatives that the crisis opened in terms of autonomies and self-government; finally, to
enhance the study of the different planes of dispute in which the revolutions were waged in each of the territories
belonging to the monarchy.

Buenos Aires in the conquest of the Viceroyalty

From its headquarters in Buenos Aires, the new Junta tried to transform its militias into armies destined to
guarantee the loyalty of the dependent territories. The first center of resistance to the Board had its epicenter
in Córdoba, and was harshly repressed in August, when it was ordered to execute those responsible,
among those was the governor of the jurisdiction, Gutiérrez de la Concha, and the hero of the
reconquest, Santiago de Liniers. An exemplary punishment that did not need to be repeated: the majority of the
cities, after certain ups and downs and musings, began to submit voluntarily.
In the cities dependent on the intendant of Córdoba, the councils of San Luis and San Juan adhered.
to the new government, while in Mendoza the support was only achieved with the arrival of reinforcements from
Buenos Aires, facing the opposition that initially showed the regional army commander.
the Intendancy of Salta, the Cabildo immediately expressed its support for the new order, while the governor
mayor, Nicolás Severo de Isasmendi, after recognizing the Junta, spoke out against the 'enemies of
the cause of the king.” Once again, it was the expeditionary forces that arrived from Buenos Aires that turned the tide.
the luck in favor of the Board. The cities dependent on Salta began adhering at various times:
while the Cabildo of Jujuy offered its obedience after the defeat and replacement of the governor intendente,
the councils of Tucumán and Santiago del Estero did so before the said replacement, and Catamarca offered its
unreserved adherence. On the coast, the cities dependent on Buenos Aires did not have, like the others, the
intermediate authority of the governor mayor, since, shortly after the Viceroyalty was created, the authority
The viceroy gathered in his hands that of the intendancy governorship. Thus, the situation appeared less
problematic for Buenos Aires, as Santa Fe, Corrientes, and Misiones expressed their immediate loyalty,
while in Entre Ríos there were complications due to the intervention of the royalist fleet from Montevideo.

Portrait of Santiago de Liniers

Santiago de Liniers was executed two leagues from Cabeza de Tigre along with the governor of Córdoba and three other figures who were
They refused to obey the Junta de Buenos Aires. The Archbishop of Córdoba, Orellana, who was with the accused, was granted mercy and spared his life.

given his investiture. Perhaps what persuaded the Board to take such a drastic measure was that, given Liniers' popularity among
The troops and the common people of Buenos Aires feared the risk of a popular uprising in his favor if he were taken prisoner to the capital.
Colonial and Historical Museum 'Enrique Udaondo', Luján.

In all cases, the fundamental thing was to obtain the support of the councils, to the extent that the principle of
the retroversion of sovereignty to the peoples directly involved the councils as bodies
representatives of those towns. The intendants governors, on the other hand, were direct delegates of the
monarch, and in such a capacity easily replaceable in case they do not show loyalty to the mandates of the capital.
And, in fact, that is how it was done: Isasmendi was replaced in Salta by Chiclana, and in Córdoba, after the repression.
from the dissidents, Pueyrredón was appointed. In the jurisdictions dependent on Salta and Córdoba, many of
the weapons commanders were replaced by characters loyal to the new order, while in
Misiones, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, and Santa Fe were appointed military governors in relief of the lieutenants.
governors.
However, not in all jurisdictions did Buenos Aires succeed. It was precisely in the mayorships
more distant and less integrated into the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, Paraguay and Upper Peru, as well as in the most

close although always conflictive military governorship of the Banda Oriental, where the greatest were expressed
resistances. In the province of Paraguay, an open council held on July 24 in Asunción recognized the
Regency Council. The military expedition sent there under the command of Manuel Belgrano was defeated, and the
the autonomy proclaimed by Paraguay regarding Buenos Aires constituted a point of no return. In the Upper
Peru, liberated from Spanish rule by military forces led from Buenos Aires in late 1810, the
advance would prove ephemeral. And Montevideo, a traditional commercial and political competitor of Buenos Aires,
where the Spanish naval forces were stationed, constituted for several years the most royalist focus
worrisome for the government based in Buenos Aires.

The political directions of the revolution

The Río de la Plata facing the new Spanish nation
While the provisional Board awaited the arrival of the elected representatives from the interior cities and
faced the first military challenges in the rebel regions, remained very attentive to the ups and downs
political and warlike in the Peninsula. Among the most significant political events that occurred on the other
the Atlantic side was the call to General Courts. The Council of Regency, aware of its
fragility and illegitimacy, issued said call through a decree inviting everyone to
dependent territories to elect deputies. The initiative was of great importance for several reasons.
the first resided in the fact that the Peninsula was compelled to resolve the vacancy of the Crown through
a legal instrument that sought, two years after a vacant throne, to emerge from the situation of provisionality under
in which the authorities were located. The Cortes, barely assembled in Cádiz in September 1810 and
dominated by the liberal groups, they took on the character of a Constituent Congress in the name of a new
political subject: the Spanish nation. Its mission was, then, to issue a constitution and equip that nation - in the
that included the Peninsula and all its domains - of new bases of legitimacy and legality.
The second reason for its importance lay in the fact that the Congress gathered in Cádiz granted representation
both the peninsular territories and the American ones. In this way, the change of status was fulfilled.
proclaimed by the Central Board in January 1809, declaring that the American territories were not colonies,
It is an essential part of the monarchy. The fulfillment of this Royal Order took place in its two dimensions.
most relevant: the integration of America into the representation in Congress was respected, but at the same time, it was maintained the

inequality of that representation by giving a majority of deputies to the Peninsula, without following a criterion that
Link the number of inhabitants with the number of deputies. This asymmetry caused serious discontent in many
regions of America, to which a second element of discomfort was added: the 'supplementary' representation
established in the Peninsula that, in the name of the urgency of events, led to the appointment of deputies
substitutes among the American residents established in Cádiz until they were elected and sent from
America's definitive representatives. It was undoubtedly a crucial moment, as it had to be discussed.
the redefinition of the empire and the form of government that the monarchy would adopt through a text
constitutional. The drafting of a written constitution by an elected body that represents the
nation was certainly an unprecedented experience for the Spanish monarchy, and very recent also in the world
Atlantic. The first constituent experiment had been that of the United States of America in 1787,
followed by the most tumultuous events experienced in France after its revolution in 1789.
The Río de la Plata opposed participating in the Cortes of Cádiz, citing as the main argument the
representative inequality. The same attitude was taken by other regions of the empire, such as part of New
Granada and Venezuela, while the central and more populated areas of America agreed to be part of the
constituent experience and sent their deputies to Congress. The jurisdictions that refused to participate
they were considered rebels by the authorities of the Peninsula, now formed by a new Council of
Regency in charge of the executive power and by the Courts, established not only as a constituent power but also
legislative. America was beginning to divide into two large blocks: loyalists and insurgents. The River Plate
was part of the second.

City Council or Congress?

In December 1810, when the deputies elected from the interior of the Viceroyalty arrived in Buenos Aires, they
an open conflict within the government was unleashed, showcasing the differences regarding the directions
that should have adopted the course of action taken in May. Such differences were expressed in terms
Legal: either the elected representatives in the cities joined as members of the Board or with
they formed a Constituent Congress. The circulars sent in May 1810, by which
called for the election of deputies in the cities, they were ambiguous enough to give rise to this debate. The
confusion was the product of the legal uncertainty of the situation and the scarce -or almost nonexistent- experience of
the new political leaders on issues of this nature. The truth is that such ambiguity was used as
a tool of political dispute between two groups that, within the Board, had already started to distinguish themselves.
Secretary Mariano Moreno led one of those groups, arguing that the deputies should
to form a congress aimed at drafting a constitution and establishing a form of government. For its part, the
President Cornelio Saavedra, along with the nine representatives from the interior, supported the motion to form a
expanded junta. The first position proposed a more radicalized strategy, insofar as a
A congress with constituent function implied abandoning the simple deposit of sovereignty to transform the
current order and consequently open the way to definitive emancipation. The second was more
conservative, because forming a council of cities meant staying within the Hispanic legal order,
but also within the autonomy achieved in May 1810, taking on the deposit of sovereignty of
monarch, now in the hands of a body that represented both the capital and the set of cities that
they had accepted this alternative. Thus, in this case, the term 'conservative' did not mean
submit to the metropolis, but to maintain a prudent political course, very attentive to the events of the
Peninsula, but at the same time reluctant to participate in the constitutional experiment that was taking place in Cádiz.
Finally, the Saavedrist position triumphed and a council of cities was established. On December 18th of
In 1810, the Grand Junta was formed. Moreno was assigned to a mission in England - where he found the
death before touching the coast of the British Isles-, and the now expanded collegiate power was in charge of
facing the new challenges opened in May.

Decree of Suppression of Honors

The differences between 'morenistas' and 'saavedristas' had already been displayed shortly before the legal controversy expressed in
the discussion on how to integrate the elected deputies in the cities. On the occasion of the celebrations of the victory achieved in
November, by the patriotic army in Suipacha (Upper Peru), a toast was offered in honor of Saavedra, to whom a
laurel crown. This gesture promoted the version that the president of the Board was trying to crown himself as the new monarch
from America and culminated with the decree of December 8 of 'suppression of honors', promoted by his secretary, Mariano
Moreno. There were displayed the rules of republican virtue that should guide the actions of public officials, it was done
special emphasis on the absolute equality of all members of the Board, both in relation to their powers and in the
regarding the protocol that should be followed in their public celebrations, and the supreme military command was transferred,
entrusted to Saavedra by the Cabildo in the act of the establishment of the Provisional Board, to the full Board. This last point was
especially important because it deprived the president of the Board of one of the fundamental powers inherited from the
deposed viceroy: the general command of the troops. A degradation that Sobremonte had already suffered before his
definitive deposition, when in the open council of 1806 it was decided to delegate military command to Liniers. Now then, if
Sobremonte had been demoted for not having adequately defended the capital of his viceroyalty against the English attack.
Saavedra suffered a similar devaluation of his authority, but due to the enormous power that implied commanding the troops of a
army that now intended to conquer for the new order all the jurisdictions of the Viceroyalty created in 1776. From this
perspective, Saavedra, although he was the president of a collegiate power declared autonomous from the metropolis, had taken on
legally -by delegation from the Cabildo itself- the main powers of a true viceroy. The reaction unleashed by the
the symbolic handover of the laurel crown to the prestigious commander of the Patricios highlighted, therefore, the fear of
many to a type of personal despotism and the distrust towards a character who, in several ways, evoked the image

of the authority deposed in May 1810.

What to do with the cities?

One of the most urgent tasks of the Grand Board was to generate and maintain support for the new order in
regions absolutely remote from the center of power located in Buenos Aires. The war against the hotspots
dissidents imposed the growing need to recruit men and material resources to sustain it, both in
Buenos Aires as in the interior of the vast territory over which it claimed to exert its authority.
To carry out this task, it was not enough to replace governors, commanders, and lieutenants; it was
essential, furthermore, to have strong support among local elites. The councils were, undoubtedly, a
fundamental piece, but, although most had declared adherence to the board, they could become very
quickly in centers of resistance to the new order. This had been demonstrated in Upper Peru, Paraguay and
Montevideo.
The decree issued by the Grand Junta on February 10, 1811, through which juntas were created
provincial and subordinate, it was an attempt at a political response to this problem. The goal was to gain support.
in the inner cities, neutralize the councils as the only vehicles of consensus, and organize
territorial governments under the control of the board, maintaining the hierarchies established by the Ordinance of
Mayors of 1782 - The decree ordered the creation of elective provincial councils of four members in the
provincial capitals and subordinate councils of two members in those subordinated cities or towns with
right to have their deputy in the Buenos Aires Board. The elective nature of its members - who for the first
they were elected through elections and not by open councils - however, it did not reach those who should have
preside them: the provincial governors remained as presidents of the provincial councils and the
weapon commanders as presidents of the subordinate units, all appointed by the Grand Board.
The powers granted to these collegiate bodies were very limited. The boards were
basically aimed at ensuring internal order in each jurisdiction and recruiting troops to serve the
patriot army. Despite these limitations, the new provision was received with enthusiasm by most.
of the cities, according to the testimonies of the election records sent to the board. But from these it is deduced
also the conflicts unleashed in some regions. The claims for autonomy from some jurisdictions
subordinate to their capital cities of intendancy (such as the cases of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Jujuy), the
disputes arising between local groups during the electoral processes (such as in Tucumán and Santiago del)
Estuary) or the competitions between councils and town halls show the difficulties in ensuring governance at
starting from the new center of power. The absence of the king and his replacement by an authority that invoked the

the retroversion of sovereignty in the peoples seemed, little by little, to become a kind of box of
Pandora. So much so, that the decree of February proved to be ephemeral: by mid-year 1811 it would no longer have
validity, in a context, on the other hand, of increasing tension within the Grand Board itself.

Crisis of the Board

The peaks of that tension were manifested in the events of April 5 and 6, 1811, and in the experiences that followed.
September and October of the same year. Meanwhile, in April, disputes erupted among Moreno's heir group.
reorganized after his death in the 'Morenista club', and the 'Saavedrista' that dominated the board, the events of
September and October played a role in the power dynamics between the representatives of Buenos Aires and those of the cities.
from within the government. During the April events, a mobilization - whose popular component is highlighted by
All the documents gathered in the Plaza de la Victoria and presented a petition to the authorities, through the Cabildo.
In support of the chairman and his close group, the demands called for, among other points, the expulsion of the
vowels linked to the morenista club, their exile from the city of Buenos Aires, and the restoration of powers to Saavedra
military personnel removed with the decree of suppression of honors. The government complied with the requests. In the following months,
while the war continued its course with disappointing results - following Belgrano's failure in his expedition to Paraguay
the front of Montevideo occupied by the Spanish naval forces and the defeat of Huaqui in Upper Peru- the
The government installed in Buenos Aires seemed to become increasingly isolated. The victory of the Saavedra group in April did not succeed

silence the opposition within the capital.

When the president of the Board addressed the front of the Northern army with the aim of reorganizing it, after the
defeat of Desaguadero, his opponents took the opportunity to convene the open council that was to elect the two
deputies from Buenos Aires not yet appointed, as stipulated in the circulars of May 1810. Although these
deputies were to complete the representation of the Grand Board, the election held on September 19, 1811, in a
climate of great agitation, was not intended for its initial purpose, but to create a new authority, also collegiate, of
Just three members. Three days after the election, the 'concentration of power' occurred - according to the terms
used by contemporaries of the events - when the Triumvirate was established with the two deputies elected in the council
Open, Feliciano Chiclana and Juan José Paso, and with the most voted representative of the people, Manuel de Sarratea.
Such concentration generated a quick conflict with the Junta Grande -now called the Junta Conservadora- in which
The deputies from the interior remained. What powers did that Board, representative of the towns, have against a
power that had been designated in an open council of the city of Buenos Aires and that claimed to represent
the entire territory? The Board quickly took on the legal challenge and drafted the Regulation on the Division of Powers, given to
to know on October 22, 1811, attributed to the pen of Dean Gregorio Funes, deputy from Córdoba and main supporter
from the Saavedrist group. According to the new regulations, the Triumvirate was in charge of the executive power and had to
subordinating its management to the Board, now converted into the legislative power. Although it did not have the authority to establish itself as

Constituent congress acted as if it had them, disrupting the order and the existing legality, in order to be the only one.
a body that, as it stated, 'preserves the cities in the person of their deputies.' As a legislative power, it reserved
the powers to declare war and peace, establish taxes, create courts or unknown jobs and appoint the
members of the executive
The sanction of the regulation was devastating for the Board itself as it led to its dissolution by order of the
executive, in November 1811. In December, the government accused many of the deputies who had formed the council
She organized a conspiracy and decreed that they should be expelled to their respective provinces. It ended,
Moreover, the political career of Saavedra, who after these events was also subjected to confinement and processes
judicial. The Triumvirate elected in the capital became the supreme authority, while the provinces remained
directly without a voice in it. The relationship between the capital and the rest of the jurisdictions became increasingly conflictive. The
The power exercised from Buenos Aires did not hide its centralizing will, while the cities demanded representation.

Surveillance Committee
Juan Ignacio Gorriti, a deputy of the Junta Grande representing Jujuy, left in his autobiography an account of the episodes
occurred during the events of April 5 and 6 and the formation of the Triumvirate in September 1811. Opponent of the Saavedra faction,
it highlighted the excesses committed by the Surveillance Committee created after the April events in the following terms:
A court was created called the surveillance court to promote espionage and denunciations; inquisitorial processes multiplied.
Secretary Campana never attended the meetings as he should have, and when he did enter during them, it was to accuse revolutions and accuse.

people, the most respected in Buenos Aires. Each session lasted two or three full days; in the morning from 9
until 3 in the afternoon and from 7 to 11 or 12 at night, without prejudice to the actions of the supervisory court. [...] It was
I need to destroy this monument of shame. The opportunity did not wait.
After recounting an episode in which two people were arrested in a grocery store, tried, and sentenced by the court of
surveillance accusing them of speaking badly against the government, continues: "However, the court ruled against the accused, sentencing them to
some years of imprisonment, loss of their confiscated assets, and satisfaction of legal costs; sent the file to the Board for
Confirmation of the ruling. The Board had divided its work, for better efficiency, into three sections; in one, the tasks were handled.
regarding the management of treasury; in another the files that were circulated through the notary against the treasury and in another the others
government and police matters. High government affairs were discussed in a meeting of the entire Board, I was at (the table where I should
See the file prepared by the surveillance. It was put in the office; their lives were so remarkable that it scandalized all the members.
the crime was not proven. When it would have been, it was of such nature that it did not deserve to be brought to trial, or so minor,
it is certainly true that the punishment of being locked in filthy dungeons for more than three months, burdened by prisons,
it was more than enough punishment to make him atone. The defendants had not been heard to make their defenses; therefore, it could not be
pronounce a sentence against them; and despite so many flaws, a sentence was pronounced that was little less than death. The resolution,
Well, it was looked upon with scandal by the members; we deemed it not only unjust in all its parts but void due to a defect in form.
I took advantage of the beautiful disposition in which the vowels were to direct my blows against that hateful tribunal: I lent with the colors.
more alive the immorality of the sentence, I analyzed its forensic vices and the terrible political consequences of some proceedings that
they destroyed all social guarantees, which placed all citizens in complex insecurity when going to bed in their beds
That night, everyone would have just reasons to fear waking up in a dungeon, fighting against infamous denunciations that would do it all by themselves.

full proof to impose arbitrary penalties. [...] Recently I said that this was a necessary step in the intention to establish a regime
of terror with which soon the monitoring tribunal would overcome all authorities, becoming the absolute arbiter of lives and
Haciendas. Thus, later, a statement saying that the Board must, under penalty of harm, firmly oppose; remove this object from the nation.
of scandal and affront, putting the work and the author to waste, that is to say, the order of the sentence should be revoked in all its parts.
to absolve the inmates of all charges, to restore their property in full, to release them at the hour, and to remove the supervisory court.
My colleagues conformed; I drafted the decree in this sense, it was signed and had full effect with general approval from all the
people of good.
Juan Ignacio Gorriti, Political Autobiography, Collection of documents for Argentine history, Library of Mayo, Volume II, Buenos
Buenos Aires, National Senate, 1960.

From autonomy to independence

1812: a crucial year
1812 was a decisive year in the course of the revolution. Several factors contributed to this. First of all, the
situation of the Peninsula: in March of that year, while Ferdinand VII remained captive, it was sanctioned in
Spain, the Constitution of Cádiz, which endowed the Spanish nation -composed of all Spaniards from both
hemispheres- of a centralized constitutional monarchy regime. The king was in charge of the power
executive -which during his absence would be exercised by a Regency Council- within the framework of a regime with
division of powers. The centralist character of the new charter was evident in the territorial organization.
which also affected America. Cádiz created two types of representative bodies at the territorial level - the
constitutional city councils and the elective provincial councils-, but limited by the
figure of a political chief appointed by the monarch. This sanction came to consolidate the two already established blocks.

profiled in America. The loyal regions - New Spain, Peru, part of New Granada, some provinces
from Venezuela, Cuba, Yucatán, and Guatemala applied the Constitution of 1812 in their jurisdictions, while
that the insurgent calls -the Río de la Plata, the rest of Venezuela and New Granada- did not do it. The
the fact that the Cortes refused to negotiate with America a regime of self-government for the management of its
local issues invalidated any type of autonomist alternative within the framework of the monarchy. For the
regions that, like the Río de la Plata, had remained untouched by the constitutional experience of the
Peninsula, the options were reduced to accepting to be part of the new Spanish nation or being declared rebels.
through the metropolis.

The Constitution of Cádiz of 1812

The Constitution of 1812 was received and celebrated with great fanfare in the American regions where it was implemented. It was the first to be
called 'liberate and received, moreover, the nickname 'La Pepa', because it was promulgated on March 19, Saint Joseph's Day. Even today in
Spain debates whether the origin of the popular exclamation '¡Viva la Pepa!' comes from the demonstration of euphoria by the
population in the face of the proclamation of new rights and freedoms in the constitutional text.
Original sketch of the commemorative column of the Constitution of Cádiz of 1812 erected in Comayagua, Honduras. Anonymous, first
third of the 19th century. Ministry of Culture, General Archive of the Indies (Maps and Pianos, Guatemala, 276), Seville, Spain. Reproduced
in Ramón Gutiérrez and Rodrigo Gutiérrez Viñuales, Spain and America: Images for a History, Madrid, MAPFRE Foundation, 2006.
Original sketch of commemorative column in tribute to the Cádiz Constitution of 1812 and to Fernando VII. Garrigós, Ministry of
Culture, General Archive of the Indies (Maps and Pianos, Prints, 66}, Seville, Spain. Reproduced in Ramón Gutiérrez and Rodrigo
Gutiérrez Viñuales, Spain and America: images for a history, Madrid, Fundación MAPFRE, 2006.

In that context, the alternative of maintaining a cautious course for the movement unleashed in 1810 had no
too much support. If everyone agreed not to return to submission, it would need to be upheld more than ever.
rebellion through arms. The ambiguous legal situation maintained until that moment by a
the government that had only assumed the deposit of sovereignty was harshly criticized by opposition groups.
The factional divisions in the capital had deepened with the creation in January 1812 of the Society
Patriotic, an association that brought together the Moreno sectors now led by Bernardo de Monteagudo, and of
the Lautaro Lodge, a secret organization that sought to influence the local government to favor military success
of the revolutionary cause in America, which was led by José de San Martín and Carlos de Alvear, just
disembarked at the port of Buenos Aires. Both groups came together to oppose what they considered
a moderate policy by the Triumvirate. The severe measures taken against European Spaniards and
the strong repression against those involved in the royalist conspiracy, led by Martín de Alzaga in July of
1812 (in which the second hero of the defense against the English was executed, as well as the
the majority of the rebels), the government was not able to counter the accusation of embodying a policy
too shy. The option to declare independence from the metropolis was no longer an alternative that
it could only be discussed in a low voice to move on to being debated in the public space. The periodic press became
echo of this claim, stimulated by the press freedom decree of 1811. On the other hand, the situation was worsening
concern over retaining a representative body for all peoples, after almost a year of exercise of the
provisional government by a body that had been elected in the city of Buenos Aires. The only way
legal -and at the same time legitimate- way to escape that provisionality was to call a constitutional congress -such
as the Peninsula had done with the Cortes of Cádiz - which, representing all the peoples of the ex
viceroyalty, would decide the new political direction of the region.

The congress was finally convened, following the tumultuous episodes of October 1812. A
revolutionary movement led by the members of the Patriotic Society and the Lautaro Lodge gave way to
land with the first Triumvirate and formed a new government. The second Triumvirate, dominated by trends
more radical ones who proclaimed the need to formally declare independence, was in charge of
to convene the first Constituent Congress that met in the Río de la Plata in January 1813.
Constituent Congress without independence
In its early stages, the Assembly of the Year XIII represented the most radical moment of the revolution. Not only
for having sanctioned freedom of the press, freedom of childbirth, the abolition of the tribute, the mita and the
yanaconazgo, and the suppression of titles of nobility, but also for having excluded the oath formula of
loyalty to King Ferdinand VII. The new oath formula was innovative and at the same time controversial, the
Elected deputies from the cities arrived in Buenos Aires with instructions to represent their respective
towns, but once the sessions of Congress were opened, Deputy Alvear proposed that everyone take an oath in
name of the nation. With this new formula, the deputies stopped representing their city and province.
to represent a nation that no one quite knew how to define. The truth is that this novelty
-that followed the path of the oath of the French revolutionary assembly and of the Cortes of Cádiz- was a source of
conflicts, as many cities perceived it as an invasion of their representation rights
particular and its claims for autonomy.
 At that point, tensions between the capital, the seat of the central government, and the rest of the jurisdictions
new aspects emerged, as two trends began to be defined more clearly, which
was related to being gathered in a constituent assembly that was supposed to discuss the
organization of the new political order. On one hand, there were those who defended a form of government
indivisible and centralized; on the other hand, those who advocated for a form of government with broad autonomies for
the cities, which were given the name 'federal trend'. For the first ones, sovereignty was unique and
indivisible - represented in the concept of nation driven by the deputy Alvear - and the ordering
The resulting political entity had to be one of unity for the provinces of the former Viceroyalty. This presupposed the preponderance

from Buenos Aires due to its status as the former capital of the Viceroyalty and because it was also the head of the

revolution started in 1810. For the second group, sovereignty could be segmented and placed on foot
equality for all cities as subjects of sovereign rights. However, under the designation
Different alternatives were embraced under 'federal', which displayed the crossing and confusions arising from the novelties.
what the different political languages introduced in the revolutionary context brought with them. According to has
demonstrated by José Carlos Chiaramonte, the term "federal" could refer to a confederal organizational model,
similar to the experience of the thirteen North American colonies that, after their independence in 1776,
they adopted a regime of this kind for a few years, in which the new states were united under a
loose central government with limited powers related, especially, to the management of foreign relations.
But it could also refer to the type of bond created by the Constitution of 1787, from which the government
the federal government assumed greater powers, although maintaining a certain degree of autonomy for the states

members of the union. In fact, generally, the terms 'federal', 'federation', and 'confederation' were
used interchangeably throughout this period.
Now, the Río de la Plata Congress -in charge of the legislative and constitutional power- was dominated by the
centralist groups from Buenos Aires that controlled the appointments of the executive power, first in
hands of the Triumvirate and, starting in 1814, of a Supreme Director, while the federal position had its
epicenter in the Banda Oriental, under the leadership of José Gervasio Artigas. The situation in the eastern province
it was complex because, in addition to the conflicts displayed since 1808, the fact that in 1810, the Cabildo of
Montevideo declared its loyalty to the Council of Regency, while the unruly governor Elío received by
part of the peninsular authorities the title of viceroy of the Río de la Plata. Not only the government of Buenos Aires
he did not acknowledge such designation, but in the rural areas of the Banda Oriental, resistance was organized against the
Spanish authorities under the leadership of Artigas. However, the initial concord between the movement
Artigas and the government of Buenos Aires became strained. In 1813, at the Congress of Tres Cruces, Artigas recognized
to the Constituent General Assembly, but with certain conditions: to raise the representation of the Easterners to
six deputies and to respect in the future Constitution a confederal type of government, in which each
The province could maintain the enjoyment of its particular sovereignty, delegating only some powers to the authority.
central. The Assembly rejected the powers of the eastern deputies, who were then left without
representation. In 1814, Artigas definitively broke with Buenos Aires and began to expand his power and
influence over Santa Fe, Misiones, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba.
In that context, Congress was losing more and more momentum, and by the end of 1814, it was practically
isolated. The new supreme director, Alvear, did not help to pacify the spirits; in April 1815, his fall,
the product of an armed revolution, also ended with the first constitutional experience. Thus, the
The Assembly of the Year XIII did not fulfill its main tasks: to declare independence and to enact a
constitution, and laid bare the inherited problems of - the monarchy crisis. On one hand, the
independence was not declared due to the radical change in the situation on the Peninsula. The growing retreat
of the Napoleonic forces culminated at the beginning of 1814, with the restoration of Ferdinand VII to the throne and the
spread of a much more conservative political climate throughout Europe. On the other hand, the wars fought in
American territory did not allow for greater optimism. The Northern army suffered two defeats in 1813.
in Vilcapugio and Ayohúma, while on the eastern front, although the patriotic forces had managed
finally defeat the realists, disputes with Artigas intensified.
In 1815, the situation for the people of the Río de la Plata was almost desperate. The advance of the royalist forces in
A good part of insurgent Hispanic America seemed overwhelming. Ferdinand VII was returning to the throne with the iron
will to recover their domains and to punish both the rebellious colonies and the protagonists of the
Liberal cortes that had sanctioned the Constitution of 1812. On the other hand, the Northern army
it practically governed itself with the support of the Northwest provinces, Upper Peru was
definitely lost and the North was under the defense of Martín de Güemes. In the midst of this crisis, the
The decapitation of the central government with the fall of the supreme leader seemed to threaten the revolutionary order that had arisen.

in 1810.

From headlessness to a new provisional government

The vacancy was covered, just like in May 1810, by the Cabildo of Buenos Aires. Although the
The city council of the capital had seen its power eclipsed while the Constituent Assembly was in session,
in the midst of the crisis, he rose again, and was in charge of forming a provisional government, which was left in the hands of

Álvarez Thomas as supreme director and of a five-member Observation Board. This was to dictate
a Provisional Statute to regulate the conduct and powers of the new authorities. The Statute was ready at
early May; there it was assumed the commitment to convene a new constituent congress to be held
in the city of Tucumán under the principle of adjusting the number of deputies to the number of inhabitants of each

territorial jurisdiction. While this meeting was awaited, the Statute provisionally applied the principle
of the division of powers. The Observation Board acted as the legislative, the judicial power did not suffer
modifications and the executive was very restricted in its powers and under the control of the Board and the
City council. On the other hand, many of the existing authorities were becoming elective: both
the director of the state, like the deputies to the general Congress, the secular councils of the cities and towns,
the provincial governors and the members of the Observational Board were to be appointed by
popular elections. After the ephemeral and frustrated attempt at elective provincial councils in 1811, there was no
no representative mechanism had been implemented to appoint authorities in the various jurisdictions
territorial. The only opportunity that the peoples had to be represented was in the Great Board and
then in the Assembly of 1813.
However, the first was dissolved as soon as it attempted to establish itself as a legislative power under the name of

"conservative," and in the second, its representatives, newly arrived in the capital, lost their status of
deputies from their towns to become deputies of the nation. Furthermore, these forms of representation of the
towns involved the participation of their deputies either in a city council or in a power
constituent, without modifying the internal administration of their territorial governments which continued, in large part,
under the guidelines established by the Mayors' Ordinance of 1782. Although the Statute of 1815 only
he contemplated the elective nature of some authorities, the change was still significant. In 1815
it seemed that several of the emerging demands in those years were taking shape: elective authorities for the
provincial governments, popular representation for councils, proportional representation for the
deputies to the congress.
When the Statute was communicated to the provinces for their oath, although there the revolution of April
it had been welcomed with joy and that the regulations aimed to address some of their demands, did not raise
unanimous support. It was recognized in Salta and Tucumán. In Salta, Martín de Güemes, commander of the army
patriot, had just become a shiny governor and leader of a movement that, among other things,
erected on the defense wall against the royalist incursions from the North, while in Tucumán the
the most influential figure was the military of the patriot army, Bernabé Aráoz. In Cuyo, General San Martín
he had been appointed governor intendant in 1814. In this province, recently separated from the intendancy of
Córdoba, the new director appointed in April was accepted but the oath of the provisional Statute was rejected by
consider that this left the executive power in an extreme weakness. Both in the act of the Cuyano Cabildo
as mentioned in the one issued by the War Board presided over by San Martín, it referred to the difficult situation experienced in

those days, given the proximity of a Spanish expedition to suppress the insurgencies, aimed ultimately at
Venezuela. Artigas, although he began by recognizing Álvarez Thomas, ended up rejecting the director and the
brand new Statute given the refusal of the first to admit the segregation of Santa Fe as an autonomous province
produced with the federal revolution of 1815. The Banda Oriental, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba joined
the politics of Artigas.

The independence of the United Provinces of South America

For the new government, the situation was urgent. If in 1812, with the sanctioning of the Constitution of Cádiz, the
Alternatives to the revolutionary process had been reduced; with the monarchical restoration, the options were
even scarcer: either one returned to a submission to the metropolis on the absolutist terms proposed by
Fernando VII either exited the prevailing legal ambiguity or formally declared independence.
The government called for a new Constituent Congress that met in Tucumán on July 9, 1816.
declared the independence of the United Provinces of South America from Spanish domination and from all others
foreign domination. The term 'South America' expressed the uncertainty of the moment regarding which
they would be the provinces that would really remain under the new legal status: neither the Banda Oriental nor the
coastal provinces -in conflict with the Directory- took part in the Congress. Thus, while the war
it continued its course under the constant threat of troop deployment from the metropolis -now available after the
Napoleonic defeat - at the beginning of 1817, Congress moved to the city of Buenos Aires to fulfill
for its second task: to enact a constitution. But for that, it was necessary to previously define what would be the
form of government to adopt. A difficult problem to solve given the international and internal conditions
current. On the international stage, the conservative climate imposed in Europe after Napoleon's defeat
it was difficult to think about the recognition, by the main powers, of a form of government
republican. Without this, the United Provinces had little chance of consolidating as a political entity
independent. However, none of the constitutional monarchic projects could be implemented in
the Río de la Plata, despite Belgrano's initial proposal to crown some descendant of the Incas and of the
diplomatic missions sent to the European courts to find a prince willing to be crowned king
in these lands. Beyond the conservative bias of the congressmen - who coined the slogan 'end to the
revolution, beginning to order'-, public opinion was not willing to accept a monarchical form of
government; on the other hand, no European prince was tempted to accept the proposition of the envoys.
diplomats.

The Inca monarchy

More than ever, the periodic press echoed the discussions about forms of government. The newspaper El Censor, for example,
he took a favorable position towards constitutional monarchy while La Crónica Argentina ruled against the projects
monarchists and embodied the defense of the republican form of government. The latter questioned the project to establish a monarchy
Still in the south of the American continent.
In the seventh year of the freedom of these Peoples, there has been someone who speaks to us like the Spaniards first: 'it would be an injustice not to
to remember the Incas; to them, and to the Indians consequently who were their family, this land we tread belongs.
public law that the author of the contested letter professes. And is it possible that this maxim stolen from the mouths of the peninsulars has
passed to the lips of an American? Do tyrants exert such influence over our way of thinking that they transmit to us without
to know his studied opinions? Ah! May Heaven not allow that this important triumph be achieved by the bloodthirsty Spaniards; no
May Heaven wish to make familiar the idea of a visionary monarchy, whose convenience is intended to be supported by custom,
we regress to the old ways, which is what the Spaniards wanted with that astute advice; and in favor of which is also the custom
true, if it exists, and if it must be 'consulted in the 'new constitution1, work of the reform. [.,.]
Those who say that another kind of constitution does not match our customs do us the most horrendous injury, because they come to
In substance, say: 'The people of the Río de la Plata are vicious, corrupt, immoral. Its inhabitants will never be frugal, nor
good citizens. Their previous habits forbid it, for indeed before the revolution although there were some souls
superiors, they had all the vices of Spaniards and colonists'. Villages that waste the most precious blood to acquire freedom:
Do you feel this serious offense well?

But these customs that he talks about with so much ostentation when it comes to the subject of government, are either anterior to the
revolution, or later. If the former, our principles, our customs, our traditions have been 'Spanish monarchical', that
it's worth as much as if they told us that we are, for education and for principles, ambitious, idle, low, proud, enemies of the
truth, flatterers, treacherous, abandoned, who do not know virtue, and pursue those who have it, or want to have it, and it is clear that
these gifts would bring us back to the domination of Ferdinand. If the latter: the customs are republican as it has been our
state, and all the governments of the revolution up to the present. They cannot therefore form an argument to lead us to the
the monarchy that is indicated.

The Argentine Chronicle, No. 24, November 9, 1816, Collection of works and documents for Argentine history, Mayo Library
Volume VII, Buenos Aires, National Senate, 1960.

The most contentious point of the debate arose when, whether in a constitutional monarchy format or
Republican, the distribution of power at the territorial level was being discussed. Both in the pages of the periodic press
as in the deliberations of Congress, the different positions regarding the
combinations that could adopt republican or constitutional-monarchical forms in the face of the
centralists or unitarians and the federals or confederates. This dispute, already expressed in the Assembly of the year XIII,
it became more virulent. On one hand, because Artiguism continued to challenge the central power, which was in the hands of

Juan Martín de Pueyrredón, supreme director since 1816; on the other hand, because the demands to form a
confederation came from both some provinces and certain sectors of Buenos Aires. Although in the
The local and regional claims were more modest than those expressed by the leader.
Eastern, they were still potentially disturbing for a very fragile political order at that point.
had awakened feelings of irritation towards the government among the provinces. The identification between
Buenos Aires - capital and central power led many to perceive that a despotic power was exercised from there.
that was unaware of the claims of the whole of the peoples.
In the context of these dilemmas, the constituent Congress, which had begun its sessions with enormous
caution and prudence regarding the demands of the peoples, was slipping towards increasingly
centralists. The Constitution enacted in 1819 not only refrained from defining the form of government, but also
neither was it issued regarding the internal organization of the provinces. Although it adopted the devices
modern forms of political organization -such as the representative regime based on electoral systems and the division of powers-

he did not hide his corporate spirit when creating a Senate in which some of the groups were represented
most powerful in society - clergy, universities, military, and the outgoing state director - nor their
centralizing vocation by leaving the final decision on the appointment in the hands of the national executive power
of the provincial governors. Although the new charter began to be applied partially when they were elected
some senators were doomed to failure. The dissent from the coast eventually undermined the fragile foundations
of central power and the possibilities of continuing under a constitutional political order.
 Unified under the League of Free Peoples with Artigas as Protector, the confrontations of the coast.
the port forces had been constant since 1815. In Entre Ríos, it had been imposed since 1817 the
figure of Francisco Ramírez, leader allied to Artigas. Santa Fe, a focus of incessant conflict since its first
autonomist movement in 1815, it was a province that Buenos Aires was unwilling to lose
Domain. In 1818, Estanislao López, chief of the blandengues, replaced Mariano Vera in the government of Santa Fe.
and faced the forces sent by the Directory. By the end of 1819, the forces from Entre Ríos under the command of
Ramírez and the women of Santa Fe under López's command were ready to advance on Buenos Aires.
4. From the civil war to the war of independence

The war was the corollary of the revolutionary process that began in 1810. The central power based in Buenos
Aires had to fight on different battle fronts; by the end of the decade, he had lost almost half of
the populations belonging to the Viceroyalty of the River Plate. The military enterprise involved the mobilization of
large armies and impacted very different aspects of the lives of the inhabitants of the affected territories.
Cultural and ideological transformations were added to the social and economic costs. The war was a
producer of new values and identities, and collaborated in the redefinition of traditional hierarchies
social.

The war as a military enterprise The Northern army

With the Atlantic revolutions of the late 18th century, a new type of
confrontation, the political war, in which there was no longer fighting over dynastic issues or differences.
political principles that
they invoked the people as a legitimizing argument. This had happened with the war of independence of the
United States and with the French Revolution, and so it happened in Hispanoamerica. Like two sides of the same coin.
phenomenon, the political revolution and the war on its various fronts transformed the lives of all
inhabitants of the American territory. Just as political activity made good use of the
rhetoric a fundamental instrument of power, war made the good use of weapons a condition
primary to achieve the success of the undertaking initiated in 1810.
The first sector affected by these changes was that of the troops: the urban militias of the capital, proud of
defending their territory during the English invasions, they became the core of a new army intended to go out of
the borders of their city to embark on conquering a territory in the name of freedom. The new government
he gradually tried to convert the volunteer militias into regular troops, more organized, better trained
and equipped, and recruited in all the territories under its tutelage, especially in war scenarios. Without
Due to the embargo, the results were slower and more modest than expected. The task required too many resources.
materials and a strong imposition of discipline on the affected populations. Various means were attempted
supply the need for weaponry, almost nonexistent in the Rio de la Plata. Although part of the logistics was acquired
in Great Britain -although without the intervention of the English government, due to its alliance with Spain- and in the
In the United States, smaller parts, gunpowder, and ammunition were also manufactured at the local level. The difficulties of

the company and the growing exhaustion of the populations, on which the demands of effort fell
Warlike, did not prevent the armies' task from continuing its course.
From the beginning, the battlefronts were concentrated in two major areas: the North and the East. The
Northern Army, responsible for winning the rich region of Alto Perú for the new order, suffered various marches.
and counter-marches between 1810 and 1815. Since that area had been shaken by the repressions against the
junta movements of 1809, the arrival of the Northern army in 1810 found some cities
pronounced in favor of the revolution. But the pro-indigenous politics carried out by Castelli, delegate of
The First Junta in that army raised alarm among the highest sectors of that society. To this
growing reluctance was joined by errors in military strategy, poorly trained troops and insufficiently
equipped, and subjected to the challenges of an unknown and hostile terrain. After a first victory in
Suipacha, the Northern front suffered the defeat of Huaqui in 1811. The counter-revolutionary forces were
supplied by the armies of the Viceroyalty of Peru, the main royalist stronghold in South America. In fact, the
viceroy of Peru, Abascal, decided to reintegrate the vast area of Upper Peru into his jurisdiction, which he
it had been detached with the creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, and send there the experienced
realist commander, José de Goyeneche, tasked with restoring order, as he had done in 1809.
Abascal took care of reinforcing the regular troops and the militias to face the various rebel hotspots that
They emerged in South America; in fact, in 1815, their forces totalled around seventy thousand men.
After 1811, the offensives of the revolutionary troops were unable to advance in Upper Peru, despite
to obtain some victories like the celebrated Battle of Tucumán in 1812. The military superiority of the
realists, under the command of the Spanish general Joaquín de Pezuela, was evident in the defeat suffered by
the patriots in 1815, in Sipe-Sipe, which ended with the definitive withdrawal from the altoperuvian area and with the
delegation of the defense of the northern border in the Salteña forces in charge of Martín de Güemes. A
defense that did not prevent Salta and Jujuy from being invaded on various occasions by the royalist armies
coming from Upper Peru. The only insurgent presence on the high Peruvian scene were the groups
guerrilleras recruited from the indigenous masses, and generally led by mestizos or criollos. These
Guerrillas, although smaller after 1816, remained on the ground until the arrival of the army.
liberator, coming from the campaign undertaken by Simón Bolívar in the North.

Simón Bolívar liberator

The liberating campaigns of Simón Bolívar began in the northern part of South America and had their epicenter in Venezuela and New
Granada. Born in Caracas, in a wealthy Venezuelan family -which allowed him to access a privileged education-, Bolívar participated
actively involved in the events that led to the declaration of independence of Venezuela in 1811. Alongside Francisco de Miranda,
leader of the Venezuelan emancipation, immediately began his military career. However, the first emancipatory campaigns did not
they were able to prevent the reinstatement of royalist rule in that region around the year 1812. Moved to Cartagena, Bolívar
began to provide services in the troops that from New Granada faced the counter-revolutionary power, always willing to
reconquer Venezuela. To this end, in 1813 he carried out a successful campaign that left the path clear to Caracas. But that
the triumphant entrance into his hometown was not destined for success: in 1814 he withdrew, first to New Granada, and then to Jamaica.
In mid-1816, he landed on Margarita Island, where he prepared the campaign aimed at liberating a large part of the continent. After that,
In 1818, the patriot army was able to consolidate itself through the organization of joint actions between Bolívar, from Venezuela, and
Francisco de Paula Santander, from New Granada. Among his most notable military feats is the crossing of the Andes and the
triumphs that occurred during the liberating campaign of New Granada. The decisive battle was that of Boyacá, on August 7, 1819,
which allowed him to enter triumphantly into Bogotá. From that date, the royalist dominance in the North was completely weakened.

Bolívar and the chained homeland

In addition to his military campaigns, Simón Bolívar stood out as a great legislator. In fact, many of the laws were due to his creation.
measure, various constitutions of the regions that he liberated with his armies. In all of them, his vocation is evident.
centralist and their belief that only with strong executive powers the new countries, born from the wars of independence,
they could achieve an acceptable level of governability.
Jesús Mana Hurtado, 1891, oil on paper. Bancafó Collection, Santa Fe de Bogotá, Colombia. Reproduced in Ramón Gutiérrez and
Rodrigo Gutiérrez Viñuales

The conquests of Chile and Montevideo

The difficulties displayed by the Alto Peru front had been quickly noticed by José de San Martín,
after his landing in Buenos Aires in 1812. A career military officer trained in Spain, he had the firm
purpose of organizing a properly trained, qualified, and equipped army capable of undertaking a
liberating campaign on an American scale. To this end, it was considered essential to modify the initial strategy, which
it consisted of directing the offensive through the difficult terrain of Upper Peru. His proposal was to unite the efforts
materials and weaponry from the Río de la Plata and Chile - whose revolution seemed to be dying in the face of the advancing forces

Peruvian realists triumphant in Rancagua in 1814—in pursuit of organizing an army that, crossing
the Andes will free Chile first, and then Lima, by sea. He immediately focused on this task.
His first strategic move was to be appointed governor of Cuyo, to organize from there the
Andean army. Many of the Chilean patriot refugees began to arrive in the city of Mendoza.
among them, José Miguel Carrera and Bernardo de O’Higgins-, with whom San Martín worked for his endeavor,
Although soon the relationships with the first one became strained, while the bond was consolidating.
with the second.
Pueyrredón, then supreme director, pledged to provide the campaign with the necessary resources.
With an army of almost three thousand men, the crossing of the Andes began and a battle was fought on Chilean soil. To the
the first triumph of the patriot forces in Chacabuco, in February 1817, was followed by the occupation of Santiago and
from the port of Valparaíso, and the declaration of independence of Chile, in February 1818. This remained
secured after another victory in Maipú, a month after the defeat suffered by San Martín in Cancha
The uprising in March 1818, although it was not possible to definitively evacuate the royalist armies, which
remained as a guerrilla enclave in southern Chile until 1820. From Chile, then, San Martín and
O'Higgins organized the expedition to Peru, which set sail in August 1820 with a fleet that stood out.
the great display of resources, mostly funded by Chileans, and which culminated with the declaration
from Peruvian independence in 1821.

The interview in Guayaquil

On July 26, 1822, in the city of Guayaquil, the mysterious and much-discussed interview between San Martín and Bolívar took place.
first was in Peru after declaring its independence and having been named Protector in 1821, and the second came
triumphant from his liberating campaign in the North and having been appointed president of the Republic of Colombia at the Congress
gathered in Cúcuta in 1821. This new republic is known as Gran Colombia, because it included the previous entities
colonial New Granada, the captaincy general of Venezuela, Quito and, after the meeting with San Martín in 1822, the province of
Guayaquil. In that interview, they had to coordinate future courses of action to definitively free Peru, which still had to
to face realistic troops that resisted from the mountains, even though Lima had been liberated. The historiographical controversies about
What happened in that meeting was the result, on one hand, of the absence of reliable documentation and, on the other hand, of the
characteristics that the 'national histories' began to assume from the late 19th century and early 20th century, committed to each
case in raising their respective liberators as main actors of emancipation. It was an ideological operation that did not
I contemplated neither the Americanist spirit that infused that feat nor the existing correlations of power in the situation. The truth is
that meeting, in which San Martín's withdrawal from Peru was decided and the continuation of the liberating campaign under Bolívar's leadership
(who, in fact, along with Antonio José de Sucre, finished defeating the last stronghold of the royalist armies at the end of 1824), is
surrounded by a halo of mystery that gave rise to the most heated discussions. From the interview, only indirect testimonies remain, such as
the one from Tomás Guido, a military man and personal friend of San Martín, who met with him after the interview in 1822. About it,
say the following:
Returning from his famous interview with General Bolívar in the city of Guayaquil, General San Martín informed me
confidentially your intention to withdraw from Peru, considering your independence assured by the victories of the united army and by
the enthusiastic decision of the Peruvians; but I reserved the time of their departure, which I still believed to be distant. [...]

Suddenly, giving his conversation an unexpected twist, he exclaimed with a festive accent: 'YES, my friend, a day of true happiness.
for me; I consider myself a happy mortal; all my longing is fulfilled; I have rid myself of a burden that I could no longer bear
bear, and I leave installed the representation of the peoples we have liberated. They will take charge of their own destiny,
exonerating myself from a responsibility that consumes me.
We were alone. The general was eager to prove to me with his sharp remarks the deep contentment he was possessed with,
When he suddenly asked me: 'What do you send your lady in Chile?'
And he added: 'The passenger who will carry packages or letters will take care of them and deliver them personally.' 'Which passenger is that -I said- and

When does it leave?'. 'I am the driver -he answered me-. My horses are ready to go to Ancón and I will set sail tonight.
port
The sudden burst of thunder would not have affected me as much as that sudden announcement. [...] As the hour approached
the game, the general, calm at the beginning of our conversation, now seemed affected by sad emotions, until warned by
his assistant ready at the door with his saddled horse and his small escort, hugged me tightly preventing me from leaving
he accompanied, and set off at a trot to the port of Ancón.

Tomás Guido, Letters and Speeches, Buenos Aires, Estrada, 1944.

While the war was unfolding in the North, the Eastern front was also facing difficulties. The defeat of
the expedition of Belgrano to Paraguay at the beginning of 1811 resulted in the entire governance
The intendancy will start its own path, autonomous both from Buenos Aires and from the metropolis. Good
Aires would not insist on that region again, among other reasons because it did not constitute a threat to the
new order. It was the Banda Oriental that concerned the government the most, since it was settled there
Spanish naval garrison. The dissent declared by the Cabildo of Montevideo regarding the Board of
Buenos Aires is not surprising considering the events that occurred in 1808. However, the
revolutionary forces of Buenos Aires found rapid support in the rural areas on the other side of the
river.

Two portraits
Since the first biographies written about San Martín and Bolívar, the contrast between both liberators has been a classic.
literature. On the pages written by the Chilean Benjamín Vicuña Mackena {1831 - 1886), the first biographer of San Martín, one can read the
The following portrait of both characters: 'San Martín wins all his battles on his pillow. He is a great strategist and a great executor.'
of plans. Bolívar is the man of supreme instantaneous aspirations, of sublime boldness in the fields of glory. San.
Martín frees half of America almost without battles (only two are known: Maipú and Chacabuco); Bolívar gives the Spaniards
almost a daily battle and, whether defeated or victorious, battles again a hundred times and a hundred times. In a word, San Martín is the strategy; Bolívar the

war to the death.

Benjamín Vicuña Mackena

The movement led by Artigas began the siege of the city of Montevideo to prevent the troops.
Spaniards received supplies from the campaign. But the situation in the East became even more difficult with the
intervention of the Portuguese. In 1811, the advance of their forces over the Eastern Band, at the request of the
Spaniards settled there led to the signing of an armistice between Buenos Aires and Montevideo, under guarantee
Portuguese. This gave rise to the known exodus of a large part of the rural eastern population to Entre Ríos, as
sought to avoid Spanish dominance. The relations between Artigas and the government of Buenos Aires were beginning to
to feel resentful.
Finally, in 1814, an expeditionary force led by Carlos de Alvear conquered Montevideo, while
the tense relationship between Artigas and the central power based in Buenos Aires was breaking out into open conflict. Although
the Banda Oriental fell into the hands of Artigas, who in 1815 defeated the porteños established in Montevideo and
reached the zenith of its power by extending its influence in the provinces of the Río de la Plata coast, its triumph was
it would reveal ephemeral. In 1816, the Portuguese invaded the Banda Oriental again, following their traditional
expansion strategy over those lands. Pueyrredón's government support for San Martín in his campaign
Chile contrasts with the indifference displayed towards the Portuguese advance on the other side of the Río de la Plata.
Indeed, the Portuguese invasion brought an end to the Artigas system in the Banda Oriental, although it continued.
leading the dissent from the entire coast and challenging the government exercised by the Supreme Director and the
Congress.

The war and social transformations The costs of the war enterprise
The enormous cost of war in human lives was added to the economic cost. The destruction of property and
means of production and the rapid deterioration of the productive and commercial circuits through which
the colonial economy had been functioning long before the creation of the Viceroyalty.
evidence quickly. The loss of Alto Peru, an essential piece of those circuits, disrupted the order
current economic, in its productive, commercial and fiscal aspects. On the first front, the war required both
money like other resources (soldiers, cattle, mounts, and provisions), which forced the new political order
to look for them in Buenos Aires and in the places where the armies settled. The inhabitants mobilized by
the troops had to leave their families and productive activities to participate in a military endeavor for
indefinite time. The weight of the material cost was felt differently in each region. The contribution of the
northern and Andean provinces, especially in livestock, was fundamental. But on the coast, where the war
involved regions that claimed their autonomy from the central power, the economic plunder was
clamorous: the politics of looting was a common practice and the liquidation of livestock stock was its most direct consequence

drastic.
In the field of trade, the transformations were also significant. One of the reasons for the
The adoption of free trade in 1809 had been the temporary disappearance of metallic remittances.
altoperuano, caused by the uprisings of that year. However, after 1810, free trade
definitively imposed, and implied the breaking of the monopoly and the opening to all foreign markets.
Although the lifting of restrictions on these markets was gradual, it was not until 1813 that they were eliminated.
clause that granted local merchants the monopoly of internal trade, prohibited until that moment
for foreigners, the truth is that, from the very moment of the revolution, England consolidated itself as
the new commercial metropolis. This opening brought about a large increase in imports and
it turned the customs duties of the overseas port into the main fiscal resource. No longer having the
contributions from Upper Peru, a vital supplier of the colonial treasury, import and export duties, especially
the first ones were almost the only ones who could cover the government's expenses. Nevertheless, these taxes on
Trade proved insufficient to sustain the war.
In that context, the government had to resort to the collection of contributions, voluntary at first and mandatory later.

afterward, and to loans to individuals, both in Buenos Aires and in the various regions affected by the
war company. The most powerful economic sectors -particularly the peninsular ones- were imposed.
the greatest sacrifices. But not only the groups linked to large-scale trade had to contribute the
scant circulating metal; rural sectors in their different strata were also compelled to
helper with animals, grains, or fabrics.
Given that the war scenario prevented the reestablishment of production circuits to offset the effects of
the loss of high Peruvian metal, the trade balance deficit was permanent. The balance of the
colonial economy, where the flow of metal, and to a much lesser extent leather, covered imports
(reduced, by the way, given the low local demand), led to an imbalanced economy due to the large
increase in imports due to free trade, and the impossibility of replacing the
metal export due to increased production derived from livestock activity. If we consider that,
before 1810, livestock exports only covered around 20% of the total from the viceroyalty, it is
It is evident that, in the face of import pressure, the deficit was accumulating (each year more was imported than what was
exported). A problem of difficult solution, at least from the realm of production, within the framework of a
war conflict. It will be necessary to wait until the end of the independence wars for the mechanisms
corrective measures can be implemented.
However, despite this imbalance and the structural scarcity of resources, the revolutionary governments
they did not significantly modify the structure of public finances inherited from the Bourbon era.
The provincial treasuries were organized based on the main and subordinate boxes of the period.
late colonial, which continued to perceive taxes and pay their respective expenses, although now with a
greater degree of autonomy regarding the central administration. In reality, the meager income of these
Treasuries showed, in practice, the almost non-existence of surpluses for the central government - The scarcity
financial resources of the provinces, whose main resource was the alcabala (tax that was paid in each province)
due to the introduction of goods), caused them to become increasingly dependent on the Caja de Buenos Aires, which,
after the separation from Upper Peru, he based his income almost exclusively on customs duties from
the capital.

Redefinition of social hierarchies

With the revolution and the war, social hierarchies began to undergo certain inevitable displacements.
On the other hand, in a context of that nature. The new political activity redefined the hierarchies.
testamentary and corporate structures more rigid than those of the old colonial regime, and created new actors on the scene

gained by the revolution.

The colonial bureaucracy, one of the privileged estates of that period, was replaced by agents
loyal to the new order, which did not in all cases belong to the highest strata of society. While
some came from the most prominent families, others found in the revolution the opportunity to
build their own political career. The economically dominant groups, particularly high commerce,
they were also affected. The cost of the war mostly fell on them, which in turn caused the
dismantling of traditional trade routes. In addition, the declaration of free trade forced
many to adapt to the new conditions or be doomed to ruin.
Meanwhile, the military establishment, lagging behind in the social scale during the previous period, rose to a
new hierarchy, social and political, within the framework of the increasing militarization caused by the war and the
revolution. This began to soften its more egalitarian contents, present between 1806 and 1810, by abandoning in
his attempt at professionalization the choice of the officers by his troops and to distinguish more clearly
both strata. The popular sectors, including the slaves, were recruited as soldiers, experience
military that contributed to becoming a characteristic sign of the revolution. The growing
politicization of the lower strata of society, especially in Buenos Aires, but also in the various
regions affected by the war, reveals to what extent the inherited social hierarchies had been shaken
from the colonial era.
Nevertheless, it is important to highlight that the revolutionary government was very cautious when it came to translating into

concrete measures some of the notions promoted by the new revolutionary liturgy. In this sense, the
Invocation of equality exhibits more than any other the ambiguities of the moment. First of all, because
its instrumentation depended on the preexisting social balances in each region and on the willingness of the
local elites for adhering to the new order. Tulio Halperin Donghi, in his classic book Revolution and War,
clearly describe the situation when it states that if in Upper Peru the expeditions sent from Buenos
Aires became a deliberate attack on the pre-existing social balance, it was because there the support of the
dominant sectors were scarce from the beginning. The pro-indigenous policy of the envoys.
Portenos - whose most remembered symbol is the proclamation of the end of indigenous servitude made by
Castelli on May 25, 1811 in the ruins of Tiahuanaco - was an egalitarian gesture that responded, beyond
his rhetoric, to the need to recruit support for the war in a region where the upper sectors
they showed reluctance. Such a strategy earned the revolutionary troops the hostility of Upper Peru, where they did not
He knew -following Halperin's words- whether he had really been 'liberated or conquered'.
In other regions, the attitude of the government and its armies was different. In the interior, where the support of
local elites seemed more secure, the strategy tended to maintain existing social balances.
coastal, on the other hand, where social hierarchies were less pronounced, the notion of equality seemed to find
a favorable ground to advance beyond what the very protagonists of the revolutionary process
they were willing to accept. Such was the case of the Banda Oriental, where Artigas promoted the displacement
from the bases of political power of the city to the countryside as well as a social reform with egalitarian tendencies,

exposed in the Provisional Regulation enacted for the eastern province in 1815.

Topics under discussion

The provisional regulation for the promotion of the Eastern Band campaign and the security of its landowners was issued by Artigas in
September 1815, when it was at the height of its power. Measures were established there to distribute land, especially
those that had belonged to the members of the royalist group and even to many property owners of Buenos Aires, vacant afterwards
the avalanches suffered between 1810 and 1815. The nature of this regulation has been widely debated by historiography. Some historians
they have interpreted it as a true agrarian reform, while others consider it an attempt to organize the rural world
after the effects experienced by the revolution. Beyond these debates and the ephemeral nature of the application of
regulation, given the almost immediate invasion of the Portuguese to the Eastern Bank, the language used is novel for
determine who would be the beneficiaries of this 'campaign promotion'. Article 6 stipulated that each one would be reviewed
in their respective jurisdictions, the available lands and the deserving subjects of this grace: with the caution that the most unfortunate will be
the most privileged. Consequently, free blacks, the mixed-race people of this class, the Indians, and the poor Creoles, all will be able to be
blessed with fortunes of residence if through their work and integrity they contribute to their happiness and that of the province." In its article 12
they distinguished those who were considered enemies and, consequently, excluded from any consideration regarding the
benefits of the regulation: 'The allocable lands are all those of bad European immigrants and worse Americans that up to the
date are not pardoned by the head of the province to hold ancient properties.
Extracted from Jorge Gelman, "The rural world in transition," in Noemí Goldman (ed.), New Argentine History, volume 3: Revolution,
Republic, Confederation (1806-1852), Buenos Aires, South America, 1998.

The war and the new revolutionary liturgy Freedom and equality
The political war stimulated the spread of new values and the birth of identities. The revolution and the
the definitive break of ties with the metropolis implied the abandonment of the monarchical principle, on which
the relationship of obedience and command had been established, to adopt that of popular sovereignty. The consequences
this change was remarkable: from then on, the authorities could only legitimize themselves through a regime
representative of the electoral base. Political activity was born as a new scenario in which the groups of the
elites faced each other both through suffrage and through mechanisms that sought to win the favor of public opinion
public. In this sense, the dissemination of new values was fundamental. The revolutionary liturgy, shaped
deliberately by those who embodied the events of 1810, was tasked with exalting, among others, the value
warrior and the military glory of those who were to defend the new political order. The concept of 'homeland'
began to permeate everyday vocabulary along with other notions such as 'freedom' and 'equality'. To be
patriot meant committing to the military and political enterprise started in 1810, aimed at achieving the
freedom after three centuries of 'Spanish despotism', as the colonial period began to be qualified.
By the way, each of these notions was riddled with ambiguities. Freedom, for example, was
proclaimed in a context where the legal status of the now-called Provinces was not yet defined
United of the Río de la Plata. Its evocation could mean the redefinition of the ties with the Crown and the
demand for self-government, without a definitive break, or cutting such ties in order to declare the
independence. This second alternative was gaining ground during the course of the political process and development
from the war, while the antinomy of freedom versus despotism was consolidating, which was quickly identified
with another: creoles versus peninsulares. The anti-Spanish sentiment, although ambivalent within the elite,
since it involved deeply rooted family and social networks, it did not cease to express itself in other dimensions
and to spread very quickly among the popular sectors. The use of the term 'mandones' to identify
the high-ranking career officials of the colonial order began to spread, just like the policy of segregation
to the peninsulars of public positions carried out by the government.
 The notion of equality also favored this enterprise. The ruling elite was quite cautious regarding the
social dimensions that could be affected by this concept. Nevertheless, the transformations were
evident. In this sense, the notion of equality revitalized in a new language the ancient claim, asserted
by the Americans since the 17th century, for equal rights to hold public office for the Creoles, in
against the peninsular privileges consolidated in the 18th century with the Bourbon reforms. It was invoked
also to break with certain existing social distinctions in the colonial regime, as occurred in the
Assembly of the year XIII when titles of nobility were abolished, tribute, mita, and the
yanaconazgo, and the freedom of wombs was declared. (It should be clarified that the latter did not mean the abolition of the
slavery -which lasted until the second half of the 19th century- but only the freedom of those born from
slave parents after this date.)
Where equality seems to have taken root most quickly is in the realm of political representation.
The scope of suffrage in the different electoral regulations that granted the right to vote to
Neighbors and free men who had demonstrated adherence to the revolutionary cause represented a change
significant. However, certainly, such breadth did not yet imply the identification between equality and rights
individuals. The concept of freedom associated with the new languages of liberalism that proclaimed the
individual liberties began to be part of the lexicons that circulated in those years, although within
of a mental universe that, to a large extent, continued perceiving society in community terms or
corporate. The example of the right to vote is indicative of this coexistence: both the category of neighbor
The way of free men represented broader groups than merely individuals who
they went to vote. In them was condensed the representation of women, minors, the
dependents, domestic workers, and slaves; a fact that should not minimize, however, the implications of the new
political participation practices developed after 1810. The politicization produced within the framework of the
revolution and war transformed the entire life of the communities of the Río de la Plata.

New identities
Thus, through the values that the war helped to strengthen, new identities were being shaped. The
appeal to the homeland, a recurring topic, underwent significant mutations in a short time: from patriotism
exalted against the English in 1806 in defense of the motherland invoked a new patriotism
creole, increasingly antagonistic with respect to the Peninsula. The notion of homeland could also refer to
the small homeland -the city or town where one was born or raised- or to the great American homeland.
emancipatory gesture deployed by armies that traversed various regions of the continent led to a
strong Americanist sentiment. In this sense, the traditional loyalty to the figure of the monarch was perhaps the one that
suffered a slower deterioration, due to various reasons: especially the fact that the king was captive
shifted the antinomies towards a metropolis that showed a face of a perfect stepmother, by refusing to
any type of reconciliation with America. The formulas used to express antagonisms can be
thought of as a kind of adaptation to a new language of that slogan so widely used during that time
colonial of 'Long live the king, down with the bad government!'. Moreover, it is important to remember that the identity of the subjects

with its monarch established, since time immemorial, a deeply rooted feeling. If this could be reconverted
in such a way as to make the monarchy an unacceptable form of government, was largely due to the
route of the war and the attitude of Ferdinand VII, back on the throne since 1814. The restoration of a
absolute monarchical order and the severity with which King Bourbon treated his possessions in America
they contributed to definitively desacralizing their image.
 The invocation to the people and to the towns was also part of the new language; it could refer to both the most
abstract doctrines of popular sovereignty or the reversal of sovereignty as territorial identities.
In the first case, identities were configured around the new freedom conquered against the
Spanish despotism; in the second, the situation was more problematic, since feelings of
belonging to a community (town or city) and claims for political autonomy. The issue was more
complex because the actors were facing a process in which the very contours of their communities
Belonging policies were undergoing a full transformation. The motherland had become a nation.
Spanish that merged both hemispheres, and the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata transformed into the Provinces
United of the Río de la Plata, refusing to be part of the new nation created in the Cortes of Cádiz and, then
from the declaration of independence, in the United Provinces of South America. At the same time, some regions
they began to break away from the fragile viceroyal unity to return to a situation almost pre-Bourbon,
while Buenos Aires, among others, was trying to maintain that unity, as evidenced by the name
same of United Provinces. In that changing context, in which many cities and towns claimed their
right to self-government, not only against the metropolis but also against the provincial capitals or the
In the capital of the River Plate, it can be said that the war that began in 1810 was above all a civil war.
Now, if it was established in this way, it was not only because until 1814 Spain was not in a position
to send troops against their rebel possessions (which in fact never reached the Río de la Plata but to...
Venezuela and New Granada) or because the military confrontation occurred among the inhabitants of these lands, among
defenders and detractors of the order imposed by Buenos Aires, but also because the enemy did not take on
immediate a face of total otherness. Although the anti-peninsular sentiment arose quickly, its dimensions
They were at times ambiguous and oscillating. The definition of a greater otherness, both in the political field
as warlike, began to express itself when, after the sanctioning of the Cádiz Constitution of 1812, the people of the Río de la Plata

they considered that the Cortes, by declaring them rebels and refusing any kind of negotiation, left them no options
more alternative than the path of arms. From there on, the conflict was expressed as the confrontation of
two parties: the patriot and the Spanish.
The turn in the political direction towards independence was accompanied by the attempt to transform the
war company in a truly regulated war, with effective regular armies that had to fight against
a declared enemy. If the declaration of independence in 1816 did not define the outline of that new
political order, and housed within it, under the name of South America, a set of populations
uncertain, was because the war was still ongoing and it depended on the formation of the new map, a task that occupied
several decades. However, one fact was clear: the immense Spanish imperial map had begun to
to shatter.

Disputed representations
Beyond the significant differences between the social structures of each region and the various strategies
applied both by the armies and by local governments, no one could escape the novelties it brought
I obtain the new language of the revolution. Displayed in different scenarios, it spread through the press.
periodic, of the sociability displayed in barracks, taverns, cafes or fighting arenas, and very especially from
the pulpits, since the priests were compelled by the government to include the defense of the new order in their
sermons.
In this sense, the role of the clergy was fundamental. Firstly, because in a world of
religious unanimity such as the Hispanic American, Catholicism was an essential piece to convey the new
language of the revolution. Secondly, because the clergy, although it was just one actor among others, stood as a voice
authorized from a universe in which it was very difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish the community from
believers of society. Religion was so intertwined with the existing social fabric - to the extent that
Being a subject of the king also meant being a member of the Catholic community - that the changes
Revolutionaries could not help but affect the ecclesiastical authorities. Perhaps one of the dimensions in
where these effects are most evident is in the redefinition of the right of patronage.

The board
Since colonial times, the Indian patronage was the attribution enjoyed, by papal concession, by the civil authority - that is,
monarch - to choose and present for your institution and canonical presentation the individuals who would occupy the ecclesiastical benefits within
of the American territory that he governed. Shortly after the revolution took place, it was considered an attribute of sovereignty, the
successive governments took it upon themselves in the name of the retroversion of sovereignty to the peoples. The Holy See did not accept the
revolutionary governments, which is why a long period of communication breakdown with Rome was opened. In any case, autonomy
proclaimed by the authorities regarding the management of ecclesiastical matters, beyond the conflicts and problems it brought.
paired -such as not being able to appoint bishops when they were displaced or passed away- would not be resolved until very
advancing the century.
While some manifestations of the revolutionary liturgy were ephemeral, others, such as the Mayan festivals, proved to be more
perdurables. The celebrations of May 25 began in 1811 and have never been canceled. They took place both in Buenos Aires
as in the rest of the cities that joined the revolution. It was celebrated there with artillery salutes, ringing of bells,
fireworks, music, triumphal arches, games, raffles, collections, masks and dances, the new freedom gained and the triumphs
warlike of the patriot army. After 1816, the Maya festivals were joined by the Julia festivals, in commemoration of the declaration of
independence. However, the former almost always occupied a privileged place in the festive calendar of the Rio de la Plata, which
highlights the role that the May Revolution had in the memory of its protagonists, particularly in Buenos Aires.

The May Pyramid over the course of a century

The original Pyramid of May, established in 1811, underwent its first major transformation in 1856, when under the direction of the artist
Priüdiano Pueyrredón built a new pyramid over the foundations of the previous one. In 1912, after experiencing some
modifications, it was moved to its current location in Plaza de Mayo.

In the reconstruction of revolutionary events, the capital began to be portrayed as an actor.

mainly, Buenos Aires celebrated itself in a feat that, for the portenos, sank
its roots in the heroic days of the reconquest and defense of the city against the English.
surrounded the erection of the Pyramid of May in the Plaza de la Victoria, the first artistic manifestation
commemorative of the new era, built for the celebrations of May 25, 1811, expresses the tensions that
that memory would have to drag from then on. While the Capital Council decided that on the four sides
From the pyramid, inscriptions related to the events of May and those that took place in 1806 should appear.
1807, the Junta Grande, formed by a majority of representatives from the interior, submitted its claim for
only legends related to the revolution of 1810 will be recorded. The episode culminated with the decision to limit the
decoration with a single inscription: 'May 25, 1810'. The neutral character of the legend displays, on one hand,
the evening political dispute surrounding the connection that was beginning to be built between Buenos Aires and the territories
viceroyalty and, on the other hand, the ambiguity of the autonomy process that began in 1810.
The revolution, which took its name in the course of the events triggered in
1810, when it was quickly noticeable that the government created in May of that year had
having passed from being the heir of the fallen power to embodying a new order in the name of freedom, followed an itinerary
sinuous in each of the regions it was conquering. In this sense, the use of the verb "to conquer" seeks to
to account for the double value, political and military, of the revolution. Buenos Aires discovered its condition
capital policy precisely when he launched to win his viceroyalty in 1810, using as the main
instrument to the armies.
The Roman Republic
In many of the literary representations spread during the revolutionary decade, Buenos Aires was presented as Rome.
republican. This identification sought to highlight the idea that in the capital, military activity prevailed, as it was the place where
they formed the expeditions to liberate the interior and the focus of irradiation of the values of virtue and patriotic heroism, and they had headquarters
the institutions from where a vast territory was governed. Among these representations, the following can be mentioned:
Sparta Street its virtue Its greatness Rome Street -Silence! For the great capital of the South emerges to the world.

The support, resistance, and rejections displayed in the different regions towards the revolutionary process do not
they can be understood without considering various dimensions. In the political realm, it is important to note that, if the unity

Viceroyalty, a result of the Bourbon reforms, was reduced to less than half of its populations once
After the wars of independence were over, this was largely due to their artificial character. Although Buenos
Aires tried, without proclaiming it, to follow the traces of those ephemeral reforms applied at the end of the century.
Eighteen when trying to centralize power, reduce intermediate bodies, and show a strong militaristic will
To achieve this, the results obtained were far from the initial objectives. Just like the reforms
Bourbon, the revolution revealed the difficulties of governance that had to combine, in different
dose, negotiation, and authority.
Undoubtedly, those difficulties stemmed largely from the inherited dilemmas of the monarchy crisis;
among them, the one expressed in the legal plane was especially relevant. With the vacancy of the Crown, a conflict erupted.
a dispute to determine who the legitimate heirs of that power were. The capital was regaining tradition.
colonial of being a virtual representative of the entire kingdom; the cities claimed their autonomy in the name of
principle of the retroversion of sovereignty in the peoples; the nation, invoked in the Assembly of the year XIII,
I was trying to create a new political subject that would speak on behalf of a single and indivisible entity. At the same time, the

The revolution introduced new rules for the succession of political authority. The holding of elections
periodic challenges faced the inhabitants of these lands with a challenge that brought about division into factions,
groups and parties that were now competing in a new terrain to legitimately exercise power.
In the end, various legalities and legitimacies came into play with the crisis of 1808. Men and
territories disputed a place in the new order. The legacy was the emergence of different levels of conflict,
which exploded simultaneously in 1820. On one side, the one that faced the centralist groups that had their headquarters
in the capital with the federal authorities of the coast; on the other hand, the one that involved defining through what legal framework it should be

to exercise the government. Despite having declared independence, the last problem had not been resolved.
Resolved: the new legality did not manage to institutionalize itself in a modern constitution, and, in many aspects, the
governability continued to be tied to the Hispanic legal order, as demonstrated, among other examples, by the validity in
the provinces of the Ordinance of Intendants of 1782. These dilemmas, after the fall of central power to
In the early 1820s, they took different paths.
 5. The disunity of the United Provinces
The disputes that arose during the 1810s between supporters of a centralized political regime and
those who intended to create a confederation ended the existence of the central government at the beginning of
1820. This situation gave rise to the emergence of new autonomous territorial entities, the provinces, which,
they will join in a constitutional pact, organizing their institutions following the mold
republican. The experiences lived inside each of them were unequal: while some
exhibited a greater degree of political institutionalization, others showed great instability or
preeminence of powerful local leaders.

Agony and death of central power

A new vacancy
In April 1819, a few days after Congress sanctioned the Constitution, Pueyrredón resigned
in charge as supreme director and was replaced by Brigadier General José Rondeau. The new director
he should have assumed power in an irretrievable crisis context. In November of that same year, a
revolution led by Bernabé Aráoz that declared the province of Tucumán autonomous from the central power, to
time when the armed confrontation between the already very weakened central power and the coast resumed. In those
circumstances, Rondeau decided to resort to the Army of the Andes and what was left of the Northern Army to
to fight against the forces of Estanislao López. But San Martín decided not to come to the aid of the government, and part
from the Northern army, led by the Cordoban general Juan Bautista Bustos, revolted at the Arequito post
and refused to support the supreme director with arms. Upon returning to his home province, Bustos was elected.
governor and, with the aim of consolidating his political capital, summoned a congress of all the provinces,
challenging and explicitly disobeying the Directory and the Congress that had enacted the constitution of
1819.
In that scenario, the authority of the central government was practically nonexistent. Estanislao López and Francisco
Ramírez decided to advance on Buenos Aires with his military forces, and General Rondeau set out to the
campaign to confront them, delegating command, by decision of the Congress itself, to the first-vote mayor
from the cabildo of Buenos Aires, Juan Pedro Aguirre. The few remaining forces of the national army were
defeated by the leaders of the coast in Cepeda, sealing the final fate of the government with this battle.
Although Buenos Aires, humiliated by defeat, tried to arm itself to defend the city, it was impossible to save.
the institutions founded five years ago. Rondeau had to delegate the signing of the peace in the Cabildo of Buenos
Aires; a few days later, he also delegated his authority. Under the pressure of the victors, the Cabildo took over.
provisionally the power, forcing the Directory and the Congress to self-dissolve. The capital city council
I came to once again fulfill the role assigned to me since the open council of May 22: to reassume the
government in a state of vacancy, only that, in this case, its authority no longer extended to all territories
Rioplatenses, but to the more limited perimeter of the city of Buenos Aires and its rural surroundings. If in 1810 and in
During the successive crises, the Cabildo had been able to invoke its status as capital, assigned in 1776, to represent.
provisionally to the rest of the jurisdictions, by 1820 it could no longer do so, for the simple reason that there had
lost such quality. The political order of which Buenos Aires was the head had just dissolved.
With the leaderlessness, a dual crisis emerged: the one that developed throughout the year 1820 in the interior.
same as Buenos Aires and the one that affected in the medium term the different regions of the former viceroyalty. The
disputes unfolded in the Buenos Aires scenario between the leaders of the coast, the centralist trends
represented by the former directors and the porteño federalist groups gave rise to a conflict without
precedents, in which various groups and factions tried to seize the disappeared political power. In the
the rest of the territory, the ambiguous and grandiloquent expression of "United Provinces of South America" —still
used in the Constitution of 1819 - ceased to have support as the bond with which it
He intended to seal the unit. The provinces, which no longer corresponded with the broad jurisdictions assigned.
in the Ordinance of Mayors, but they emerged as new political subjects centered in their councils
headers, found themselves in a situation of de facto autonomy that soon translated into an autonomy of
law. Unlike what happened in previous years, the central authority could not reconstitute itself.

The crisis of 1820 in Buenos Aires

Under the label of 'anarchy of the year 20', traditional historiography qualified the cascade of events that
derived from the empty literal of power. This situation began when the victors of Cepeda demanded that the
The chapter body will be responsible for forming a new government through some mechanism that, in addition to
confer legitimacy to them, will guarantee a negotiation favorable to their interests. To that end, the City Council
called an open town hall that, gathered on February 16, 1820, with the attendance of fewer than two
hundreds of neighbors decided to create the first Hall of Representatives of Buenos Aires, called
also Board of Representatives, whose only mandate was to appoint the governor of the province of Buenos
Aires. Since this Chamber was formed only with representatives from the city, the appointment of Manuel de
Sarratea's role as governor took on a temporary character until the representation was completed with
deputies elected by the campaign. Sarratea was left in charge of establishing peace with the coast,
concluded on February 23 with the signing of the Pillar Treaty.
Said treaty established as a principle the future federal organization for the country and stipulated the
call for a prompt meeting in San Lorenzo to discuss it. Buenos Aires had to accept the free
navigation of the rivers and subjecting to judgment before a court the members of the already fallen administration
directorial. On the other hand, López and Ramírez committed to the immediate withdrawal of their troops, agreeing to a
general amnesty. The signing of the treaty was not well received by some port groups, who saw it as
a humiliation to the honor of the former viceroyal capital given the granting of privileges that, like the principle of
federal organization, represented an unconditional surrender to the victors of Cepeda. As
As a consequence of that climate of opposition, the first government crisis occurred. The former director Juan Ramón
Balcarce, capitalizing on the existing discontent, called a popular assembly on March 6, which deposed the
governor Sarratea. Appointed governor by the 'uprising' - as the press of the time called it
that assembly-, Balcarce did not last in office more than a week, as Ramírez's reaction was not delayed.
wait: he pressured to overthrow Balcarce and restore Sarratea in the provisional exercise of the executive power
provincial. However, his mandate would not last.
On April 6, Sarratea called for elections to appoint a new House of Representatives with twelve
deputies for the doubt and eleven for the campaign. What was pressing the call was the quick meeting to
to take place in San Lorenzo as established by the Treaty of Pilar (a meeting that ultimately never took place
to be finalized), since that Court had to designate the representative from Buenos Aires to attend the convention.
The elections were held on April 27, and the elected deputies quickly came into conflict with the power.
executive. Sarratea should have acknowledged in writing that sovereignty resided in the recently elected Board and that
therefore I had to obey the resolutions that emanated from it. In this way, the Chamber was transforming
of the electoral board responsible for appointing the governor in a body capable of establishing the principles that
they would guide the new government.

Meanwhile, the situation of the Buenos Aires campaign was worsening. The pressure exerted by López and
Ramírez was adding to the disorder caused by so many years of revolutionary war. The authorities based...
in the city they were unable to extend their authority over the entirety of the territory under their care. In that context, the board

The Representatives suspended their sessions appointing a new governor, with extraordinary powers,
Idelfonso Ramos Mejía. Nevertheless, despite this gesture, the governance crisis remained intact. Ramos
Mejía should have resigned on June 19, publicly acknowledging that his authority was not being obeyed by anyone: at
the state of insubordination of the city’s civic troops was added to that of the forces stationed in the
campaign. That is why June 20 is known as the "day of the three governors": Ramos Mejía, who did not
he had still delivered his command staff, despite having submitted his resignation the day before, the general
Soler, appointed governor by dissenting groups of the campaign, and the Cabildo of Buenos Aires, which took on the
the government just as it had done at every opportunity since the May Revolution. In fact, none of
they had effective control of the situation.
After the self-dissolution of the board of elected Representatives during the ephemeral governorship of
Sarratea, the Cabildo convened a new board election to appoint a governor. This appointed Manuel
Dorrego for the exercise of executive power. Meanwhile, the campaign was divided: some groups
they continued to hold General Soler in office while others had appointed Carlos as governor
María de Alvear. In August, a new Hall of Representatives was elected, which resolved to ratify in the position to
Dorrego. He finally decided to confront Estanislao López with weapons, whom he defeated in Pavón on the 2nd of
September, although a few days later he was defeated by the Santa Fe leader in Gamonal.
Path to pacification
In the face of this military disaster, the campaign militias under the command of General Martín Rodríguez and Juan Manuel
The de Rosas decided to intervene. On September 26, the Board of Representatives appointed Martín as governor.
Rodríguez, who four days later had to face a riot from the civic thirds dependent on the Cabildo.
Rodríguez, supported by the campaign militias under Rosas's command, defeated the revolt in the city, and both
commanders then appeared as the saviors of order in Buenos Aires, following the conflicts that
they had kept their inhabitants in suspense.
In this situation of military strengthening, Rodríguez began peace negotiations with López, materialized
on November 24, 1820 with the signing of the Treaty of Benegas. It secured peace between Buenos Aires and
Santa Fe, but the Entre Ríos leader, Francisco Ramírez, who had not participated, was displaced.
the armed clashes in September for having gone out to contest Artigas for control of Mesopotamia.
It became evident that the union of the Free Peoples of the coast had completely broken down. With peace
signed in Benegas, Buenos Aires agreed to attend the congress in Córdoba called by Bustos, not
establishing nothing regarding the future way of organizing the country, as had been done by the resisted Pact of
Pillar.
Although peace seemed assured, the crisis of the year '20 left a bitter image for all the porteños.
The most eloquent symptom of that crisis was expressed through the quantity (and diverse origin) of
authorities appointed during that period. In less than eight months, seven assemblies took place - some under the
open council form - which usurped the legitimacy to appoint authorities; under different mechanisms
(open council, indirect elections, direct elections) four Boards of Representatives were elected; the
Cabildo resumed the power of the province several times; more than nine were appointed.
governors, some of whom lasted in office only a few days. These events seemed
confirm the expression coined in the press by an anonymous witness of the time: 'in those days
he who wanted to govern.
Juan Manuel de Rosas and the defense of the province
The first public intervention of Juan Manuel de Rosas took place during the crisis of 1820. Rosas had spent most of
from his youth in the estate that belonged to his maternal grandfather, until in 1813, after his marriage to Encarnación
Ezcurra left his parents' estate to work on his own in matters related to rural production. Associated
Juan Nepomuceno Terrero and Luis Dorrego created a land exploitation company. The company grew during the decade
revolutionary and Rosas -after associating with his cousins Anchorena to manage one of his estates- became a
important landowner of the province.
During those years, his greatest concern revolved around his private affairs. His involvement in the pacification of the province at
Command of 5° Campaign Regiment involved the contribution of men and financial resources in defense of the newly established power in the
province of Buenos Aires. In those days, Rosas expressed to the substitute governor, Marcos Balcarce, his inexperience in a letter.
military lines: "The strength of the fifth campaign regiment is already fully advanced in its marches, and very willing to sacrifice itself for
the health of the province. I cannot explain to Your Excellency how much confidence such commendable arrangements bring me! The order and the
Subordination is exemplary no less than enthusiasm. Much is to be expected from this column: and I know that it would be a pain.
to venture your direction with my no military knowledge. The good of the country is, for me, above all. I am in a state of
to learn, and not to teach. A force of more than five hundred men can only have me by its side to support the opinion and
confidence to march to punish the enemy and maintain subordination and respect for the properties that I have known
print them. But to act militarily, a leader must receive at its head who knows what I do not understand and that I just
to do, and consequently the interesting request I make for a leader who is capable of what I by default of my knowledge
I am not military.
Extracted from Marcela Ternavasio, The Correspondence of Juan Manuel de Rosas, Buenos Aires, Eudeba, 2005.

At that point in the events, it was essential to impose an order. But what kind of order and to whom or
Who would it be intended for? For Buenos Aires, to return to its more limited borders and avoid any type.
National projection was a priority objective shortly after overcoming the crisis. Both the political elite
which was under the charge of the provincial government as the economically dominant sectors - large
merchants and landowners agreed that this new order should focus on providing the province with
the necessary conditions to achieve economic and social progress. A progress that had been seen
disabled by the consequences of the revolutionary war and the disputes arising between the various
regions of the territory. After ten years of trying to conquer the viceroyalty and thus gain the place of capital
of the new political order, Buenos Aires was discovering the costs, material and symbolic, that it had paid for
that feat and the benefits he could gain if he abstained, at least for a time, from being the epicenter of
a new attempt at unification with territories that are always unruly and at the same time economically dependent on it
that at that point could only be provided by the Customs of the overseas port. From the humiliation of defeat, the ex
capital began to enjoy the benefits of autonomy.

A new map for the Río de la Plata

If Buenos Aires could obtain benefits from an autonomy that it did not seek or celebrate, what happened with the rest?
of the provinces after 1820, after many of them fought a fierce struggle against power
central in the name of the autonomy now achieved, at least in fact? To what extent did they want all
Do they enjoy absolute autonomy from the central power? To what extent could they claim margins?
of self-government without renouncing to restore political unity? Within the framework of these alternatives, there
they developed the provincial histories of the period. Histories in plural that are inscribed in a singular history,
to the extent that the fragmentation produced after 1820 continued to display attempts to shape a
supraprovincial political order. Beyond the fact that these attempts took on various configurations and required
different institutional engineering, the truth is that they never disappeared from the political horizon of the period,
as ambiguous as it is changeable and conflicting.

The process of political-territorial fragmentation that followed the dissolution of the Directory was preceded
for other fractures of equal importance. Of the intendencies created at the end of the 18th century, only
three remained under the aegis of the revolutionary power led by Buenos Aires: that of Buenos Aires,
the one from Salta and the one from Córdoba. The variable situations experienced in the provinces located in Upper Peru.

they stemmed, after the failures suffered by the Northern army in the 1910s, in the separation of the entire
that jurisdiction concerning the Río de la Plata government. In 1825, after the victory of Ayacucho -which ended the
independence war in the South American continent - a new state was created there, whose name,
Bolivia sought to express gratitude towards whom was considered its liberator, Simón Bolívar. The province of
Paraguay, although it took a few more years, also formed an independent state. From 1813 onwards, under the
under the leadership of Doctor Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, the Asunción revolution began an autonomous path, which
ended with their definitive separation. On the other hand, the conflictive Banda Oriental had suffered the slow and
constant advance of the Portuguese, which culminated with their annexation in 1821 to the Kingdom of Portugal, under the name

from the Cisplatina Province, and in 1822 to the new Empire of Brazil, formed when Prince Pedro, son of
King John VI of Portugal declared his independence and proclaimed himself Emperor. As will be seen in the
In the following pages, the eastern province finally became an independent state from its former
Rioplatense jurisdiction as well as that of Brazil.

A monarchy among republics

For various reasons, Brazil's independence presents a peculiar case within the Latin American context. Following the transfer of the
The Portuguese court to Rio de Janeiro in 1808 established a sort of dual monarchy centered in the New World. Although in 1815
Brazil was proclaimed a 'kingdom' with the same hierarchy as Portugal, the tensions between both banks of the empire were expressed in
different pianos. Among them, it is worth highlighting the one that stemmed from the fact that the presence of the king in American land implied, on one hand,

greater control over territories accustomed to being governed by a monarch from a distance, and on the other hand, a greater tax burden for
to cover the court expenses. Such tensions, however, did not lead to claims for independence from Portugal, despite
the demands for political reforms. Events accelerated in 1820, when a liberal revolution took place in Portugal that
he proposed, just like what happened that same year in Spain, the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. In that context, from
Portugal demanded the immediate return of King John VI to Lisbon so that he could temporarily adopt the sanctioned Spanish constitution.
in Cádiz in 1812, until a new Portuguese constitution was enacted within the framework of the call for General Courts. But
these, once gathered with a majority of Portuguese representatives, took measures that were far from showing towards their
former American colonies the liberal spirit that supposedly guided them. In Brazil, discontent was not long in coming.
The return of King John VI to Portugal was preceded by the appointment of his son Pedro as regent of Brazil. With the departure
of the monarch and the evidence that the Cortes were not willing to negotiate the political reforms demanded by the Brazilians, it
the events unfolded rapidly. Pedro decided to remain in Rio de Janeiro and the independence of Brazil was established peacefully, without
to go through the wars that Hispano-America experienced, which led to the formation of an empire that took the form of a monarchy
The constitutional revealed great stability.

In addition to the successive fragmentations on the margins of what had been the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata,
During the decade of the 1810s, new provinces were formed. Some were created by the government itself.
central, while others declared themselves autonomous with respect to that or its nearest jurisdictions,
according to the territorial hierarchies designed by the Mayors' Ordinance of 1782. In the coastal region, in 1814
the provinces of Entre Ríos and Corrientes were created detached from the governorate of Buenos Aires,
while Santa Fe proclaimed its autonomy from that government in April 1815, an act that
the civil war began with the directorate forces. To the west, Cuyo was formed in 1814 as a new
province, separated from the intendancy of Córdoba. In the north, Tucumán separated from the
government of Salta in 1815.
Well, this process of territorial redefinition that occurred in the 1810s was accelerated at the end of
In 1819, Tucumán separated from the central power and, under the leadership of Bernabé Aráoz, the so-called Republic was created.

of Tucumán, which included the subordinate jurisdictions of Santiago del Estero and Catamarca. Córdoba, by
on the other hand, it also gained independence after the Arequito uprising and thus became a new center of
power by imposing a greater presence of the interior over Buenos Aires and the coast. Following the example of
Córdoba and Tucumán, San Juan declared itself an autonomous province. Shortly after, Mendoza and San did the same.

Luis, who created their own provincial armies and joined a league of Cuyana provinces willing to
support the congress convened by the Cordoban governor. Secession also occurred in La Rioja, and soon after
Later, Santiago del Estero, after protesting its incorporation into Tucumán, became a province.
autonomous, while Catamarca ended up separating from the Tucuman republic in 1821. In Salta, it concluded
abruptly the dominance of Martín Güemes: a royalist advance from Upper Peru killed the leader
who had defended the border during those years.

Emperor Pedro I and the Constitution

Pedro I assumed the title of emperor and was formally crowned on the 1st.0of December 1822. In February 1824, he issued a constitution
which provided him with a prominent power.
Fan in homage to Emperor Pedro I and the Constitution, Brazil,
1822-1831. Collection Millicent V. Hearst, Brooklyn Museum, New York, United States. Reproduced in Ramón Gutiérrez and Rodrigo
Gutiérrez Viñuales, Spain and America: images for a history,
Madrid, MAPFRE Foundation, 2006.JBP

On the coast, tensions between the leaders of Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and the Banda Oriental intensified afterwards.
of the Pilar Pact. There, López and Ramírez broke relations with Artigas, as the eastern leader disapproved of the
treated by leaving things to a future congress and, basically, for not providing for its province with the
expected help against the Portuguese invasion. The break culminated in armed struggle: Ramírez confronted and defeated
Artigas in Las Tunas in June 1820 and in Cambay in September. A few days later, Artigas sought asylum in the
Paraguay; thus, it disappeared forever from the Río de la Plata political scene. Immediately afterwards, Ramírez intended to

inherit the monopoly of power on the coast, which confronted him with López, his former ally. The Treaty of
Benegas had displaced the leader from Entre Ríos and definitively sealed the break with the governor of Santa.
In the end, Ramírez was defeated and killed on July 10, 1821, consolidating López's leadership.
region.
In the heat of all these conflicts, the political map changed significantly: Buenos Aires, Córdoba,
Tucumán, Salta, SantiagodelEstero, Catamarca, La Rioja, San Luis, San Juan, Mendoza, Corrientes, Santa Fe,
Entre Ríos and much later Jujuy ~when separating in 1834 from the Salta jurisdiction- became new
political bodies. Although the territorial outlines still partly followed the lines of the subdivisions
established in the Ordinance of Intendants, the provinces arising from the crisis would no longer be governed by the decree
Bourbon of 1782 -although in some aspects part of that regulation would remain in force-, but by new
regulations, constitutions or fundamental laws enacted, respectively, by each of the governments
provincial born from the dissolution of central power.

The provincial republics

From the autonomy of the peoples to the provincial autonomies
All the provinces gradually embraced the republican form of government in their new
regulations. In them, representative regimes based on a very broad electoral base were established (except for
some exceptions such as the cases of Córdoba and Mendoza), sole executive authorities exercised by
governors, unicameral legislatures, responsible for the appointment of the governor, authorities
administrative and judicial, and independent tax systems. Unlike the revolutionary decade,
when the political communities demanding self-government were based on the cities with councils,
the provincial republics formed after the fall of central power were organized according to the principles of
modern liberal constitutionalism.

Topics under discussion

The issue of caudillismo has been raised since the origins of Argentine political literature. Various interpretations
they contributed, with various nuances, to the perspective that all-powerful leaders dominated the political scene with their troops
post-revolutionary. The negative image of the caudillos, especially during the 19th century, began to fade in the early decades.
from the XX. Since the so-called New Historical School, some historians began to emphasize the contribution of the caudillos to the
defense of national unity and insisted on the anti-segregationist attitude of these new local leaders. The History of the Nation
Argentina, which the National Academy of History began to publish during the 1930s under the direction of Ricardo Levene,
Yes, without a doubt, one of the most complete expressions of the New School. Also in this decade, a new movement called
"historical revisionism" began to question: the negative image of the leaders inherited from the 19th century to be transformed into
main protagonists of the nation-building process. Although 'revisionism' did not constitute a 'school' of historiography nor
a homogeneous movement - rather a current that, in tune with the emergence of nationalist and anti-imperialist ideas,
antiliberals during the thirties sought to influence the Argentine cultural field - the truth is that their intervention was successful in the
to the extent that its proponents managed to create a sort of generalized common sense, which inverted the pantheon of heroes of the
liberal historiography inherited from the 19th century.

In fact, beyond the perspectives that, in the 1960s, redefined the issue of caudillismo within a social framework
where the leader became, in some cases, a mere representative of the landowning class-, the basic budgets associated with
that the emergence of caudillismo was due to a situation of institutional vacuum or, even, institutional backwardness given the heritage
Hispanic, they remained relevant until a short time ago. It was not until the 1980s that a more thorough review began.
systematic the role of these characters in each of the regions in which they acted and radiated their influence, thus opening up the
investigation into new questions.JSP

A clear example of the implications of this is that in each of the provinces, starting with the one of
Buenos Aires, the cabildos were gradually abolished, which implied a redefinition of the territories and of the
bases of governance. With the elimination of the most entrenched institution of the colonial regime and the adoption of,
except in the norm, the principle of separation of powers, the functions and powers were redistributed
chapters between the new authorities created and the power bases between the city and the countryside were redefined.
The dominance of the colonial urban space based on the councils was followed by a new equilibrium in which the
rural space was taking on a new political entity.
However, although similar in form, the institutional frameworks of the new republics
Provincial governments presented inequalities in the attributions of governing bodies, in greater or lesser degree.
the degree of sophistication of the legal technique presented and the type of practices it led to. In fact,
from an institutional point of view, some experiences turned out to be more fragile than others. With this
the aim is not to measure the degree of approximation or deviation of the practices developed in each
province regarding the norms and laws issued, but rather to emphasize that legality coexisted within them
institutional that collected the principles of liberal constitutionalism with conflicting situations that the
traditional historiography had reduced the image of caudillismo to a univocal one. This sought to explain the
open disputes in 1820 as a result of confrontations between regional leaders who supported their
authority, basically, in personal power and in its ability to recruit and maintain rural militias.
Supposedly united by exchange ties that guaranteed relationships of command and obedience.
extr institutional, the caudillos and their followers would have been practically, according to this perspective, the
exclusive protagonists of the political fragmentation process that occurred during those years.

Caudillos and constitutions

In light of the new studies on provincial cases, it is confirmed that those leaders -so
denounced or celebrated by essayists, literati, and historians since the 19th century - exerted their power in the
framework of a growing process of political institutionalization. In this sense, very
varies by region and context. Thus, for example, cases of greater institutional stability are observed.
like in Buenos Aires, Salta, Mendoza or Corrientes during the 1820s - that contrast with others
where the legislatures seemed to be merely consultative bodies and second-degree electors to designate the
governor - like in Santa Fe or Santiago del Estero, where their governors remained in power
for almost two decades-, or with experiences in which complete political instability prevailed -such as the
Entrerriana, where more than twenty governors succeeded each other in the span of five years.
Nevertheless, the fact stands out that, although the vocation of hegemony and supremacy demonstrated by
Some governors or regional leaders appeared to be at odds with the principles outlined in their structures.
Legal, almost no one could evade the invocation of some of such principles when legitimizing themselves in the
power. Thus, suffrage coexisted with armed revolutions or the threat of the use of force, and the principle of
the division of powers coexisted with the use of instruments that seemed to deny it, such as the delegation of
extraordinary powers in the executives, or with situations of such institutional fragility that they returned
directly unthinkable its translation in the dynamics of operation of the respective political system. The
civil wars and armed conflicts between caudillos or strongmen from different provinces that devastated
the territory in those years did not occur in an institutional void, but in a space where very
they were trying hard to impose the rules of the new art of politics.
In that broad and common republican framework, the various provinces began enacting their own
constitutions or regulations. In Buenos Aires, La Rioja, and Mendoza, constitutions were not issued, but rather a
set of fundamental laws that governed, with modifications according to the case and the circumstances, their political life
autonomous during those years. Santa Fe enacted its Provisional Statute in 1819, Tucumán in 1820, Corrientes and
Córdoba in 1821, Entre Ríos in 1822, Catamarca, Salta, and San Juan in 1823. Although with uneven results,
By 1824, each province had its own political engineering or was in the process of building it. Santiago del Estero in
1830, San Luis in 1832 and Jujuy in 1839 (when its jurisdiction was definitively separated from Salta)
they completed this trend. The weight of the prer revolutionary political-administrative tradition was lighter in
the recently created provinces that were in the former intendancies. Almost all the regulations are
they attributed the organization of the provincial troop and the right of patronage (in this case, some provinces it
they were made explicitly and others in practice), included the declaration of fundamental rights and
they organized their tax devices.
In this last aspect, the provinces enacted customs laws, tax collection laws and
monetary emission. Provincial public finances hardly taxed property or income,
but rather accentuated the trend, initiated with the revolution, of covering the income of their treasuries with the
resources provided by trade. But, just like in the previous decade, genuine income in
most provinces did not have enough to cover expenses, particularly in the new situation created with
the dissolution of central power. Buenos Aires, which encouraged more than ever a free trade system, was the owner
now of the main fiscal resource of the overseas customs, while the provinces were experiencing very
precarious, as the volume of their businesses was insufficient to raise taxes capable of covering the
fiscal deficits. In the face of the relative success of the fiscal policies of Buenos Aires and Corrientes -which despite the
fluctuations kept its public finances sound by applying a protectionist system based on a
diversified economy - the finances of other provinces, such as Entre Ríos, Córdoba or Santa Fe, show
poorer realities, characterized by constant indebtedness, not to mention other even more cases
noisy.
Unequal experiences
Among the examples of greater institutional stability in the 1820s - besides that of Buenos Aires, which is
will be developed on the following pages-, stands out the one from Corrientes. Once its autonomy has been declared regarding the

Ramírez's fleeting experiment to create the Republic of Entre Ríos, Corrientes was given a legal framework.
quite effective. The governors completed their three-year term regularly, leaving power without
conflict -re-election was prohibited by the provincial constitution- and they ceded the position to figures
belonging, at times, to the opposing political faction. Thus succeeded Juan José Fernández Blanco (1821-
1824), Pedro Ferré (1824A1828), Pedro Cabral (1828-1830) and, once again, Pedro Ferré (1830-1833). Life
Corrientes politics was characterized by its stability, under the hegemony of a ruling group made up of
men from the main owning sectors, primarily merchants and landowners, who knew how
to control the military forces and potential outbreaks of revolts and insubordination. The civilian nature of these
Authorities were institutionally translated by prohibiting the governor from exercising direct military command.
troop.
The Corrientes experience contrasts with its neighboring regions of the coast in various ways. With Santa Fe, placed
that there a political experiment was developed whose stability did not depend so much on its sophistication
institutions such as the capacity of the leader who ruled it for twenty years using to his advantage the
regulations and sanctioned norms. Estanislao López called himself 'caudillo' in the provisional regulation.
dictated in 1819 and was able to turn the House of Representatives into a more consultative than legislative instrument
the deliberative. With Entre Ríos, the contrast is striking: although the Constitutional Statute of 1822 granted to
Governor has full powers in military matters, after the death of Ramírez there was no one in the province
strong man, but a host of lesser leaders. In the 1820s, supportive men followed one another
with Buenos Aires: Lucio Mansilla, the most prominent governor of this decade (1821-1824), suffered uprisings
of different leaders because he was considered prone to favor interests alien to the province. In
In 1821, 1825, and 1830, Ricardo López Jordán was elected governor by the Congress of the province; in all three
opportunities, supporters of Santa Fe and Buenos Aires annulled the election. Between 1826 and 1831, period
known as the 'Entrerriana anarchy', there were 21 governors.
In the province of Córdoba, the traditional corporations - clergy, university, and consulate - maintained
a fundamental weight while the majority of the members of the political management -located in the Chamber of
Representatives and others in positions of provincial administration belonged to the urban elite with interests in
Commerce. The constitution granted strong powers to the executive - among other attributes, the governor was
captain general of the military forces-, but the Legislature did not seem to have a decorative role, but rather
he gravitated in provincial political life as demonstrated by the creation of, among other things, a commission
permanent so that it would function during the body's recesses. During the 1820s, Juan Bautista
Bustos dominated the provincial scene and was considered a leader who managed to control the factional disputes.
deployed after 1810.
Mendoza ceased to be the capital of the Cuyo intendancy to become an autonomous province, upon separating.
San Juan and San Luis in 1820. Governed by its elite of merchants and landowners, it organized a regime of
order and progress, highly celebrated during those years by the port press. Unlike other provinces, the
Mendocinos did not have a predominant leader. By the mid-1820s, a strong
confrontation between local factions after Gutiérrez was elected governor and conflicts arose
with the House of Representatives, since it sought extraordinary powers. Such conflicts were not
alien to those that took place in other provinces. The interweaving of the internal affairs of one and the other
it was a common fact in all provincial experiences, where politics intervened through networks that
they crossed the new borders. Thus, for example, San Juan, after its separation from the governorship of Cuyo
In 1820, there was also no leader or predominant figure, but external leaders to the province who...
they influenced its internal policy. However, the people of San Juan experienced a novel test when, by
initiated by its governor, Salvador María del Carril, the May Letter of 1825 was issued. In said letter, of
liberal court, the greatest innovation was the establishment of religious freedom, but in a world
that, as in colonial times, was still conceived as of Catholic unanimity, the sanction of freedom of
cults provoked a great reaction. The disturbances led Del Carril to take refuge in Mendoza, until a
An expedition commanded by Colonel José Félix de Aldao came to his aid and restored him to office.

The May Letter

The May Charter was, more than a constitution, a declaration of rights. The project was presented to the San Juan legislature.
in June 1825 and, although the first articles were approved without conflict, on June 23 the president of the Chamber of
Representatives reported that they had received 'petitions from the people' in which more than a thousand signatories requested the
approval of the Charter, while almost seven hundred were demanding the annulment of articles 16 and 17, which stipulated freedom of
cults. Article 16 stated: "The holy, catholic, apostolic, Roman religion in the province is adopted voluntarily, spontaneously and
gladly like their dominant religion. The law and the government will pay as they have so far or more broadly, as will be the case going forward.

sanctioning, their ministers will maintain and appropriately and conveniently multiply their temples." In article 17 it was sanctioned:
No citizen or foreigner, association of the country or foreigner, may be disturbed in the public exercise of religion, whatever it may be.
teachers, provided that those who practice it pay and bear the costs of their own expenses for their rituals." The requests were forwarded by fa
Sala at the Archive, while their deputies continued with the deliberations. Although there were deputies opposed to the project with positions
irreducible religious, the Charter was finally approved by majority in July 1825. However, its validity was short-lived. The
opposition took action and the armed revolt was set in motion.
The rebels expressed themselves in a proclamation that said the following:
The gentlemen commanders of the defending troop of the religion who subscribe below, have the honor of making known to all the land the
way they fulfill the mandates of the Law of God." They continued to demand that the Charter of May be burned in a public act,
because it was introduced among us by the hand of the devil to corrupt us and make us forget our Catholic, apostolic religion,
Romania; that the House of Representatives be abolished and replaced by the Cabildo; that the theater and the cafe be closed for being
spaces where the name of God was profaned and there was talk against religion; that only the Catholic religion be sanctioned,
apostolic, Roman; and that a white flag with a black cross and the following legend: 'Religion or Death' would be hoisted.
In Horacio Videla, History of San Juan, volume III, San Juan, Academia del Rata/Catholic University of Cuyo, 1972.

The Northern Provinces

Bernabé Araoz had created the Republic of Tucumán and had established himself as its president, including
Catamarca and Santiago del Estero. However, that republican experiment dissolved very quickly.
Aráoz based his power on the militia forces that supported him and on the networks he had managed to weave as
intendant governor, after the separation of Tucumán from the municipality of Salta in the 1810s.
But the rivalries that divided the traditional Tucuman elite -both factional and familial- came to an end.
with the execution of Aráoz in 1824 and with subsequent years of deep political instability. Santiago del
Estero, on the other hand, once detached from the Republic of Tucumán, began a path of stability, greatly
part thanks to the role played by its main leader, the border commander Felipe Ibarra. The
Santiagueño governor remained in power for more than two decades, displacing families
traditional from viceroyalty origin and relying on both militias and permanent armed forces. Likewise
that in Santa Fe and in Mendoza, in these regions threatened by the Indians, the border forces reached
a great predominance in the realignment of internal political forces. Catamarca separated a little later
from Tucumán, due to the intervention of the Santiago and Salta troops, enemies of Aráoz. What
dominance then the Catamarca scene was the crossing of alliances and hostilities between lineages of local origin and
external to the province.
In Salta, after the death of Güemes, the most powerful families regained power and positioned themselves in two
opportunities for José Ignacio Gorriti as governor. His history as a doctor from Chuquisaca and general of
the revolutionary armies -and in turn brother of the canon and deputy Juan Ignacio Gorriti- allowed him
to carry out a management that enjoyed the approval and admiration of the people of Buenos Aires during the 1820s.
In La Rioja, General Commander Juan Facundo Quiroga began to increase his power starting in 1823,
coexisting with the legal powers of the province which, although very rudimentary, conditioned the courses
of the action of the one who established himself in that decade as one of the most influential leaders in the entire region.

During the open period in 1820, although the provinces established themselves as autonomous political bodies,
with their own laws and regulations, at no time did they renounce creating a supraprovincial order.
This interest remained alive through the fluid connection between the provinces, thanks to the system of agreements and
of offensive-defensive regional leagues, where fragmentation was presented as something provisional and was
It pointed to a future congress that would achieve unity. The problem was, once again, the agreement.
regarding the form of government that was to be established and the degree of autonomy of these new entities
policies.
The attempt for that congress to be held in Córdoba, according to the initiative of Governor Bustos,
ratified in the Benegas Treaty, failed, which should be attributed to the reluctance on the part of the province of
Buenos Aires. Although it sent its deputies to Córdoba, the mere possibility that Bustos would increase his
power and that Congress would be defined by the federal form of organization led the Buenos Aires deputies to
to forge an alliance with the governor of Santa Fe, Estanislao López, and to discourage the holding of the assembly.
They argued, among other reasons, that the provinces were not yet ready to seal a union.
definitive. Buenos Aires consolidated its alliance with the coast -excluding Córdoba- by signing the Treaty of
Quadrilateral January 25, 1822. This document, endorsed by Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and
Corrientes sought to strengthen ties between the signing provinces and commit them not to participate in
congress. Furthermore, Buenos Aires renounced its supremacy and accepted mutual submission in the face of problems
of war and the free navigation of rivers.
This last clause exposed one of the problems arising from the situation created by the dissolution of power.
central: the issue of resources coming from the Customs of Buenos Aires. The provinces' claim for
the free navigation of rivers aimed at gaining unrestricted access to overseas trade and achieving the ex
Capital would not be the only one benefiting from the collection of the juicy import taxes. Good
Aires, in its new status of autonomy, considered itself the owner of all the profits derived from its shores.
and ports as well as the trade he made with other states, issues that conditioned the political life of
the entire period and the interprovincial relations from then on.

The Republic of Buenos Aires: a happy experience?

Institutionalization without constitution

The boycott perpetrated by the Buenos Aires government against the congress convened in Córdoba was linked to
the fact that, by that point, he had discovered that in enjoying his autonomy he could gain more advantages from the
that could provide a national unity, at least for the moment. By the end of 1820, this could be perceived
sensation among many of the people of Buenos Aires. In an anonymous printed document that circulated in August of that year, it was stated

that Buenos Aires had become impoverished and weakened by attending to the defense of the entire territory, while "the
provinces want to ruin Buenos Aires and a general Congress would only carry out that purpose.
The same printed document stated that Buenos Aires must "absolutely separate itself from the towns, let them go that way."
they follow their extravagances and whims, do not get involved in their disputes and declare themselves a sovereign province and
independent, establish a permanent constitution, do away with the federation system and maintain peace at all costs
and good intelligence.
After the pacification of the province, the government then embraced the conviction that the meeting of
a congress was premature -as it could trigger the same conflicts of the revolutionary decade- and that, if
secured its internal organization under a republican regime capable of providing legitimacy and stability to
its authorities, would it be possible to expand their example beyond their borders, in a kind of political pedagogy
disseminated through the facts. The consensus surrounding the management of Martín Rodríguez, governor until
1824, it was linked to the desire of the Buenos Aires population not to go through the drama of the crisis again.
year 20, on one hand, and the objective of the economically most powerful sectors to retreat into the new
limits of the province to maximize the resources that should no longer be shared with the rest.
This consensus was expressed in the support for the Party of Order during the early years of the decade. This
It was made up of a core of characters led by Bernardino Rivadavia, Minister of Government.
from Martín Rodríguez, they promoted a reform plan aimed at transforming the province in its most diverse ways.
aspects: political, cultural, social, economic, urban. For this reason, the Party of Order was sometimes called
of the Reform", denominations that expressed the two sides of the same coin: order - a goal
priority after the "disorder" experienced in the year 20- could only be obtained, according to the perception of
those men, if they undertook deep reforms. Among the closest collaborators of Rivadavia there
Julián Segundo de Agüero, Valentín Gómez, Ignacio Núñez, Santiago Rivadavia (brother of
minister), Manuel José García (minister of Finance during the same period) and Vicente López y Planes.
Belonging to the educated classes, like many other figures who were part of the Rivadavian circle,
the members of this ruling elite, who held positions in the Legislature, the executive, and the administration
public, they shared a common ideology regarding the initiatives that should be undertaken to embark on the path
of order and progress in its most diverse senses.
In those early years, the project, in its socio-economic dimension, was supported by the groups most
powerful ones of the province. The great merchants who had survived the wars of the decade
previously they could now resume their businesses and turn towards new productive activities. Certainly that
the livestock activity appeared as the most promising, in a scenario where land was abundant and
where the growing international demand for livestock derivatives provided those who dominated the
merchant circuits the opportunity to 'correct' the imbalance inherited from the loss of Upper Peru.
To count on the overseas port to export products - basically hides, but also jerky,
soap and other derivatives - and with a government willing to guarantee both order and political peace as well as
redistribution of customs rights for the benefit of the reconstitution of the economy were variables
crucial for obtaining the support of the economically dominant sectors. This was expressed both in the
participation of some of its members in the Legislature -who thus left the previous one
reluctance to collaborate directly in political activity - as in a more silent affinity,
materialized through multiple networks and connections, both personal and familial or business. Thus, the
mutual dependence between both sectors of the elite, those politicians by profession subjected to the will of the
most powerful groups to finance the structural indigence of the inherited administration, and subordinate to
this to the knowledge that the first ones had about the new art of politics was undoubtedly a fact
fundamental for the implementation of the reform plan in 1821.
However, the political experiment carried out in Buenos Aires between 1821 and 1824, known, according to a
expression of the time, such as the 'happy experience', did not materialize in a written constitution. Despite
that the House of Representatives was declared extraordinary and constituent on August 3, 1821, and was granted
One year to issue a constitution, no organic charter was sanctioned at the provincial level.
until 1854. In reality, the members of the Chamber did not show much interest in discussing projects
constitutional at the provincial level, largely because that debate seemed to depend on what was resolved
around the future sanction of a national constitution. The centrality that Buenos Aires assumed in the
the global scenario of the former viceroyalty distinguished it from the rest of the provinces, for whom to dictate their own

constitutional regulation meant consolidating its institutions against any attempt at nationalization
of the political body. Buenos Aires, on the other hand, felt like the heir to the fallen central power while
protagonist of any constitutional undertaking at the national level.

Modernize the political space

The reforms that were legislated and implemented gradually in the province aimed to modernize the
political and administrative structure inherited from the colony. For Elío, it was necessary, first of all, to guarantee
a stable and legitimate political order. The sanctioning of the electoral law of 1821, intended to establish the rules
to elect deputies to the House of Representatives of the province, which is in charge of appointing the governor,
it pointed to that dual objective. The suffrage law crystallized a very novel representative regime for the
time when establishing, among other fundamental clauses, a system of direct election, of active suffrage
broad. All 'free men' were allowed to vote without any restrictions on wealth or
education (which was not the case for the elected, who were supposed to enjoy the status of property owners) and remained

definitively incorporated the campaign into the representative regime. The government aimed to achieve a
indisputable legitimacy and channel political activity through the ballot, in order to eradicate the
popular assemblies -often turning into uprisings against governments- so frequent in the decade
revolutionary and particularly during the course of the year 20.
The law for the suppression of the two existing councils in the province - that of Buenos Aires and that of Lujan -

sanctioned in December 1821, four months after the electoral law, it was complementary to it.
Ordering the tumultuous political participation activated by the revolution involved cutting the power of the
cabinets, especially that of the city of Buenos Aires, a stage for assemblies, riots or uprisings. Receptacle
natural of all the vacancies of power produced in previous years, the council always competed with the
authorities created after the revolution. The way to resolve that competition was drastic: in the face of the
proposals discussed in the Chamber to limit the political power of the councils by transforming them into agencies
In modern municipalities, the executive's plan to simply eliminate them from provincial space triumphed.
In line with the objectives of administrative rationalization, the old chapter functions
they were redistributed to new authorities now dependent on the provincial government. The functions of
Justice was derived towards a mixed regime that established a first instance, legal justice and
rented, and a justice of the peace, legal and free, distributed both in the city and in the countryside. The functions of police
They were placed in charge of a police chief with six commissioners for the city and eight for the countryside. The failure of

this reform was especially manifested in the field: the written justice of the campaign was suppressed in 1825,
as were the campaign police stations. The justices of the peace then began to absorb in their
many diverse functions, distorting the original objective of decentralizing attributions in
different authorities.
With the same aims of rationalization, the bodies dependent on the executive power were created.
like the ministries of Government, Finance and War, and a retirement law for civil employees was enacted.
The House of Representatives, which emerged during the crisis of the year 20, became the legislative power of the province. Despite

since its attributions are not established in any organic law or constitution, the Chamber became the center of
provincial political power. In addition to being responsible for appointing the governor every three years, it had to vote on the

annual expense budget, accept the creation of all types of taxes, evaluate the actions taken by the executive
starting from the message that the governor began to present annually), set the period of its sessions and
Discuss and approve the proposed reform plan by the ministers.
Among the reforms, those that affected two fundamental corporations stand out: the army and the church.
The military reform law, approved by the Chamber in November 1821, drastically reduced the military apparatus.
inherited from the revolution. It aimed at a double purpose: to reduce the expenses of the treasury in the face of a
army that was costly to maintain once the war of independence was over, and to reorient the forces
military towards new objectives. A large number of regular forces officers were retired; little
afterward it was the turn of the militias, reorganized by law in 1823. Both forces were redirected towards
the border to defend the campaign against indigenous attacks, something essential to be able to consolidate certain
economic growth. On the other hand, the ecclesiastical reform was also framed in the attempt to control that
the provincial government deployed in the different areas. The law suppressed some religious orders, passed its
goods to the state, established rigid norms for entering convent life, abolished tithes - making
charge of the cult to the state- and subjected all clerical personnel to the laws of the civil magistracy.
By the way, both the military and ecclesiastical reforms generated discontent among the groups.
directly affected. But the government tried to counteract its effects through a campaign in the press
periodical, where advertisers close to the Rivadavia regime praised its benefits. In fact, a feature
What characterized this entire period was the expansion of the periodic press and the creation of new associations.
which allowed for an expansion of public debate. The Press Law enacted in 1821 granted a wide margin of
freedom for local journalism (although it could not prevent some episodes of censorship) and stimulated the emergence of
newspapers and public papers. In addition to the boost given to the Public Library created in the
first years of the revolution, the Academy of Medicine, the Academy of Physical Sciences and Mathematics were created and the

of Music. A new impetus was given to the teaching of Law by intensifying the action of the Academy of
Jurisprudence founded in 1815, and with the creation of the Department of Jurisprudence in 1821. In addition, it had
place the formation of the Literary Society responsible for the publication of the most important newspaper of the
epoch—The Argos of Buenos Aires~and of a literary magazine—The Argentine Bee—The House was reorganized
Foundlings and the Charity Society was created, responsible for the organization of hospitals, asylums, and others.
assistance works for the poorest sectors, a task assigned to the women of the high society of Buenos Aires. But
perhaps the most significant cultural action carried out during the 'happy experience' of Rivadavia was the
foundation of the University of Buenos Aires, in 1821.

The Argos
Many of the newspapers that appeared after 1820 had a short life, but others stood out for their longer duration and their high
level in the treatment of various topics of general interest. El Argosse was responsible, each week, to describe the number and type of
publications that circulated in Buenos Aires. In its No. 50, dated July 10, 1822, for example, it announced that public papers
they are abundant in Buenos Aires, and in terms that bring great honor to the country, also serving it to great benefit.
Facsimile of the cover of the newspaper El Argos, No. 5, June 9, 1821.

Reorient the economy

The reform plan also aimed to capitalize on all available resources to boost growth.
economic. In those years, the countryside was becoming the setting for a cattle expansion that,
although still incipient, it constituted the reinsurance of a mechanism that culminated in the thickening of the
government tax frameworks. Stimulating rural production implied ensuring optimal conditions for
expand the available lands and export the product in the international market. The growing export
it could correct the trade balance imbalance inherited from the revolutionary decade and increase the
imports, whose entry rights through the port were by that point the main fiscal resource of
government. Although a more complex tax system was created that included the recording of movable capital and
Property through direct contribution, its effects were very limited. Import duties continued
being the essential source of public income.
To improve rural production, the government focused in various directions: the Department was created.
Topographical meant to establish with a certain rigor the territorial cadastre of the province, the law was enacted in 1822.
of emphyteusis and immigration plans were developed. The law of emphyteusis sought the settlement of settlers in
public lands for exploitation. These were granted at low rents, preserved as a guarantee of the
state debt, while granting the settlers a preferential right to purchase. Indeed, that law
did not substantially modify the pre-existing situation (except in some matches of the campaign), as the
occupancy conditions did not provide sufficient incentives to the inhabitants, and the immigration plans
neither were successful. However, the expansion continued its course beyond the limited results
that these laws exhibited and the ups and downs experienced in the different circumstances, highly dependent on
international market.
In the financial field, one of the government's first actions was the creation of the Bank of
Discounts. Its directory was made up of representatives of the dominant economic-social sector of the
province and by English merchants residing in Buenos Aires. The bank was authorized to issue notes and
their actions paid off, at the beginning, good dividends. However, the needs of the treasury led to
bank to a growing issuance, which a few years later led it to an insurmountable financial crisis.
By the mid-1820s, Buenos Aires had replaced the ruined economy of the coastline,
becoming the main livestock region of the country. This expansion, which predominated in the newly
conquered from the Indian when the border began to advance south of the Salado River, coexisted with others
ecosystems. In the strip extending along the coast -of old colonial settlement- there were small and
medium landowners, peasants who practiced agriculture, family-run smallholdings and
estates, an emerging salad industry, shepherds, farmers, domestic workers, additions, laborers, slaves... a
a universe much more heterogeneous than the one depicted by the literature of the time when identifying the field
Bonaerense with the desert and the large cattle ranch.
In the urban area, Buenos Aires also displayed significant changes. The resources invested in
public and private constructions transformed the appearance of the old colonial city. In a few months, it
the building of the new House of Representatives was built, the portico of the Cathedral was erected, the
urban area and the construction of private housing multiplied.

The Athens of the Silver

During the 1820s, the ephemeral architectures designed to decorate the Mayan parties in Buenos Aires displayed a trait
particularly, nonexistent in the previous decade. As Fernando AJiata has demonstrated, the recurring idea was the construction, within
from the main square and through the use of removable wooden columns that each year underwent formal variations (of a
circle to a polygon), of a “civic enclosure” that granted the square a differentiated role within the structure of the city. This
the implementation of a kind of 'civic forum', heir to the agoras of the Greek cities, was the way in which Buenos Aires was building
his own image and sought to exalt it.
The city was transitioning from the model of republican Rome to the emblem of the 'new Athens'. As the 'Athens of the Silver' - as was often said
calling her the publicists in the newspapers of those days - exalted her city-state dominance that made her influence felt over a
vast territory that should no longer be conquered through arms, but by the example of its republican institutions, its regime
representative, the arts and letters, the achieved peace and economic progress.
Plan for the decoration of the Plaza de la Victoria for a national holiday. The trend to sanctify the central square in those years was
It was verified both in Buenos Aires and in several provincial capitals where their own monuments were erected.

This growth rate was able to be sustained especially in the early years of Martín's government.
Rodríguez, before greater financial difficulties began to worsen, some of which
they tried to ease the situation by requesting a loan from abroad. In July 1824, a loan was contracted with the
Baring Brothers & Co., from London, whose funds would be used for the construction of the port,
sanitary works of Buenos Aires and the establishment of towns in the countryside. The state relied on liquidating
easily the service of the incurred debt if the volume of maritime trade was maintained and was reduced
military budget, as was foreseen by the reform carried out in those years. What it did not account for was
the outcome of the war against Brazil, as will be seen below, which significantly reduced the
foreign trade and forced to invest significant resources in the maintenance of the army. The loan of the
Barings Brothers quickly became a ruinous business for both lenders and the
state.
In this context, it is obvious that the predominance of the Buenos Aires economy over the rest of the regions
was based on the possession of a privileged port that, through maritime trade, allowed it to absorb the
resources from your Customs and capitalize in your favor the benefits obtained through free trade. For this
reason, the Customs and the free navigation of rivers were always the major issues that confronted Buenos
Air with the rest of the provinces, especially those on the coast, a detail not to be overlooked when discussing the
political organization of a future state organized on the basis of a constitution.
 6. The impossible unity
In 1824, a new Constituent Congress met with the aim of seeking a national organization. There,
the positions were divided between the unitarians, defenders of a centralized regime, and the federals,
propellers of a regime that aimed to provide greater autonomy to the provinces. The first dominated
the policy of Congress, but they failed in their objectives. The Constitution enacted in 1826 was rejected by
most of the provinces, while the war against Brazil and the civil war inside ended
to dissolve the Congress and the newly created national power. The provinces returned to their previous situation.
of autonomy and were divided into two major blocs: the Unitary League of the Interior and the Federal League of the
Coastal Provinces. Both factions faced each other in a war that ended with the defeat of the League.
Unitary, under the command of General Paz.

A new attempt at constitutional unity

From political consensus to the division of the Buenos Aires elite

Starting from the enactment of the electoral law of 1821, elections were held every year to renew the
members of the House of Representatives of Buenos Aires. The Party of Order, thanks to the control it maintained
about some key sectors (especially the army and the militias), and also for having stimulated the
participation in the suffrage so that, through the sovereignty of the number, the government would enjoy legitimacy
impeccable, managed to multiply the voter turnout in the city and campaign and win the elections in the
early years. But in 1824, a group of opposition with roots in the popular sectors contested the victory.
urbanites who, split from the Party of Order and organized by leaders such as Manuel Dorrego and Manuel
Moreno managed to occupy a part of the seats in the Chamber. This first split of the ruling elite
The Buenos Aires situation intensified when the succession of the governor occurred, once the three-year term was completed.

for which Rodríguez had been appointed. Upon choosing the new head of the executive power, the Chamber of
Representatives and the group that, gathered around Rivadavia, had managed the strings of power during
those years showed their first disagreements. The appointment of General Juan Gregorio Las Heras
highlighted the tensions within the Party of Order: Rivadavia withdrew from the government and
He immediately set off for Europe; Manuel García replaced him in his tutoring role.
The situation was worsened when the international context forced the Buenos Aires elite to take
decisions regarding the future organization of the country. The possibility that Great Britain would recognize the
independence through the signing of a treaty of peace and friendship required a political-state unity of which
the Río de la Plata was lacking. On the other hand, the Brazilian occupation of the Banda Oriental had become a
strong pressure element, capitalized by the Porteno opposition to the Party of Order. Through the press
periodically, the leaders of this opposition accused the government of Buenos Aires of having abandoned them to their fate
to the Eastern compatriots. Both issues updated, in a climate of some urgency, the debate surrounding
to the meeting of a new congress from all the provinces to definitively establish a constitution
national.
The call for the Constituent Congress made by the government of Buenos Aires revived the
differences between the provinces and, in each of them, between various ways of conceiving the organization of
future state. Congress began its sessions on December 16, 1824, with deputies elected by the
provinces in number proportional to their population; from the beginning it was evident a greater
gravitational pull of the port delegation.
The first measure taken by Congress was to enact the Fundamental Law. This law declared
constituted to the assembly and established that, until a constitution was sanctioned, the provinces would
they would be governed by their own institutions, temporarily delegating the functions of the national executive power to
the government of Buenos Aires. A few days later, the Treaty of Friendship, Trade, and Navigation was signed with
Great Britain, in which the recognition of the independence of the United Provinces was ratified (already it
They had made Brazil and the United States in 1822) and in which England obtained the treatment of 'most favored nation.

favored.

Meeting of the Constituent General Congress

The General Constituent Congress of 1824 met in the building designated for the holding of sessions of the Chamber of
Representatives of Buenos Aires, built in 1821. The work was directed by the French architect Próspero Catelin and, as highlighted
the press of those days, it was the first building constructed for such a purpose 'among all the peoples of America who had fought
for its emancipation". It can currently be visited at the Manzana de las Luces in the city of Buenos Aires.
Facsimile of the first page of one of the minutes of the sessions of the General Constituent Congress, 1824-1827.

By the Fundamental Law, Governor Las Heras was in charge of foreign relations - until such time as
chose a president - and with the authority to make proposals to the Congress and to execute its decisions. Las Heras
assigned to communicate to the provinces the new situation, making it clear that he would respect the peculiarities and
autonomy of each of them, thus renouncing any intervention from the national power. The sanction of the
The constitution was postponed, waiting for a more favorable moment, and once issued - always and
When the required consensus is reached, it should be elevated to the provincial governments, who could
reject it and remain on the sidelines of the pursued union. The Fundamental Law and the attitude adopted by Las
They showcase the still prudent and cautious position of the government of Buenos Aires and the deputies
Buenos Aires residents, who predominated in Congress during the first stage of its development.

However, the initial agreement was eroding for various reasons. On one hand, the growing
the independence of the criteria of Governor Las Heras irritated the closest entourage of Rivadavia, in particular to
the Buenos Aires deputies of the Constituent Congress, who hoped to propose the former minister of government
Buenos Aires as the future president of the constituted country. On the other hand, the environment in Buenos Aires was growing.

militarist in the face of the situation in the Banda Oriental, which made the creation of an executive power urgent.
permanent national. At the end of 1825, Congress decided to double the number of its members. With this gesture
The deputies from Buenos Aires sought to reinforce their control and thus replace moderation with more aggressive attitudes.

radicals. The new election favored the port group led by Rivadavia, although it also allowed the
entry of some leaders of the local opposition, such as Dorrego and Moreno, on behalf of others
provinces.

Unitarians and federals

On February 6, 1826, Congress enacted the Presidency Law, which established a permanent executive.
Bernardino Rivadavia, just arrived from his trip to Europe, was appointed president. By that time of the
events, the tensions within Congress were evident. The spokesperson for the opposition to the group
Rivadaviano in the debate on the Presidency Law was Moreno, who argued that it violated the Law.
Fundamental reason for which the powers of Congress had been limited. The presidency was born as a
judiciary meant to endure in the future constitutional framework, thus distorting the
original purpose of consensus.
Rivadavia had to assume his position in a climate filled with internal tensions and external conflict. Brazil
had declared war in December 1825, when the Congress accepted the incorporation of the province
east to the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. On the other hand, the Assembly mirrored the divisions of
formerly, two parties were established with their own names: those who intended to establish a form of
unified and centralized government came to be known as 'unitarians', and those who sought to organize a
form of government that would respect the sovereignties of the provinces continued under the name of 'federals'.
It is worth noting that, unlike the previous decade, the reference model of the latter was more
clearly that of the United States and that the autonomies were claimed no longer for the cities, but for
new political subjects, constituted in provinces. Although this split did not translate into the identification of
porteños-unitarios versus provincianos-federales (both trends had supporters and detractors in each)
territory) nor in the existence of an organization in partisan aggregation poles that went beyond the
debate around the form of government (in fact, the debates in Congress show a complex map of
adherences and loyalties in which the independence of opinion of many deputies regarding certain
specific projects were frequent), the truth is that these divisions revealed the growing polarization of
political space.
In that context, the fact that the ruling elite of the province of Buenos Aires abandoned
definitely the precarious unity that had been achieved with the Order Party —splitting between those who
they supported the Rivadavian and unitary policy and those who retreated to the province, under the leadership of
Governor Las Heras, and they looked unfavorably upon the nationalizing company of their former allies - complicated
even more things. The latent tensions finished dividing opinions when Rivadavia, three days
After taking office, he presented the Capitalization Bill to Congress. In it, Buenos was declared
Aires, capital of national power, to which a federal territory was subordinated that extended from the Port of Las
From Conchas (Tigre) to the Márquez Bridge and from there, in a line parallel to the Rio de la Plata, to Ensenada.
The province of Buenos Aires, separated from the federal district, was being reorganized into two new districts: the
province of Salado, with its capital in Chascomús, and that of Paraná, with its capital in San Nicolás. The promoters
the project had to face opposition from the federal sector, whose spokesperson was Moreno, and from deputies of
different provinces, such as Gorriti and Funes, and even that of Juan José Paso himself, representative for Buenos
Aires, who warned of the harmful effects of depriving the provincial economic structure of its traditional
unity between city and countryside.
The enactment of the Capital Law in March 1826 ended up isolating the rivadavian unitary group from
its former support. On one hand, with the elimination of the institutions of the province created in 1821, and remaining
the Chamber of Representatives of Buenos Aires is dissolved and the provincial Executive exercised by Las Heras is terminated,

the irritation of many members of the Buenos Aires political elite grew. Much more alarming for the
local economic interests were that the province would lose, with the federalization of the territory assigned to the
capital, the main area for overseas trade and, with it, the most important source of resources
fiscal authorities, the Customs, now in the hands of the national government. Thus, the federal opposition was joined by the

economically dominant sectors of the province. The Anchorena, the Terrero, the Rosas, owners of
large estates in the Buenos Aires countryside took charge of raising petitions in the campaign to prevent the
sanction of the Capitalization Law, which would reduce the possibility of expanding their businesses, as long as
the interests of the countryside were connected with those of urban commerce. That is why they considered it essential
to uphold the unity between city and countryside, and thus defend the process of occupation and expansion
territorial initiated then.
Thus, with the Capitalization Law, the unitary group that still dominated Congress launched itself to
to finalize their nationalizing adventure, ignoring the growing opposition from the Assembly. Their
the next task was to dictate a constitution. In early 1825, when an attitude still predominated
Moderated inside the Congress, the united sector had promoted a consultation to the different
provinces to issue regarding the future organization of the state. The responses received, and
Evaluated the following year, they yielded the following result: six provinces advocated for the federal system.
(Entre Ríos, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, San Juan, Mendoza, and Córdoba, which amended a first ruling in
favor of the unitary system), four did so for a unitary system (Tucumán, Salta, Jujuy, and La Rioja) and six
they referred the decision of the matter to Congress (Corrientes, Catamarca, San Luis, Misiones, Montevideo and
Tarija). The Constituent Assembly, in which the unitary sector had a majority, remained as the arbiter of the
definitive organization. To that end, the deputies set out to study the draft constitution.

The Constitution of 1826

In September 1826, the Constitutional Affairs Commission announced a draft. Although its
members claimed to have based it on the Constitution of 1819, their centralism had been relatively
attenuated with the creation, in the provinces, of electively chosen boards of directors with the right to propose
terns of candidates for the appointment of governors by the national authorities. From
In any case, the federal deputies argued that the proposed organic charter overwhelmed rights.
sovereigns of the provinces, recalling the disastrous experiences lived in the Río de la Plata after the
failed attempts to impose centralized regimes. They also criticized the restriction of the regime
representative, by excluding from the right to vote servants, laborers, day laborers, line soldiers, and those considered
"notoriously lazy." After heated debates, the vote was conclusive: forty-three deputies ...
They issued in favor of the project, against eleven that opposed it. The Constitution was sanctioned on the 24th of
December 1826; in it, among many other variations, a double displacement was noted regarding the
approved in 1819. On one hand, there was an important change in nomenclature, with the replacement of the name of
United Provinces of South America for the Argentine Republic. On the other hand, in contrast to the silence regarding the
definition about the form of government in the 1819 letter, in article 7 of the 1826 Constitution it
it explicitly stated that 'the Argentine nation adopts for its government the representative republican form,
consolidated in unit of regime.
However, the new republic was born in a political climate, both internal and external, that foreshadowed a bleak future.
for their subsistence possibilities. At the internal level, by that date, the reaction in the provinces was already
It was in progress. From Córdoba, Bustos was leading a staunch opposition to the new constitution and to the person
of the president. His attempts to hegemonize a bloc opposed to Congress and the politics of Buenos Aires
they had failed to obtain the support of the provinces of the Northwest. From La Rioja, Facundo Quiroga
it maintained a favorable balance for the Congress, even supporting, in early 1826, the unitary regime
proposed. Very shortly after, the relationship of the person from La Rioja with Buenos Aires showed a remarkable turn that

transformed the overall political map. The outcome occurred as a result of the internal conflict situation of the
provinces of Catamarca and San Juan, where different factions were fighting for power, and where participated
then La Rioja and Mendoza. Finally, the civil war broke out when Rivadavia sent General Lamadríd to
recruit troops for the war against Brazil, and he seized the provincial government of Tucumán, attracting
under his orbit to the governor of Catamarca. Facundo Quiroga launched with his militias on Catamarca
first, where he deposited the governor, about Tucumán then, defeating Lamadrid, about San Juan,
imposing a governor, and finally over Santiago del Estero, to collaborate with Felipe Ibarra and defeat
definitely to Lamadrid. Quiroga thus established himself as the arbiter of the power relations in the Northwest and
He definitively broke with Buenos Aires to finally get closer to Córdoba. At the beginning of 1827, several
provinces (Córdoba, La Rioja, Santiago del Estero, San Juan) had rejected the Constitution issued shortly
Months earlier and to the sitting president, Bernardino Rivadavia. Meanwhile, the coast was also rearranging.
to the new interprovincial context. Santa Fe, governed by Estanislao López, stopped supporting Buenos Aires
when the unitary position of the Congress divided the Party of Order.

A central and benevolent power

In the Manifesto of the General Constituent Congress addressed to the peoples of the Argentine Republic, the aim was to showcase the advantages
of the form of government adopted:
Regarding the internal administration of the provinces, carefully examine the entire context of section seven, which establishes
its bases and organizes its regime, and you will find all the advantages that could have been the object of your desires. Perhaps they exceed the

hopes of those same towns that sought exclusively in the federation the guarantee of their local interests.
Reserving to each of the provinces the election of their authorities, it puts in their hands all the means to do
they are well. They constitutionally remain in full possession of their powers to procure the possible prosperity, taking advantage of the
favors of its climate, the richness of its fruits, the effects of its industry, the convenience of its ports, and any improvements it can make
to promise a free people the fertility of the soil, in common with the activity of man. Provinces, towns, citizens of the
Argentine Republic! Here it is simply resolved the great problem of the form of government, which has troubled the trust of
some, and has raised the fears of others. Your representatives, bound like you to the fate of the Homeland, for identical reasons
titles, by similar interests, have highlighted all the advantages of the federal government, separating only its disadvantages; and have
adopted all the assets of the unity government, excluding only what may be harmful to public rights and
individuals. Like industrious bees that, extracting juice from various flowers, form their delicious honeycomb, thus, choosing the
goods, and segregating the evils of the various elements of simple governments, have constituted a composite government, in accordance
to the circumstances of the country, but essentially free, and a protector of social rights.
A simple and rigorous federation would be the least adaptable form to our provinces, in the state and circumstances of the country and while
Congress has constantly focused on the great reasons that contradict such a form, it has not lost
never seen what every Argentine patriot must regard as the greatest and most cherished interest of the Republic: the consolidation of
our union, to which our prosperity, our happiness, our security, and our existence are closely linked
national. Yes, our existence, citizens. It is not possible to provide for these objects without establishing a central power; but a power
benefactor, able to promote, and unable to contradict the principles of well-being of each province. It is right that we run in pursuit of the
freedom and happiness, for which we have made such great sacrifices; but let us not run after vain and sterile names:
let's search in their reality for the things. The goods of liberty and happiness, to which we aspire, are not precisely in the federation:
review the times, and the nations, and you will be presented with sad examples of many that, governed under federal forms, have been more
slaves under the terrible power of the despots of Asia. Thus would ours be under a poorly organized federation. Engrave,
Citizens, in your spirits this profound truth: a government that derives its powers from the will of the people is free and happy,
it maintains them in harmonious balance and respects the rights of man inviolably. Judge then whether it has these characteristics
the government that offers you the present constitution1.
'Manifesto of the Constituent General Congress to the Peoples of the Argentine Republic', December 24, 1826, in Emilio
Ravignani,
Argentine Constituent Assemblies, volume 6, 2apart, Buenos Aires, Institute of Historical Research of the Faculty of Philosophy and
Letters,
UBA, 1939 {the highlight is from the text).JBP

In the external arena, the situation was also unfavorable: the worsening of the situation in the Banda Oriental
had led to the declaration of war against Brazil. This occurred after the adventure -known as
the campaign of the 'Thirty-Three Orientals' - led by the eastern colonel Juan Antonio Lavalleja, who
landed on the Uruguayan coast in April 1825 and declared the incorporation of the Banda Oriental to the
United Provinces. With this attitude, Lavalleja sought to pressure the Congress gathered in Buenos Aires to
obtain a strong statement regarding the Brazilian occupation. In fact, it succeeded. The deputies
they were compelled to resolve the incorporation of the Banda Oriental to the United Provinces and clarify it to the
Brazilian emperor, such a decision would be backed by force. This caused, as expected, the
declaration of war by Brazil in December 1825.

The Thirty-Three Orientals

After controlling part of the campaign of the Banda Oriental, the campaign of the Thirty-Three Orientals, under the leadership of Juan
Antonio Lavalleja, a former Artiguist officer exiled in the Río de la Plata provinces, led a rebellion movement against the
Brazilian occupation.
Shortly after the campaign began, Lavalleja summoned the councils and formed a provisional government that was established in La Florida.
B Oath of the Thirty-Three Orientals. Juan Manuel Blanes, oil on canvas. National Museum of Fine Arts, Montevideo. JS?

The war against Brazil

Rivadavia, now in the role of president, appointed General Carlos de Alvear as the head of the army.
National Army by law of Congress in May 1825. Admiral Guillermo Brown was entrusted with the
creation and direction of naval forces. Although no military actions took place during the year 1826
decisive, the repercussions of the declaration of war were felt internally, as a consequence of the
naval blockade imposed by the Brazilian squadron on the Rio de la Plata. This prevented ships from arriving at the port.
and, consequently, the possibility of trading with foreign countries, deteriorating both private and public finances
public. In February 1827, the armies faced each other in Ituzaingó, where the Brazilian defeat was total. But
neither this triumph nor those obtained by Brown's naval forces in the early months of 1827 were
enough to win the war or, at least, to break the blockade. Meanwhile, local trade is
the crisis was being felt at all social levels, affecting the already weakened central government.
England, which had already sent a diplomatic mission headed by Lord Ponsonby to mediate in the
conflict, intensified its efforts under the pressure of the English interests established in the Río de la Plata, which
they saw their businesses ruined with the prolongation of the blockade and a war that, from the point of view
warlike, it did not seem to have a definitive resolution in the short term. England proposed, as the axis of the negotiation,
that the Banda Oriental did not belong to either the Empire of Brazil or the newly formed Argentine Republic: its

independence was considered the best garment of conciliation between the warring forces. But the envoy
from the government, Manuel García exceeded his instructions and signed a preliminary peace agreement in which
he accepted the incorporation of the Banda Oriental into the Empire and the free navigation of the rivers. It was a victory

absolute diplomat of the Emperor of Brazil. Upon returning to Buenos Aires, García submitted the agreement to the
consideration of Congress and the president. In a situation of absolute weakness, the result of the opposition
from the provinces to the Constitution enacted shortly before, the civil war unleashed in the interior and the lack of
support in the same Buenos Aires, Rivadavia decided to reject such a dishonorable peace and resigned from his position
as president in June 1827. Congress accepted the rejection of the agreement and also his resignation, and appointed
provisional president to Vicente López y Planes.
By that time, the divisions within Congress between unitarians and federals had moved to
all the provinces, reaching a virulence previously unknown. The new president became a
symbolic figure. His authority was not respected in the provinces nor did the Congress represent the 'will
general" of these. Such discredit led to the resignation of the provisional president and to the dissolution of the
Congress. Both authorities died of natural causes and, along with them, the last attempt, during the
first half of the 19th century, to form a political-constitutional unit with the provinces that had
remnant of the previous viceroyalty.

The triumph of Ituzaingó, and then

Despite the optimism caused by the victory of Ituzaingó, the Brazilian fleet, stationed in Montevideo, Colonia, and Martin Island
García had eighty warships and more than twenty frigates, corvettes, and brigantines. In response to the blockade imposed by Brazil,
Some private entrepreneurs began to build privateer ships in which the crew had the right to the loot. The war of
Courses freed in small ships that acted by delivering surprise blows.
General Alvear in Ituzaingó (detail). E. Boutique, oil. National Library, Buenos Aires.
The civil war
The legacy of constitutional failure
After the dissolution of the Constituent Congress, a convention met in Santa Fe in June 1828,
with the intention of completing the unfulfilled task. But the initiative was frustrated almost immediately. The
Internal disputes within the federal camp led to the convention being dissolved two months
afterwards. The provinces returned, then, to their previous condition of autonomy and Buenos Aires returned to the
institutional situation prior to the Capitalization Law.
In that scenario, it is worth asking what had changed with the new power central vacancy with
relation to 1820. Firstly, the capital city council no longer existed to temporarily hold power. Its
suppression, along with that of most of the councils in the rest of the provinces, displayed one of the
transformations that occurred in those years. The foundations of political and institutional power had been reconfigured at
to conform the provincial republics and integrate urban and rural spaces through the networks
sanctioned legal entities during the decade. This process showed a shift of power from the
traditional colonial urban spaces towards a new political space in which the campaign was beginning to
gain greater relevance. The implications of this displacement could be seen in various spheres.
In terms of the economy, the disintegration of colonial merchant circuits with the loss of
Upper Peru and the declaration of free trade visibly impacted the case of Buenos Aires and later on
the rest of the coastline, the engine of economic growth towards livestock production aimed at the market
Atlantic. In the realm of politics, the shift was expressed in all provinces. From the point of
Institutional view, rural areas have gained full status in political representation.
which, although a minority compared to the cities in many cases -as it was in Buenos Aires itself
during the 1820s, highlighted the transformation that occurred since the colonial period, when the
campaigns were nothing more than territories dependent on the jurisdiction of the councils. From the point of view of
the practices, although the emergence of regional leaders coexisted with the growing process of
political institutionalization, no one could deny that, in the new role they played after 1820, it was being established
ostensible a significant change in the reconfiguration of power bases. In such transformations
-cataloged by some historians as processes of 'ruralization'- new relationships are expressed between
society, economy, politics, and territories.
Thus, the new lack of a central authority occurred in a very different scenario than that of 1820.
Buenos Aires had already understood very well the advantages of autonomy. It had been so efficient that
learning that the nationalizing adventure of the unifying group caused it to lose the support of its main
bases of power between the political and economic elite of the province. The provinces, in turn, began to
to warn about the difficulties of living within the framework of absolute autonomy, without resources to sustain oneself;
the formation of interprovincial leagues evidenced such weakness. Any pact that involved organizing
Constitutionally, the country had to start from this asymmetric correlation of forces. Buenos Aires, unlike
what was happening during the revolutionary decade, was no longer willing to reconquer its former role as capital
any price. The provincial elites debated thereafter within the dilemma that involved claiming the
self-governance of their local affairs without renouncing the most powerful province's decision to bequeath the most part
rich in its territory to sustain them.

Buenos Aires recovers its provincial borders.

In order to restore the provincial institutions suppressed by the Capitalization Law, a meeting was convened.
elections to appoint the provincial deputies who were to form the Chamber of Representatives and elect
new governor. But the electoral climate was no longer what it had been at the beginning of the decade. The division between
the unitarians and federals crystallized in the Constituent Congress moved to the province and exacerbated the spirit
faction, a situation that was expressed in the style adopted by the press and in the increasing violence and
intolerance that permeated the different moments of the electoral act. Although the press was already
familiar with the controversies and fierce debates on its pages, the bellicose tone expressed after
1827 announced a radicalization of divisions -both within the ruling elite and among the publicists who
they became their spokespersons - very different from those that had segmented the political body during the happy
experienciarivadaviana. On the other hand, the mechanisms used to disseminate the lists of candidates and make
electoral propaganda, as well as those that were at stake in the formation of the tables, the mobilization
of the voters and the conducting of the count, displayed an unknown belligerence until that moment.
The elections were held in an atmosphere of growing tension; the voting resulted in victory for the Party.
Federal, whose ranks swelled with the dissidents of the Order Party. The Chamber appointed Manuel Borrego.
governor of the province of Buenos Aires, who, in the face of the vacuum of central power, had to take on
provisionally the management of foreign relations, according to what is stipulated in the Fundamental Law issued in
1825 by the Congress, recently dissolved. This implied taking charge of finishing the war and signing the peace.
with Brazil. The inherited scenario was certainly very complex. Despite having been one of the leaders most
prone to a war outcome with Brazil and a biting critic of the Rivadavia administration since 1824, Dorrego
He recognized that the state of war could not be prolonged any longer, much less the state of a blockade.
absolutely ruinous for the Río de la Plata. The British proposal to grant independence to the Banda
Oriental seemed to be the most decent way out and the only option to achieve peace. For this purpose, Dorrego sent
a diplomatic mission that, in August 1828, finally signed a peace treaty based on the
absolute independence of the Eastern Band. Thus, the Eastern Republic of Uruguay was born.
The signing of the treaty triggered latent conflicts. To the difficult interprovincial situation and the factional division.
between unitarians and federals, the discontent of some army leaders who fought against him was added
Empire of Brazil, who did not forgive Dorrego for signing a treaty they considered dishonorable.
Part of the unitary group of Buenos Aires - displaced from the provincial government after the elections -
he took advantage of this discontent to overthrow the governor. Led by General Juan Lavalle, who, once
After the war was over, he had just descended with his division from the army to the city of Buenos Aires, an event occurred.

unitary military movement that on December 19, 1828, dismissed Dorrego from his position and dissolved
the elected House of Representatives just a few months earlier. Dorrego had to flee in search of help towards the countryside,

where Juan Manuel de Rosas, commander of the militias of the province of Buenos Aires, was located.
Rosas had been appointed to that position by the ephemeral president Vicente López y Planes and ratified.
by Manuel Dorrego when he was anointed governor. It is worth noting that, until the meeting of Congress
Constituent of 1824, and more precisely until the debate on the Capitalization Law, Rosas had not
occupied political positions in the government nor had shown signs of hostility towards the ruling elite. The
the rapid rise of his political career began when, after Dorrego was ousted from power, he assumed the dual role of
defender of order in the campaign and referee of the conflicting situation created between unitarios and federales,
identifying more and more clearly with the seconds.

Attire worn by federal soldiers

The signs of factional division began to be expressed in new identity symbols that penetrated the different strata.
social. The way of dressing to go to vote, an occasion where the tailcoat and frock coat presupposed a unitary vote, while the jacket
the federal vote, or the slogans that voters proclaimed loudly - identifying themselves, in each case, with one of the two
factions in conflict ("Long live the federals! Death to those in tails and tailcoats!", "Long live Dorrego, death to those in coats! Long live the common people!")
they highlight the changes produced in the political universe.

Lavalle, for his part, after being appointed governor through a mechanism of dubious legitimacy
(called a popular assembly that designated him "by a show of hands"), delegated command to Admiral Brown and
went out on the campaign in an unrelenting pursuit of Dorrego, who was finally captured. After
certain disagreements about the approach to take towards the prisoner, Lavalle decided to execute him. The execution of
Dorrego, on December 13, 1828, only exacerbated the conflicts and began a civil war.
which kept Buenos Aires in suspense for more than six months. The Unitarians had the city under control.
thanks to the support they received from some divisions of the regular army, and the federals dominated the
campaign with his militias. Rosas sought the support of Estanislao López and, after some confrontations,
managed to defeat Lavalle at Puente de Márquez, on April 29, 1829.

Pacts and regional blocks

On June 24, the Cañuelas Pact was signed between the leaders of the opposing sides: Rosas and Lavalle. Thus,
hostilities were brought to an end and the commitment was made to call elections to form a new Chamber of
Representatives, who would in turn designate the governor of Buenos Aires. What was not publicly known is that
Rosas and Lavalle signed a secret clause in which they committed to attend said elections with
a unified list of candidates that should intersperse moderate members from the unitary and federal side
respectively. Despite the efforts made by the signatories, that list was not respected in the
elections. The different groups of the porteño elite resisted such unification and set out to conquer
votes on July 26, 1828, when the elections took place. As expected, violence was present
the agenda and Lavalle annulled the elections. On the brink of civil war once again, a new
pact in Barracas, on August 24, by which General Juan José Viamonte was appointed provisional governor,
a moderate federal who was to enforce the Cajuelas Pact.
At that point, it was the campaign's general commander who had become the arbiter of all this.
conflictive situation. After discussing with the provisional governor what the most appropriate measures would be

conveniently, the decision was not to call new elections, but to restore the same Board of Representatives
overthrown by the military uprising of December P of 1828 so that it would designate a governor. Thus, exactly
A year after its dissolution, the Chamber met again and appointed almost unanimously (thirty-two votes
about thirty-three deputies) to the new head of the provincial executive power: Juan Manuel de Rosas.
While Buenos Aires seemed to be returning to a climate of order, the situation in the interior
was far from being harmonious. The interprovincial conflict reappeared once again and the civil war
resumed with special virulence. Despite the military victories obtained by Facundo Quiroga after
openly oppose the Unitarians, in 1829 the provinces of the interior were far from forming a block
homogeneous. Although the Andean provinces —La Rioja, Catamarca, and Cuyo— continued under the control of
The Riojan caudillo, the same was not true for Salta and Tucumán. The former remained in the hands of unitary sectors.
In the second, the governor imposed by Quiroga, Javier López, began to distance himself from him. In Santiago.
from the Estero, Felipe Ibarra maintained a relatively neutral position, while in Córdoba, Bustos did not.
he managed to control the internal situation, although he reaffirmed his alliance with the man from La Rioja.

In fact, the open conflict erupted from the situation in Córdoba. While in Buenos Aires the
Unitarians led by Lavalle had been defeated by the federal forces, the unitary general José María.
Paz attempted to overturn the hegemony achieved by the federals by advancing into Córdoba, his home province. In
Indeed, in 1820, General Paz, together with Bustos, had led the uprising of Arequito. Both of them
they had opposed facing the federal forces that were lurking in Buenos with their Northern army column
Aires, and they had agreed to install the leaders of the local federal faction in the Córdoba government until that
At that moment they were trying to ally with the Artiguista forces. But the agreement lasted very little: Bustos decided to rise up.

with the power and distancing from the federal forces of his province and General Paz, who was identifying himself at that time

with the local Cordoban federal force. Later, in the war against Brazil, Paz led one of the columns.
of the army; once the confrontation was over, he returned from the Eastern Band, although later than
the leaders responsible for the coup of December 1828 in Buenos Aires.
In those years, Paz had abandoned his old federal affiliation, although the coincidences with the
the unitarians under the command of Lavalle and his porteño allies were not many. Their project was to advance on Córdoba and

overthrow his traditional rival, Governor Bustos. However, not finding support in Buenos Aires
what he was waiting for for said advance -since Lavalle's forces were checkmated by the federals in command of
Rosas -, the Cordoban general formed a small army - basically made up of ex-combatants from the
war against Brazil— and in April 1829 advanced through the south of Santa Fe until entering his native province.

Confederation without Constitution

The Interior League
The dizzying success achieved by General Paz with such small military forces can only be explained by the
weakness of the opposing block. Paz advanced militarily against Bustos and obtained a decisive victory in San
Roque, in April 1829. This led Bustos to retreat to La Rioja and seek refuge with Quiroga, and he
provided Paz with a solid base of operations, in addition to the adhesion of the provinces of Tucumán and Salta.
In June 1829, Facundo Quiroga, who still dominated the Andean front, advanced on Córdoba with a
a force of about five thousand men. Although the army commanded by Paz was reduced to half its strength
(including the reinforcements sent from Salta and Tucumán), the Córdoba general demonstrated his superior skills
of the strategist defeating the Riojan leader at La Tablada. At the beginning of 1830, Quiroga invaded again
Córdoba, but once again was defeated by the forces of Paz in the battle of Oncativo.
The main consequence of the victory of the Cordoban general was the formation of an opposing bloc in
all the interior that, in the name of unitarism, would attempt to eradicate the federals from the entire territory. In
Indeed, both sides were extremely heterogeneous: neither the unitarians led by Paz had strong
coincidences regarding the future organization of the country under a regime of unity, nor did they agree even less
the federals in regard to the meaning they gave to this term. As demonstrated by the correspondence between
Rosas, López, and Quiroga -the main leaders of federalism- had few points in common regarding
future call for a Constituent Congress and the decisions that should be made there. In fact, later
from the dissolution of the Constituent Congress, the terms 'unitary' and 'federal' no longer referred so much to the
constitutional models or forms of government in debate as well as the most contingent political alignments,
that did not hide factional or personal disputes. In the context of that underground displacement, the factions
Those involved in the civil war of those years identified respectively as Unitarians and Federals.
Faced with this new political map, General Paz had no greater alternatives than to seek support in
the inland provinces to neutralize the advance of federal forces and thus consolidate their authority in
Córdoba. He then set out to transcend the provincial sphere, making use of previous alliances. The general
Lamadrid - who, as mentioned before, had participated in previous years in the internal conflicts of
in favor of the unified group of Congress - seized San Juan and La Rioja, while other divisions occupied
Mendoza, San Luis, Catamarca, and Santiago del Estero. Quiroga's power seemed destroyed in the face of the advance.
of Peace.
Facundo Quiroga in the memoirs of General Paz
In his Posthumous Memories, General Paz testified to the 'popular beliefs' that circulated around the person of
Facundo Quiroga:
In the popular beliefs regarding Quiroga, I also found a strong enemy to fight against; when I say popular, I am referring to
the campaign, where those beliefs had taken root in some areas and not only affected the lowest class of society.
Quiroga was regarded as an inspired man; he had familiar spirits that penetrated everywhere and obeyed his commands;
he had a famous 'moro horse' (that's what they call a horse of a gray color) that, similar to Sartorio's doe, revealed things to him.
more hidden and gave the healthiest advice; he had squads of men who, when he commanded them, became beasts, and
another thousand absurdities of that kind.

I will mention some facts lightly, that prove what I have indicated. One day, while talking with a countryman from the countryside, and wanting
to dissuade him from his mistake, he said: 'Sir, think what you want, but years of experience teach us that Mr. Quiroga is
invincible in war, in the game (and, lowering his voice, he added), in love. So there is no example of a battle he has not won;
a game that he has lost; (and, lowering his voice again) nor a woman that he has requested, whom he has not conquered.' As it was
As a result, I burst out laughing heartily; but the local man neither lost his calm nor yielded an inch of his belief.
When I was preparing to wait for Quiroga, before La Tablada, I ordered Commander Don Camilo Isleño, of whom I have already spoken.
mention, to bring a squadron to meet the army, which was at that time in Ojo de Agua, because from that direction the threat loomed
enemy. At very close range, and the night before he joined me, one hundred and twenty men deserted from him, leaving only
thirty, with which he joined the next day. When I asked him the reason for such strange behavior, he attributed it to fear of the militiamen.
the troops of Quiroga. Having asked him where that fear came from, considering that the people of Córdoba had two arms and a heart.
Like the people from La Rioja, he mumbled some expressions, the explanation of which I absolutely wanted to know. He answered me that they had made me conceive.

to the countrymen that Quiroga brought among his troops 'four hundred capiangos', which could only make them tremble.
New amazement on my part; new pregnancy on theirs; once again a demand on mine; and finally, the explanation I was asking for. The
'Capiangos,' according to him, or as the militiamen understood it, were men who had the superhuman ability to transform,
when they wanted it, in ferocious tigers, 'and you see -added the candid commander- that four hundred beasts released at night to
a camp will end up with him inevitably1. Such a solemn and rude folly had no other response than disdain or the
ridiculous; I used both things, but Isleño maintained his impassibility, without being able to conjecture if he shared the belief of his
soldiers, or if he was only showing some value to the species to disguise the participation he might have had in their desertion; all
could be.
Posthumous MemoirsA

In the mid-1830s, the victorious unitarios sought to institutionalize the success achieved through the
formation of a league of provinces that, in addition to committing to convene a national congress to
to dictate a constitution, he granted the governor of Córdoba the supreme military power with full authority
to direct the war effort and withdrew from Buenos Aires the representation of foreign relations.
Naturally excluded from this league were Buenos Aires and the provinces of the coast: the country was thus divided into
two opposing blocks, which showed points of internal weakness.
The Interior League was built on a strong military control in each of the provinces won
the previous influence of the Riojan leader, now sheltered in Buenos Aires. This indicated the existence of
various groups that opposed the occupation, which made it difficult for them to obtain the necessary resources
to keep the troops on the ground: if the occupants did not have the necessary consensus from the
population, particularly of the local elites possessing the required resources, would hardly be able to
consolidate their power internally.
On the other hand, if the federal domain seemed more solid on the coast, the union that existed among its
provinces. In Entre Ríos, the situation was one of absolute instability, given the regional disputes that arose.
between different leaders and groups of the provincial elite. Santa Fe and Corrientes, although more established
internally, they were struggling to convene a constituent congress that would issue an organic charter enshrining the
principle of federal organization. Finally, Rosas, through delaying maneuvers and arguments that
they appealed to the convenience of waiting for the 'opportune moment', categorically refusing to gather such
congress.
In this context, and as an immediate response to the pact that united the provinces of the interior, Buenos Aires
she resumed the initiative with the aim of forming an offensive and defensive alliance of the coastal provinces to
confront the power of General Paz. He thus summoned the governor of Santa Fe and a representative from Corrientes.
to discuss the terms of a future treaty. In that discussion, the dissent between Pedro became evident.
Ferré, representative of Corrientes, and Juan Manuel de Rosas regarding the future organization of the country.
The option of enacting a constitution and its economic consequences was at stake.
After several negotiations, in May 1830, a first treaty was signed between Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, and
Corrientes, from which Entre Ríos was excluded, given the internal turmoil it was experiencing at that time due to the
uprising of López Jordán. When the situation in Entre Ríos was resolved, it was deemed necessary to sign a new
treaty, for which the delegates from the four provinces gathered in Santa Fe. Thus began the
discussions of what the signing of the Federal Pact would result in. There, the dissent became evident.
between Corrientes and Buenos Aires. The Corrientes delegate, Pedro Ferré, aimed to speed up as much as possible the
national organization to achieve a redistribution of customs resources, ensure free
navigation of the Uruguay and Paraná rivers and establish some economic protectionism that would prevent ruin of
the regional economies. Santa Fe and Entre Ríos felt naturally attracted to such proposals, although
they preferred not to take an extreme position in order to maintain an alliance that was beneficial to them. Good
Aires did not accept Ferré's proposals because he saw them as questioning the principles on which he based himself.
mounted its growing economic power: free trade, its dominance over foreign trade and its monopoly
customs officer. In the midst of this struggle, Rosas assessed the danger of withdrawing from the alliance and thereby inducing
to the coastal provinces to sign peace with the Interior League, which would leave him isolated from the rest of the
provinces. It was preferable, then, to yield on some points to make progress on others.

The Federal Pact

On January 4, 1851, the Federal Pact was signed. Its very name highlights, once again, the
indiscriminate use that was made of the words federal and confederal. In its article 1, it was established that the
signatory provinces expressed a will for peace, friendship, and union, mutually recognizing each other's freedom and
independence, representation, and rights. In article 16, a vague and ambiguous reference was included regarding
to the future meeting of a congress - vagueness that displayed Buenos Aires' reluctance to finalize the
initiative-, which should adopt the federal principle. It was also stipulated that the Constituent Assembly
I should consult on "the security and general enhancement of the Republic, its domestic and foreign credit, and the
sovereignty, freedom, and independence of each of the provinces.” This call, as well as the authority to
Declaring war and celebrating peace and deciding on military measures were left in the hands of a Commission.
Representative of the Governments of the Coastal Provinces (based in Santa Fe), consisting of a
Deputy from each of the signing provinces. The Pact was signed by Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, and Entre.
Ríos; Corrientes initially refused to be included, because the treaty did not contain more definitive definitions.
Regarding the upcoming congress. Immediately, military operations were launched to defeat the League of
Interior.
Estanislao López took supreme command of the federal forces and Rosas commanded the reserve from
San Nicolás. While López avoided confrontation with Paz while awaiting the results of the offensive
initiated by Facundo Quiroga in the south of Córdoba, the Riojan caudillo made a lightning campaign and recovered
in a few days part of the lost land: in March he took Río Cuarto, gaining the support of San Luis along the way
conquered Mendoza. By the end of that month, Quiroga dominated Cuyo: the road to La was clear.
Rioja and Córdoba. At that moment, luck played a trick on General Paz: determined to attack López,
he was taken prisoner. In the fields of Río Tala, Paz approached a small forest, convinced that he was
occupied by its own troops. It was a huge surprise when he discovered that they were enemy forces,
who did not hesitate to take him prisoner. There began the rapid downfall of the Interior League. It was the month of
May and, despite the final blow represented by capturing General Paz, a frontal attack on his ...
troops to avoid a prolonged war of attrition. Lamadrid, who had replaced Paz in the
The army's direction was defeated by Quiroga in the Citadel of Tucumán in November 1831.
The collapse of the Interior League left a large part of the territory under the control of the three
main federal leaders: Rosas, Quiroga, and López. In accordance with internal dissent, during the
In the following years, the three contested regional hegemony. Quiroga returned to dominate the Andean front and
it increased their traditional animosity towards the governor of Santa Fe; López was introducing his wedge in Córdoba,
supporting the new governor Reinafé (since Bustos had died in his Santa Fe exile) and placed in
Between Rivers to his acolyte, Pascual Echagüe; Rosas sought to consolidate his power internally in Buenos Aires,
while developing alliance strategies in order to become the supreme arbiter of the future
confederation.

Topics under debate

The discussions among the main representatives of the coastal provinces during the signing of the Federal Pact have been
analyzed from the new historiographical perspectives that question the preexistence of the nation in the revolutionary context and
the phenomenon of caudillismo as a unique explanation of the territorial fragmentation process that occurred starting in 1820. It is emphasized,
In this sense, the interpretation offered by José Carlos Chíaramonte regarding the debates that pitted Corrientes against Buenos
Aires around 1831. There, in addition to the controversies surrounding economic policy and the possibility of establishing a unity
national, the author warns of the changes produced in that context. Referring to the signing of the Federal Pact, he notes: "This episode
it shows that while what had been the cradle and strongest support of centralist tendencies, Buenos Aires, took refuge as already
we saw in autonomism, Comentes, the most tenacious defender of its state autonomy, had come to become a champion of the
immediate national organization." From this perspective, this shift in positions does not mean, however, that the demands of
national organization by some provinces responded to the modern 'principle of nationalities', understood as the
a sense of belonging to a community that shares the same language, religion, values, and common customs. The author
it states that only from the spread of Romanticism would this principle begin to impose itself, whose widespread diffusion would constitute the
universal assumption of the existence of contemporary nations up to the present. According to its periodization, the use of the term
The term 'nation' during the times of Independence and in the years leading up to the Federal Pact of 1831 corresponds to a notion that
I assumed negotiating the contractual terms of a political association between sovereign entities, with dimensions of a city or of
province. To that end, Chiaramonte argues that it is in this light that one must understand the formation of the so-called 'issue'
national" during that period, and states: "Those who debated about it participated in a Hispanic American cultural universe, with a strong
awareness of it, but they belonged to societies with independent political life expressed in states that, although called
provinces, and with varying degrees of success in institutionally finding their state pretensions, were also independent and
sovereigns. And it is this circumstance, the existence in the first half of the century of various claimants to the quality of states
free, autonomous, and sovereign who negotiated the Constitution of a Río de la Plata nation - a nation in the sense of establishing a common
a set of laws and a common government-, which the historiographical tradition developed from the second half of the century will forget,
obsessed with drawing the origins of the nation in terms of what, starting from Romanticism, would be understood as such: the insertion
politically organized in the international arena of a preexisting nationality.
These postulates notably renewed the old perspectives inherited from the 19th century while also sparking new discussions.
among historians. Such debates revolve around whether the acceptance of the non-existence of an Argentine nationality before the
formation of the national state can1deny the existence of other collective identities that encompass the entire territory
Rioplatense since the very moment of the revolution. An ongoing debate that presents different perspectives on the issue:
while some interpretations emphasize the legal-political or economic aspects of the historical process, others highlight
its socio-cultural dimensions.
The cited texts correspond to José Carlos Chiaramonte, Cities, provinces, states: origins of the Argentine Nation, Library
of Argentine Thought I, Buenos Aires, Ariel 1997.

Once the military actions were completed, Corrientes warned of the risk of being excluded from the Federal Pact and
he decided to subscribe to it, a path that was later imitated by the rest of the provinces. The Pact became
then in a new scenario of dispute: this time, among the victorious federal leaders. The reason for the debate
it was the Representative Commission and the powers that were granted to it. Rosas opposed the continuity of the
Commission, as it not only competed with its powers as a delegate for foreign relations, but also
It also took away control of the future congress from him. Since it was meeting in Santa Fe, the Commission was giving him
López had a potential power that Rosas was wary of. The correspondence of the one who was governor of Buenos
Aires at that moment reveals its hostility towards the possibility of a constituent congress meeting and the
strategies used by him with the aim of delaying his summons as much as possible. To achieve this, he appealed to the
argument that the provinces were not ready to establish themselves, claimed that it was advisable for them to
they will be managed through reciprocal partial agreements and treaties and emphasized the need to achieve a
definitive pacification. These premises showed Rosas and his closest entourage's strong interest in continuing
monopolizing the port resources exclusively. The struggle ended when Rosas decided to withdraw the
deputy for Buenos Aires of the problematic Representative Commission and not replace him again. The Commission
it was dissolved in mid-1832.
From that moment on, the call for a constitutional congress was indefinitely blocked.
due to the stubborn opposition of Buenos Aires. The provinces were governed by a loose confederal organization
in which each one supposedly maintained its independence and sovereignty, delegating to Buenos Aires the
representation of foreign relations. However, as will be seen later, it was a confederation
quite peculiar that translated the asymmetric correlation of forces between Buenos Aires and the rest of the
provinces, as well as the dilemmas that arose from that asymmetry. In fact, when the commission ceased to exist.
representative, endowed one of the signing provinces with much greater power than the others. But not only
That. The peculiarity of that confederation was that the proclaimed sovereignty and independence of each of the
parts was repeatedly limited not only by the management that Rosas timely made of the relationships
outdoors, but also by the intervention it imposed on them through very different mechanisms. The
Federal Pact, signed then as a provisional alliance, became through the force of events.
in one of the only institutional frameworks that regulated interprovincial relations until the sanction of
the National Constitution in 1853.
 7. The federal Buenos Aires
In 1829, the House of Representatives appointed Juan Manuel as governor of the province of Buenos Aires.
Roses. Her management was marked by some substantial changes, among which the delegation stands out.
extraordinary powers to the executive branch and the disappearance of the Unitary Party from the political scene
provincial. However, starting in 1830, the triumphant Port Federal Party began to fracture. This
the process intensified when Rosas, having completed his term, rejected re-election and embarked on the Campaign to
Desert, in order to advance over the indigenous border and consolidate it. Between 1833 and 1835, the conflicts
within the Buenos Aires Federal Party reached an unknown virulence, while the
confrontations between some provinces* In 1835, the Riojan caudillo Facundo Quiroga, sent from
Buenos Aires as a mediator was assassinated in an ambush.

The rise of Juan Manuel de Rosas The Restorer of the Laws

In the framework of the already described conflictive interprovincial context, between 1829 and 1832 the first
Rosas' government in the province of Buenos Aires. His appointment to the provincial First Magistracy was
accompanied by new public rituals aimed at exalting, on one hand, the role of the campaign commander
in the pacification of the province, after the internal war triggered by the coup of December 1, 1828,
and to show, on the other hand, the hegemony of the ruling party. Rosas was presented to public opinion
as the defender of the institutions outraged by the unitary uprising and as the only one capable of controlling the
conflictive situation generated in the province following the death of Dorrego. To that end, the Legislature approved
a project in which he honored Rosas' performance during that period, promoted him to brigadier general and gave him
conferred the title of Restorer of the Laws. This sought to highlight the break caused by the
unitarians by suppressing the provincial institutions founded in 1821 and the role of Rosas, who would come to
reset them according to the fundamental laws established during the 1820s.
In that climate, the Unitarians were demonized and held responsible for all the evils of the province. In
May 1830, during the war against the Liga del Interior, the Rosas government issued a decree that established
that anyone who is considered an author or accomplice of the events of December 1, 1828, or of any of
the great attacks committed against the laws by the intrusive government that was established in this city at that time
same day... will be punished as a rebel, in the same way as anyone who verbally or in writing or in
any other way he manifests addiction to the expressed riot.” Thus, the peace clauses were disregarded.
signed between Lavalle and Rosas in 1829, in which both had committed to respecting a broad
amnesty, and the freedom of the press and expression was curtailed. In fact, during Dorrego's administration, it had already been

limited the freedom of the press established by law in 1821, a trend that grew during the first
Rosas' government. The control that the ruling party sought over any attempt at opposition through
The laws and decrees were complemented by other gestures that aimed to demonstrate the hegemony of the Party.
Federal. The most representative was the use of the 'punzó currency', a symbol of adherence to federalism, which
it consisted of a wide red ribbon a few centimeters long, which men wore on their chest or
in the hat and women, generally, in the hair. Shortly after taking office as governor, Rosas issued
a decree that required all public employees of the province to use it. As time went by,
years became an imposition for any citizen who did not want to be labeled as an opponent of the government... and
suffer the consequences.
It should be clarified that, by that stage of events, the Unitary Party of Buenos Aires seemed
definitely defeated. The failure of his policy in the Constituent Congress and the defeat suffered by the
Lavalle's movement had cleared the way for the Federal Party. Many unitarians had departed to a
exile in which the new Eastern Republic of Uruguay acted as the main recipient, others were called to
silence and not a few joined the Porteno Federal Party, after the divisions produced within the
has disappeared
Order Party, Thus, all the government's effort to control the opposition took place in a
context in which the Unitary Party was absolutely disarticulated in Buenos Aires. Despite the
victories of the Unitary League of the Interior, the main port leaders of that trend were outside of
the borders of the province.

The funerals of Dorrego

Colonel Manuel Dorrego had been executed by order of General Lavalle in the town of Navarro. In December 1829, his
remains were exhumed by order of the new government under Juan Manuel de Rosas and transferred, in a solemn ceremony, to
the city of Buenos Aires. The funeral lasted several days, as the funeral procession visited various churches, specially prepared.
for the event, where religious services were held in honor of the former federal governor.
During the mass held at the Cathedral, the casket was placed on a catafalque more than 13 meters high, decorated by
sorrowful sculptures, pyres and burning lamps, and framed by black draperies. This catafalque had been designed by the
Italian architect Cario Zucchi, who arrived on the shores of the Río de la Plata in the mid-1826 and was hired by the government of Dorrego in
1828 to serve as an inspector of the Department of Engineers. But his most significant work was the one he developed in the
Subsequent years as an urban set designer, dedicated especially to creating ephemeral decorations for various events.
public events, such as national holidays. Among them is the aforementioned catafalque, meant to elevate the most imposing public event of
the era. The funeral of Dorrego, which ended with the burial of his remains in the Northern cemetery (currently the Cemetery of the
Recoleta), they achieved a great impact among the population. Rosas knew how to take advantage of the popularity of the federal leader who was executed to enroll in

her new management.

However, the apparent federal hegemony in Buenos Aires could not hide the conflicts and dissent.
within it. The differences between the oldest federal group, which had been led by Dorrego, and its new ones
Members protested as soon as Rosas took over. Many of the newcomers came from the economic sectors.
dominant figures of the province, who had aligned themselves in this block after the failed federalization of
Buenos Aires. Despite the grand funerals that the new governor offered to Dorrego when he took office
the position of the First Magistracy, the dispute between both groups expressed itself very quickly. The main
The scenario of the conflict was the House of Representatives; the occasion was the debate regarding the granting of the
extraordinary powers to the governor.
Catafalque designed by Cario Zucchi in the metropolitan Cathedral for the funeral of Dorrego. In the
pedestal, located in the central crossing of the metropolitan Cathedral for the funerals of Dorrego, was written the
Next inscription: "Rest while the Argentine Republic advocates for your services."

The extraordinary powers

The granting of extraordinary powers to members of the executive branches that succeeded in the Río
of the Plata after the revolution was not a novelty: it had already been tried on various occasions,
although always for a limited time, as an exception and in circumstances that supposedly
they justified their concession. For example, in 1813, the Constituent Assembly granted such powers to
Triumvirate, faced with the threat of war against the royalists; and in 1820, amid the crisis that was plaguing
Buenos Aires, the House of Representatives granted extraordinary powers to Governor Martín Rodríguez
until the external and internal threat ceases. Once peace was achieved, these powers were not
renewed by the Legislature, nor requested by any of its members.
In 1829, as soon as Rosas was appointed governor, the deputy Anchorena presented a bill in the
who requested the granting of extraordinary powers to the executive branch, arguing supposed dangers
from the external context of the province. General Paz's successes in the interior were presented as a
strong threat to the provincial internal order, which made it necessary to strengthen the powers of the governor for
a limited time. Anchorena took it upon himself to justify the project by appealing to different historical examples in
those who the rulers would have acted similarly (the Roman Republic was one of them) and to the
exaltation of the figure of Rosas, the only one capable -as this argument suggested- of controlling the
conflictive situation. The governor's cousin reminded the Court of the different moments when Rosas had
"saved" to the province of chaos and anarchy -highlighting its participation, and that of its campaign militias,
alongside Martín Rodríguez in resolving the crisis of the year 20-; he sought to bend an opinion that
it was not unanimous.

Once the project presentation was concluded, some members of the room questioned the proposal. The
Deputy Aguirre pointed out the contradiction of granting Rosas the title of Restorer of the Laws and then
violating the rules in the name of an external threat to the province; Deputy García Valdez highlighted the danger
what did expanding the powers of the governor represent for individual guarantees; Deputy Escola
questioned Anchorena's main argument, asserting that the threat to the province was neither so serious nor
such imminent. Such characters did not belong to the defeated Unitary Party, but to the triumphant federalism
Porteno. In fact, Rosas and his closest entourage had to face challenges from the very moment of the
Asunción with a fragmented Federal Party, reluctant to quietly comply with the governor's wishes.
However, after two days of debate, the House of Representatives approved the powers project.
extraordinary as it had been presented: the governor was vested with such powers for the term of a
year, requiring an account to be rendered before the Legislature once that period is concluded. However,
On the day of the vote, not everyone was present in the Chamber: twelve deputies wanted to show with their
absence of dissent to the project, with this fact initiating a tense relationship between the executive power and
some federal members of the Legislature.

Freedom versus despotism

In an initial stage, the debate on extraordinary powers presented a fundamental antinomy: its defenders raised it
in terms of individual freedom versus public order, while its detractors defined it as the opposition between freedom
individual under the empire of the law versus dictatorship. Starting in 1831, the debate shifted towards the discussion on the division of
powers, particularly regarding the relationship between the House of Representatives and the executive power exercised by the governor. It is worth remembering

that, from 1821 to 1829, the Legislature had occupied the central space of the provincial political machinery; in that context, the
the granting of extraordinary powers to the governor and the subsequent expansion of his authority broke away from what was already
considered a conquest of the republican regime founded ten years earlier. The legislative power saw its influence considerably diminish.
protagonism in the provincial political scene by relinquishing the power of initiative and even the ability to set the duration of the powers
that were supposedly granted as an exception. When, after the debates, the exception condition was
took on an 'indeterminate time', the deputies began to redefine their arguments by placing at the center of the deliberation the
division of powers.
On the occasion of the signing of the Federal Pact, the conflict between the governor and some deputies of the Chamber - who intended to modify the
The drafting of certain articles became more open. Rosas's indignation stemmed not only from the attempt to modify an agreement that
he considered of his own bill, but also of the type of questioning raised. The deputies sought to correct the articles that
they raised suspicions about the exercise of discretionary power in the hands of the Executive. In this sense, Article 7 was especially debated.
from the treaty, which promised "not to grant asylum to any criminal who seeks refuge in one of them (the signing provinces) fleeing from the others
two for the crime, whatever it may be, and make it available to the respective government that claims it as such." At this point, they opposed
not only those who had already done so regarding the granting and extension of extraordinary powers, but also some of those who
Until very recently, they had been their most staunch defenders. The most paradigmatic case was that of the deputy Sáenz de Cavia.
who, in the session held on January 26, 1831 in the House of Representatives, stated, alarmed, 'that the government of Buenos
Aires was endowed with extraordinary powers, and those of the other coastal provinces, if they were not already, perhaps are now.
Soon, and sanctioning the article under discussion in these circumstances would expand the executive authority to such an extent that for nothing...
There should have been fear of her, but this would not prevent those who formed such unlimited power from being left in a bad light.
all respects, like the one that was entrusted to the science and conscience of the government, since the abuses that could be committed would be
so much more terrible and disastrous, as they were legalized.
Journal of sessions of the Chamber of Representatives of Buenos Aires, volume 12, session of January 26, 1831.

The situation became more tense in 1830, when the Chamber, which still had a majority in favor of
governor approved the extension of extraordinary powers for an indefinite period. Thus, it is granted to him
gave Rosas the possibility to act according to "what his knowledge and conscience dictated to him," taking the measures that
they would create more conducive conditions for the pacification of the province until the state of external threat ceased.

At the end of 1831, the same issue was discussed again, since General Paz had already been defeated.
Thus, the main argument of those loyal to Rosas to renew the extraordinary powers disappeared.
however, neither Rosas nor his closest entourage seemed willing to abandon them, much less to follow
governing without them. Arguing imminent dangers, the government assessed the opposition in the Chamber to the
renewal of such powers as a sign of disloyalty to Rosas. In that context, the Chamber
its composition changed, as the deputies were renewed by halves in annual elections, according to
It established the electoral law of 1821. The ranks of the federal opponents to the extraordinary powers were pushed back.
growing, and Rosas, having been warned that the opinion of the Legislature was unfavorable to him, decided to return such
faculties to the Chamber in May 1832. He argued then that this gesture responded to the 'divergence of
opinions" and not to the end of the state of threat. Thus, the governor staged a ritual that he would repeat to the
Throughout their various governments: refusing to assume such powers only intended the explicit request.
on the part of the Chamber. In fact, a group of deputies loyal to the designs of Rosas proposed the renewal of
the extraordinary powers, but this time the strategy was not very successful. The voting gave him a
overwhelming majority against the federal opponents.

A new way of doing politics

In December 1832, the Chamber re-elected Rosas to the position of governor, albeit without granting him the powers.
extraordinary; he did not accept a new mandate. The federalists opposed to the extraordinary powers did not
They questioned neither the governor's prestige nor his leadership ability (in fact, everyone accepted his
candidacy for re-election), but they were not willing to admit his unlimited desire for power. In this way
that, after insisting several times on the offer, the Legislature decided to elect as the new governor
Juan Ramón Balcarce, a general who had just participated in the war against Paz.
In that situation, it seemed clear that Rosas's leadership could not be easily replaced if it was
He intended to maintain some unity within the Federal Party. At the same time, it was evident that Rosas was attempting

to build that leadership on very different foundations from those that had dominated the logic of doing politics in
the 1920s. Placed above the warring factions and using his prestige as a defender of the
campaign security, had arrived at the highest public position without having a history that
it would place him among the elite that had made the revolution their own political career. Moreover, it was that very same
condition that made him assert himself so quickly as the leader of the Federal Party. The hostility of
Roses towards the practices embodied by the ruling elite, through which its members were accustomed.
dispute the spaces of power after deliberating and negotiating the candidate lists for the elections and the distribution
of positions, expresses its rejection of the operational dynamics of a regime where a logic prevailed
of peer-to-peer negotiation. Rosas's attitude in the treaties of Cañuelas and Barracas signed in 1828
it demonstrates their lack of willingness to expand the number of interlocutors to negotiate the resolution of the conflict,

putting into practice a political practice conceived in pact-based terms. In it, only the visible leaders of the
confronted groups were empowered to define who would hold power and under what forms they would access it;
It was also intended to replace a way of doing politics based on the dispute of groups with another founded
in the unilateral and personal decision of two individuals committed to making a pact on behalf of everyone.

This way of understanding the exercise of politics was resisted by both sides. This was demonstrated by the
elections of July 26, 1829, which were annulled for not having respected the single list prepared
by Rosas and Lavalle. This refusal became even more evident when Rosas, anointed as governor,
He abandoned the supposedly disregarding attitude regarding the factional struggle to intensify factionalism.
In this way, he forced the unitarians to withdraw from the political space and the federals to discipline themselves after the

conditions imposed by his leadership. But problems arose within the same group that had
burdened. Although Rosas sought to control elections and public demonstrations as much as possible in all
his scenarios did not have much success as he was unable to impose the lists with his own candidates.
the difficulty lay in disciplining the ruling elite, used to disputing spaces of power, and reluctant to
to accept a unilateral leadership.
In the name of the restoration of the laws, Rosas knew how to take advantage of the institutional legacy of the time of

Rivadavia to implement a political domination system that, far from its purposes
originals, I located him as the main—and supposedly unique—holder of power.
the title of 'Restorer' with which he presented himself in public papers was combined
numerous meanings: on one hand, it referred to the laws enacted since the revolution, which the unitarians
they had violated in 1828; on the other hand, it referred to the innovations introduced during his government;
moments seemed to denote a transcendent moral order, while at times it pointed not so much to nature
from the laws but to their effective implementation. Beyond these contents, the figure of the Restorer of the
Laws also evidenced the conviction that, by restoring a historically existing legal order,
it did not correspond to either the old colonial order or the post-revolutionary one, but rather to what resulted from the
confluence of both after two decades of independent political life, it was possible to achieve a
unthinkable governance within the framework of a modern constitutional order.
Thus, during Rosas' first administration, the dynamics of the provincial political regime
it was very bad. This highlights that said regime was not the product of the application of a project
elaborated in advance, but rather a gradual construction process that had to adapt to the changing
junctures. The unfolding of events and the perception that the ruling groups had of them
they played a fundamental role in shaping political practices. In fact, the attempt to impose a
political model based on the preeminence of the Executive and the elimination of electoral competition and the
public deliberation was heavily resisted during those years, and had to confront other political options within the
Federal Party.

The divided Buenos Aires federalism

Constitutional projects in dispute
The election of Balcarce had the approval of Rosas. The former governor considered that the general
recently appointed to the exercise of the First Magistracy was a person easily dominated,
that would gladly accept the control it intended to exert from the shadows. Determined to wait for a
most favorable juncture, in which he had no doubt that he would be called again to assume the position of governor
With the exercise of extraordinary powers, Rosas reassumed his position as commander general of the campaign.
and he set out to establish a long-planned business. Before leaving his role in the government, he had
made to approve a project of expedition against the Indians who inhabited the lands located north of the river
Black, with the aim of extending the border and incorporating new lands into the sphere of production. This was organized
in the first months of 1833 and departed in March of that same year. The ex-governor was thus moving away from
Buenos Aires political scenario, confident in being able to control the situation, as he had a docile governor at his disposal.

their directives.
As soon as the convoy set off to the desert, tensions escalated. Balcarce was not as docile as Rosas.
I thought, nor was General Enrique Martínez, cousin of the new governor, who took on the role
Ministry of War. Martínez was determined to pursue an independent policy and reduce Rosas' power.
for which he made use of the resources of the Ministry and the division between deputies loyal to Rosas and federals
independents in the Legislature.
In mid-1833, both sides faced off in the elections to renew the representatives of the
Sala, and they formed their own lists: the so-called 'schismatic federals,' those who did not respond to the
Rosas' directives and those who were the majority in the Legislature, and the 'apostolic federals', loyal to the former governor.

All the letters sent by Rosas during his expedition to the desert displayed the intention of managing from
the distance the threads of internal politics in Buenos Aires and to displace those whom he himself had
called 'unitary Decemberists'.
The elections finally gave victory to the list of dissident federals or 'black backs' - such
how they were called after that election, due to the color of their candidate ballots—, reaffirming
thus its hegemony in the House of Representatives. Minister Martínez was not alien to this triumph: he had supported
to the schismatics, mobilizing troops in the elections and seeking to control the polling stations. In June
complementary elections were held; before their completion, the governor suspended the electoral act
citing facts of violence. The suspicion that such suspension was the government's response to a
The sure triumph of the Rosistas further strained the relations between both groups.

The control from the desert

Letter from Juan Manuel de Rosas to Vicente González sent from Río Colorado in July 1833: ,
Among the public correspondence that came through the Post Office administration, there were personal letters from some friends that
they contained confidential matters. I think this is bad and I believe it is appropriate for you to tell Encarnación to warn them, that the
fifteenth and the thirtieth of each month you must send a trustworthy person to the city to receive the secret correspondence from
the friends, and I delivered it to you, who is in charge of sending it to me, with a trusted person. [...]
The intruders who speak in my favor and against the logisticians should be made to run among friends and enemies. It is advisable to do so.
I generalize my title as The Restorer of the Laws, and thus put it on the envelopes and headings of official documents, etc.: To the Restorer of
the Laws, Brigadier Don Juan Manuel de Rosas.
You might say that since when do I leave wishing for titles: I will tell you that because during the day one must work as much as possible, so that the

enemies do not finish us along with the homeland.

To the mothers and patrons of the freedmen, tell them that they are very good men and brave, and that they will soon return to their homes.
The campaign to be happy ends with their resignations so that no one interferes with them and they can work freely. Verse of this article passes.
You to Encarnación, so that she and Mrs. María Josefa can present this to the mothers of the aforementioned freedmen, and also to their
patterns.
Encarnación says that ours would be bound like Dorrego by the Laws. It's true that I wrote something strong to them.
encouraging him, etc. It was funny to see them and even now who knows how many scruples there will be, and in the meantime, having stopped the

dictatorship, the Government is doing what I did not dare to do with it. Cullen brought them weapons, etc., etc., and left hitting.
the mouth saying that he had played to his liking with the Governor. And with what authority has he disposed of those articles etc., etc.? How,
And with what authority do they have those countrymen regarding the elections imprisoned with shackles after 48 hours, during which term...
Do they have to go to the judges, etc.? But in this way, what they do is scandalous, and in the meantime, ours, as Encarnación says.
very well, they were allowing themselves to be tied up with the indicated laws. It is necessary to disillusion oneself that to the rogue and traitor it is necessary to make him the

war without stopping at the decency with which it should be conducted among gentlemen.

The Governor in one that he has written to me and that I do not intend to answer, clearly shows the poison he has against my friends, and that is all.

from the enemies. Among other funny things, he complains that I didn't send him the correspondence directly; but he won't tell it for
the more he scratches, the more so because he deserves to have sent Lord Guido a package that was mistakenly delivered to him.
from the postal administration being labeled to Mr. Guido. For (or given the merit will be in not having committed the treachery and scandal of
open it. More from here deduce üd. that the Post Office would have orders to send to the fort any package that was mine,
perhaps to later file the complaint.
Also deduce how convenient it is to send the correspondence by a trusted person as indicated.
That's enough for now, as it is necessary to dispatch poor Rosas who will have a lot to tell you.
Expressions to friends and wishing, as always, for their complete health, send as you wish to your affectionate friend Juan Manuel de Rosas.

Extracted from Marcela Ternavasio, The Correspondence of Juan Manuel de Rosas, Buenos Aires, Eudeba, 2005.

The defeat of the apostles and the suspension of the complementary elections heightened the atmosphere of
violence in the city of Buenos Aires. With a majority of cismatics in the Legislature, Rosas faced the serious
risk of losing all possibility of recovering power and saw their expectations of assuming it again fade away.
First Magistracy, with the extraordinary powers granted during his first government. At that time, it
They were discussing in the Hall two draft constitutions for the province of Buenos Aires, presented
respectively for each of the opposing sides. It is worth remembering in this regard that the province was governed
by the fundamental laws enacted after 1821 and lacked an organic charter, unlike the
most of the provinces at that time. The project presented by Congressman Anchorena did not provoke a real
enthusiasm in his cousin, Juan Manuel de Rosas, who showed little support for the sanction of a
constitution, both at the national and provincial level. However, this project was nothing more than a set of
principles formulated ambiguously, which sought to halt the movement led by the schismatics in
favor of a constitution. The proposal of the latter was to sanction an organic charter that, in addition to
guarantee the division of powers and individual liberties, explicitly establish that the position of
Governor would only serve for three years, without the possibility of re-election for a term of six years. In addition, the
the project specifically prohibited granting extraordinary powers to the executive branch, injuring
the death of Rosas' hegemonic vocation.

The Revolution of the Restorers

By around the year 1833, fate seemed to be sealed. The two constitution projects were to be discussed.
presented and then voted in a Legislature with a wide majority of cismatic federals. The dispute is
expressed through a completely biased press: the cross accusations between newspapers loyal to
government and Rosas newspapers reached a virulence similar to that displayed in 1828. In October 1833, a
A confusing episode ignited the flame: the government arranged a series of proceedings against different newspapers and publications.

public, incriminating first the one who bore the name Restorer of the Laws, pamphlet of tendency
rosista. The news unsettled some residents of the suburbs and the countryside, because they believed that it
I would judge Juan Manuel de Rosas, not the newspaper. This misunderstanding was capitalized by the apostolics, who
they mobilized their supporters to Plaza de la Victoria to demonstrate their opposition to the government. The rosistas
they were repressed by the police; led by some apostolic military, they fled to Barracas, where they
they organized to confront the government forces, which they quickly defeated.
This episode, known as the 'Restorers' Revolution', forced the minister
Martínez and Governor Balcarce to resign. The growing isolation of the government had been demonstrated, which
he no longer counted on the undisputed support of the cismatic deputies. Balcarce had been easily influenced by
his cousin, Minister Martínez, who had become independent both from the tutelage of Rosas, and from the
members of the Chamber who intended to limit his hegemony. In November, the Legislature appointed Juan
José Viamonte in the position of governor, as he counted on the majority votes of the schismatic deputies.
against the candidate of the Apostolics, General Pinto.
Viamonte had to take office in an unfavorable environment. Although the black backs had suffered a
defeat with the Restoration Revolution, still held a majority in the Legislature. The new governor
wanted to develop a conciliatory policy between both sides, just as he had done between federalists and
federalists in their interim of 1829, but these were not moments of moderation. Those loyal to Rosas, upon noticing the
impossibility of regaining lost power through elections, they set out to implement a new
strategy: intimidate opponents through direct actions. As their leader was still campaigning
against the Indians, Encarnación Ezcurra took charge of organizing some loyal followers in a sort of
club that adopted the name 'Restorative Popular Society' Formed at that time by a small group
of supporters of Rosas, whose popular component distinguished it from the clubs or associations created
before that date, it was immediately established as an instrument of political terrorism. Its members were
they dedicated themselves to showing support for the former governor, shouting long live Rosas in the streets, attending the

House of Representatives to pressure the schismatics, attacking the homes of the opponents and even reaching
to stone or shoot some of them. From the shadows, the Popular Society was trying to reverse a balance
politician until that moment favorable to the schismatics, appealing to threat and physical violence.
In that context, the federal opponents of Rosas began to follow the same path taken by the
unitarians since 1829: exile. The province of Entre Ríos and the Banda Oriental of Uruguay began to
welcoming dissenting federalists, while the Viamonte government weakened more and more. Violence arrived at
its climax in April 1834, when Bernardino Rivadavia returned to Buenos Aires after withdrawing from public life.
politics and a long exile in Europe. The ex president was not well received: amidst threats and insults,
he had to leave the country again after being expelled by the government, whose members were
pressured to make such a decision. Politically blocked and exhausted from facing a management riddled with
difficulties, Viamonte resigned in June 1834.
Once Viamonte was removed from office, the Chamber elected Juan Manuel de Rosas as the new governor.
embargo, since the designation did not include the granting of extraordinary powers, this placed in
the ritual of renunciation takes place, just as it had two years before. Since the Court was not willing to
to grant such powers -thus avoiding rehashing the conflict that arose between 1829 and 1832- decided
appoint Manuel Vicente Maza as governor, close friend of Rosas and president of the Legislature. The only
the function assigned to the new governor was to pave the way for the triumphant return of Rosas.

The Desert Campaign

While these episodes were occurring on the port scene, Rosas was in the midst of an expansion campaign.
from the border. The objective of the company was to ensure, through a military expedition, the peaceful possession of
the lands won from the Indian in the previous decade and to advance over the territory located north of the Rio Negro.
In those years, the cattle expansion, facilitated by the fluid link that the landowning groups of the province
they maintained with international trade, had found explicit support from the government. From
Indeed, the expedition led by Rosas was another demonstration of this support.
The project, in addition to being funded by the tax authorities of the province of Buenos Aires, involved the
collaboration from other provinces threatened by the indigenous advance and the Chilean government itself. The
the western column was to be commanded by General Aldao, the central one by General Ruiz Huidobro, the
Eastern by Rosas, and Facundo Quiroga would be the commander in chief of the expedition. In reality, little of this
could be fulfilled. Quiroga was in Buenos Aires, sick: he acted from a distance, with a certain reluctance.
lack of resources caused the central column to fail and weakened the western one. The promised funds from
the government of Buenos Aires was not as expected: the internal conflict of porteno federalism
he moved on to the preparation of the campaign against the Indians, with divided opinions regarding the timing.
of the project. The Minister of War, Martínez, withheld support from the company, seeking thereby to displace
Roses of political power; on the other hand, the former governor kept complaining about this situation, blaming
to the minister of the possible failure of the campaign.

Finally, despite all these difficulties, in March 1833 the expedition set out. The government's reluctance
From Balcarce to send the necessary resources was supplemented by the collaboration of the most powerful landowners.
from Buenos Aires* who made private contributions in order to ensure the expansion of the frontier
economic and avoid the raids that devastated the region. At this point in the events, the landowners
Those who collaborated with the company did not care about political affiliations; old unitarians who had supported
The Party of Order did not hesitate to address an action they considered essential for their interests.

Topics under discussion

In traditional historiographical versions, the topic of the indigenous frontier was treated as an exclusively military problem. The
The border appeared as an empty space subjected to territorial conquest from a military point of view and to economic occupation.
for its exploitation. Thus, the image of a desert occupied only by nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes dedicated to hunting was consolidated.
herding and, basically, pillaging. In the last two decades, this image has been subjected to criticism, thanks to the confluence of
historians, anthropologists, and ethnologists. The indigenous border was no longer seen as a limit or separation and began to
studied as an area of interaction between two distinct societies, where intense economic exchanges occurred,
social, political, and cultural.
These exchanges were consolidated during the colonial period, when extensive regions of South America were left out of
direct control by the Europeans. But, while during the colonial period the attempts to penetrate the indigenous frontier were not aimed at
to occupy the territory, but to maintain a balance in its relationship with the colonized spaces, after the revolution and of the
independence, the Creole governments and the dominant elites sought to expand over those areas in order to place them under their
domain. The increasing insertion into the global market and livestock expansion gave rise to expansion companies that, like the
led by Juan Manuel de Rosas in 1833, they did not overlook the possibility of peaceful coexistence with some factions
indigenous peoples when implementing negotiation strategies with the so-called 'friendly Indians' in the province of Buenos Aires.
Thus, new studies on the border reveal a much more heterogeneous world than the one portrayed by traditional historiography.
that presented indigenous societies as merely derogatory - by showing the complex system of exchanges that linked
both among the different units of the indigenous world and with the creole society.
The expedition left from Los Cerrillos, one of Rosas' estates, with one thousand five hundred men. At the beginning of May, they reached
the Río Negro and, by the end of that month, the Choele-Choel island, a key point of communication between the indigenous peoples of the Pampa and those of the

Andean Patagonia. The columns advanced to the West until the confluence of the Neuquén and Limay rivers, and to the Northwest until the river
Atuel, where they arrived at the Aldao division, without any major difficulties from a military standpoint. The expedition
It was also used to carry out a survey of the area covered.
The company managed to increase communications with Bahía Blanca and Patagones and secure the already conquered lands, through
of a policy that combined military force with peaceful negotiation. In fact, thanks to Rosas' negotiations with the
Different indigenous factions managed to pacify the border for several years. Although after 1840 there were some episodes.
violent on the mobile line that separated the Indians from the white world, it was after the fall of Rosas that the advance
indigenous became a real threat.
A year later, the expedition culminated with Rosas's triumphant return. The former governor was thus reaping not only the support and
gratitude from the owner sectors, but also the fruits of their distancing from the conflicting political scene in Buenos Aires. To the title
From the Restorer of the Laws granted in 1829, now the title of conqueror of the desert was added: the consolidation was beginning.
tendency of the cult to his person. The project to erect a commemorative monument in honor of the expeditionary army was used
to exalt the figure of Rosas, who during the year 1834 was favored with the sanction of a law through which the Chamber of
Representatives granted him and his descendants ownership of the island Choele-Choel. The Mayan festivals and the Julian festivals of
In 1834, they incorporated a new ingredient into their organization: the homage to the expedition of 1833, focused on the exaltation of the figure
of Juan Manuel de Rosas and not in the realization of a collective feat.

An unstable order
A mediator for the provinces in conflict
Maza's government in Buenos Aires was plagued by difficulties. Rosas was beginning to distrust him.
creating an insurmountable political void around him. The new governor could not find ministers.
willing to accompany him, while the defeat of the schismatics was total. In that tense atmosphere, a
An external event to the province precipitated the events.
 After the signing of the Federal Pact and the defeat of General Paz, federal order seemed assured in
the entire territory. AI just like in Buenos Aires, the groups identified with the Unitary Party had been
displaced. But this situation did not guarantee stability. On the coast, after the dissolution of the
Representative Commission created by the Federal Pact, Estanislao López understood that he could not extend his
influence without the consent of Buenos Aires. The situation in Entre Ríos would show him the limits of his power in the
region. Pascual Echagüe, governor of Entre Ríos thanks to the friendship that united him with López, began to
to take a certain distance from his protector. López did not waste time and tried to persuade Rosas to the
the need to promote a change in Entre Ríos. There was no lack of arguments: Echagüe, besides receiving
many followers of General Paz in his province - not only giving them shelter but making many of them
direct political advisors-, had also become a receiver of the emigration of the federals
dissidents from Buenos Aires. Rosas, however, preferred to adopt a more cautious policy, gaining from that
the fidelity of the governor of Entre Ríos.
Inside, the situation was even more unstable. Quiroga maintained his influence, although the situations
provincials were not always consolidated. His stay in Buenos Aires since 1833 made it difficult for him to maintain control.

from the internal conflicts of each region. The families and groups displaced from power did not always accept
passively the hegemony of the new figures at the head of the government, who, in the name of their adherence
to federalism, they tried to play their own game. Such was the case of Córdoba, for example, where it was governed by
Reinafé. After the defeat of General Paz, the imposition of a rural caudillo in the First Magistracy.
the Cordoba region did not stop provoking tensions among the traditional urban elite groups. In 1833, it was organized
a conspiracy against the governor, which did not succeed in overthrowing him; all suspicions fell on the Legislature
from Cordoba and in the eventual support of Quiroga. The man from La Rioja did not hide his irritation at the rapprochement between

Reinafé and the governor of Santa Fe.

In the rest of the provinces, conflictual situations were also occurring. Perhaps the most remembered is the
what took place in 1834 between the governor of Salta, General Pablo Latorre, and that of Tucumán, Alejandro
Heredia. In November of that year, Heredia had declared war on Latorre. The port government's,
Maza's hands were quickly alerted to the conflict that had arisen inside. Applying the clauses of the
Federal Pact, the governor of Buenos Aires decided to offer the task of mediator to Facundo Quiroga, whose
prestige in the interior was indisputable. The man from La Rioja accepted the offer, meeting with Rosas before
to set off on his mission. Rosas, more concerned about preventing a possible alliance between Quiroga and the governments of the

interior provinces that would rekindle the debate surrounding the sanction of a national constitution, insisted on
include in the official instructions the mention of that problem. Quiroga was to try to persuade the
governments of the interior of the inconvenience of convening a congress, arguing that the time was not right
timely. Shortly before leaving, Rosas handed him a letter, where he revisited his main obsession: to avoid the
dictation of a constitution.

Yaco Ravine
Finally, the man from La Rioja left from Buenos Aires. Upon passing through Santiago del Estero, he learned that the governor

a Saltian had died at the hands of an opposing movement within his own province. After deliberating
with the governors of Santiago del Estero, Tucumán, and Salta, managed to sign a treaty of friendship between the
three provinces and began the return to Buenos Aires. Despite having been warned of a possible
Ambush in Córdoba, Facundo Quiroga refused to change the travel itinerary. That is how he found the.
death in Barranca Yaco on February 16, 1835.
With the tragedy of Barranca Yaco, the political map was suddenly redefined. On one side, it became vacant.
the regional leadership exercised by Quiroga in the provinces of the interior. In the coastal region, the controversies between

Corrientes and Buenos Aires, on the occasion of the signing of the Federal Pact, had been silenced after the
defeat of General Paz and the growing hegemony of Rosas. In Buenos Aires, the so often dismissed
the ghost of chaos found in the death of the Riojan leader an irrefutable proof. The Port Legislative Assembly
she feared recreating the 'anarchy of the year 20' or the confrontations of 1828, which is why she was willing to
renounced his initiative and prominence, and handed over to Rosas the powers that had been claimed so many times. After more
after a five-year period of disputes over the powers of the executive branch, the House of Representatives returned to
to choose Rosas as governor, conceding him not only the extraordinary powers but also the sum of
public power.
Starting in 1835, the order that was imposed throughout the confederation seemed to recognize only one leader.
undisputed: Juan Manuel de Rosas. During the years between his first and second governorship,
not only had the style of doing politics changed, but the conviction had been established that order
it could only be federal. But it was a peculiar federal regime. Although from a legal point of view,
it consecrated in confederal terms, granted the Buenos Aires executive powers - among them the
representation of foreign affairs - for which execution he should not reach consensus with any representation
of the provinces.
Murder of Facundo Quiroga in Barranca Yaco. Period recording.
At the same time, the willingness of many provincial groups to abandon that precarious confederal condition to
achieving constitutional unity, which was mostly proclaimed to be of a federal nature, was constantly seen
vetoed by the refusal of Rosas and his closest entourage to convene a congress for that purpose. In fact, beyond
From the arguments put forward, Rosas' refusal to enact a national constitution was not unrelated to the consensus.
existing among the dominant sectors of the province of what, with it, Buenos Aires would lose its monopoly
economic-commercial benefits. The sectors most linked to livestock expansion and trade
international did not want to renounce either the autonomous exercise of their sovereignty or the economic benefits of
she derivatives.

The assassination of Juan Facundo Quiroga in a popular romance

My Mother of the Rosary! My Mother, my lady!
I am going to tell the misfortune of Juan Facundo Quiroga.
Mother of Mary of the Rosary! Mother of Mary of Luján!

I will tell the misfortune that the general has had.

When the general left, away from his family, his fate of losing his life was already being foretold.
He marches to Santiago, as the author recounts, the general was anxious for peace and religion.
Upon his return from the trip, they plotted a revolution against him: one of the Reinafé, to kill him by treachery.

They have rolled the car down the path of the road.
In front of the totoral, a glass of water has been requested.

Roque Junco and Pablo Junco: they were the firefighters, as they were so knowledgeable, there they went along with them.

In that 'guase,' the Márquez delay the assistance, giving time to the gauchos who are well prepared.
In this Barranca Yaco, they say that the people of Santos Pérez and Benito Guzmán are going to kill him.
In that Barranca Yaco where men are lost, they say they are going to kill a group of men.
-Charge, said Pérez, warned soldiers! Here dies, today a murderous general perishes.
Roque Junco used to say:
I have made a mistake: we have killed Quiroga, being such a beloved father.
Santos Pérez used to say to him:

For me, there is no compassion.

At the point where I find myself, I do not know if there is a god.

Throughout the game there were confusions, seeing Quiroga dead made hearts tremble.
Extracted from Gustavo Paz, The Civil Wars (1820-1870), Buenos Aires, Eudeba, 2007. JBT
In those years, Buenos Aires consolidated its hegemony more than ever. However, unlike in the decade
revolutionary, when to achieve it it asserted its status as a capital, as in the 1820s, when it still
discovering the benefits of autonomy, the Buenos Aires elite divided as the Unitarians launched into
to institutionalize that condition, with the growing hegemony of Rosas, the province exercised dominance over
the group of territories unclaimed the inherited quality of their brief viceroyal history. Not only because with
this claim would exacerbate conflicts - as Rosas argued - or because the sectors most
those benefiting from autonomy would lose the privileges achieved in such a short time, not because they were assisted by
a new discovery: invoking federal identity, their new leader could exercise territorial dominion
beyond provincial borders through mechanisms that combined pacts, intrigues, the
threat of the use of force and the mobilization of troops. The order that was beginning to be imposed made of the
federal mandate a use as ambiguous as it is effective in disciplining the storm left by the revolution.
 8. Rosas and Rosismo
In 1835, Juan Manuel de Rosas was elected governor of Buenos Aires for the second time. On this occasion
the House of Representatives delegated the sum of public power to you. During the first years of your second
government, Rosas was building a republican regime of a unanimous and plebiscitary type in the province of
Buenos Aires, while trying to extend its power over the provinces as a whole. Making use of the
attribution of the Foreign Relations of the Confederation and other mechanisms in which they were combined
the search for consensus and coercion, a peculiar federal order was shaped, in which it was consolidated
hegemony of Buenos Aires and that of its first leader.

The Unanimist Republic The Sum of Public Power

When on March 7, 1835 the House of Representatives elected for the second time as Governor and
Captain General of the Province of Buenos Aires to Brigadier General Don Juan Manuel de Rosas, used a
novel formula that left no doubts regarding the enormous power granted to the executive. Not only the
the appointment was made for a term of five years, thereby amending the law of governor election
dictated in 1823, in which a duration of three years was stipulated for that position, but rather it was deposited 'all the
sum of the public power” of the province in the person of Rosas during “all the time that in the judgment of
"it was necessary for the elected governor," without considering more restrictions than those of "preserving, defending, and protecting."

the Roman Apostolic Catholic religion" and the "to defend and uphold the national cause of the Federation that
they have proclaimed all the towns of the Republic." Thus, the exercise of the totality of public power did not have
temporal limits - as if the delegation of extraordinary powers had had them in its first
government - no limits on its powers, except for those just mentioned. In fact, these became
instruments of power in the hands of Rosas. The Catholic religion became a factory supplying languages.
that contributed to reinforce the unanimist regime, based on the idea that each and every one of those who
they integrated the political community and were to support the government, while the Federation, identified as
national cause, assumed ambiguous contours in whose cracks a system of power was consolidated, centralized in
the figure of Rosas, which exceeded the limits of the borders of Buenos Aires to extend to the entire
Confederation.
This scheme proposed from the beginning a complex relationship between Rosas and the so-called 'Rosista regime'.
What did that regime consist of so that its qualification derived from a proper name? What features
Did they distinguish the rosismo of 1829 from that of 1835? Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, historiography offered various

answers to this question: from considering the Rosista phenomenon as a classic example of caudillismo
personalist and authoritarian, or as a creole version of a modern dictator, even conceiving it as
paradigm of a regime committed to defending national sovereignty.

Topics under debate

In recent years, much of the historiography has revisited the traditional approaches to the Rosista period and has agreed on
underline the republican key of the regime. This can be read both in the perspective of a discourse that appealed to the topics of
classical republicanism -whose roots trace back to the Roman Republic- as well as in the use of many legal instruments
coming from the modern republics inaugurated by the Atlantic revolutions. Both positions are complementary because
they seek to demonstrate that Rosismo was neither a tyranny that disregarded the republican institutional system in its various forms, nor
a liberal republic willing to protect the individual freedoms of the members of the political community. Moreover, because they admit
the high component of invention of rosism, which combined elements of republican matrix with new control devices and
legitimization of power, and old practices and customs deeply rooted in society. Such conjunction makes it practically impossible
define unequivocally the phenomenon that opened in 1835.
Now, if the resulting structure from the confluence of such diverse elements resists definitions
it is true that, even accepting that Rosismo was not only Rosas, the order established in those
years cannot be studied without considering the centrality of his figure. The component of unanimity combined with
the plebiscitary dimension of the regime - based on the constant incentive from the government to mobilize
the population in support of the federal leader- made Rosas a key piece of the new legitimacy.
However, the unanimity, as sought as it was proclaimed, could not impose an order free of
conflicts. On the contrary, the entire period of Rosas' hegemony, which lasted until 1852, was marked
due to instability, armed conflicts, and political disputes. The extreme factionalization of the period
previous was more than ever enhanced and turned into a tool of power through which it was attempted
nullify any type of opposition, both within the province of Buenos Aires and in the whole of
the Confederation. But that resource, which led Rosas to label as 'savages', 'impious' and 'unclean'
unitarians to those who tried to challenge their will, was at the same time a stimulus for the opponents who, excluded from
political space, they sought to overthrow the federal leader by appealing to alliances that involved both groups
dissatisfied people from different provinces as well as foreign governments. It is therefore difficult, in this long phase,
distinguish between internal and external conflicts of the Confederation. The convergence of opposing emigrants in
neighboring countries with forces from the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation, from Uruguay, France,
England or Brazil evidence both the precariousness of the mobile borders of the new American republics.
such as the interweaving between local and external factions.
As it was configured after 1835, the Rosas regime collected traits already present since 1829, but was
changing according to the different circumstances. Its ups and downs can be described through a quick
periodization. Between 1835 and 1839, there was a moment of construction of a new order marked by the
growing control of public and political space, without yet reaching the levels of violence and exercise of the
coercion exhibited between 1840 and 1842. The attempts to consolidate the unanimist and plebiscitary regime in the
the first stage was answered by opposition movements from both the province of Buenos
Air like that of aunts, as well as of emigrants in foreign countries. The confluence of such
movements with military confrontations on the external front - the war against the Peruvian Confederation
Boliviana and the French blockade led to a second moment, known as the 'stage of terror',
especially tense between 1840 and 1842. Although after that date a period of greater calm followed.
from the province, the same did not happen with interprovincial and external conflicts. In fact, the period here
treaty did not know a prolonged phase of peace. Perhaps in this fact lies one of the many paradoxes of
rosism: as the disputes occurred in each of the indicated fields, aimed at overthrowing or to
less to undermine the power of Rosas, the regime seemed to be becoming increasingly consolidated. So much so that,
around the mid-1840s, most -both allies and outsiders- believed that this system was destined to
to endure for a long time; at least, for as long as their leader lived.

The visibility of consensus

From March 26 to 28, 1835, a plebiscite was held in Buenos Aires in order to 'explore
the opinion of all the citizens living in the city regarding the law of the 7th of this month" in which
delegated the 'sum of public power' to the person of Juan Manuel de Rosas. The call reached only to the
city, as it appealed to the presumption that the campaign was "unanimously" loyal to Rosas. The Gazette
Commercial, in its edition of l9of April 1835, justified it in these terms: “having not consulted the
opinion of the residents of the countryside, because besides the delay that this would cause, very repetitive acts and
unequivocal testimonies have highlighted that the same feeling that drives is universal there.
all the porteños in general.” The governor had decided to hold the plebiscite - a practice indeed
novel— to further reinforce the legitimacy of your appointment and the powers granted. The
the results were overwhelming: more than nine thousand voters gave their support to the law of March 7; a few
-fewer than a dozen- voted against it. On April 13, 1835, Rosas took an oath before the Chamber.
of Representatives and assumed the position of governor.
A new way to express consensus was then opening up. The possibility of dissent.
publicly, or even in a veiled manner, dealing with the government became a risky matter. The signs of adherence
The regime multiplied: through the use of the punzó currency -mandatory since 1832 for the population.
Portena, although the pressure around its use increased starting in 1835-, in a form of 'Federal dressing', which
included the traditional poncho and jacket, used basically by the popular sectors, but also
through hats, gloves or hair combs with rose prints, or the display of usable objects
everyday items like tableware, wallets, and lockets with their portrait.

The will to make the consensus visible also relied on other instruments, such as periodic elections.
and the festive celebrations. In the electoral sphere, the unanimity was the result of a hard task through the
which Rosas managed to replace the political logic established in the Rivadavian era and lasting until 1835, founded
in the deliberation of the candidate lists within the elite, by a single list system in which
Everyone had to vote "without dissent." The personal control that Rosas exerted over the electoral events - from the
preparation of candidate lists, their distribution among agents responsible for mobilizing voters, the
formation of the tables, and the imposition of the rituals that were to accompany the electoral act - achieved
only became consolidated after 1838. Until that date, some votes in dissent are still observed with
the official list which, although very minority, reveals certain cracks in the regime that would not be tolerated later
from 1840.
Partially respecting the letter of the electoral law of 1821, Rosas continued to hold annual celebrations
elections to renew the representatives of the Chamber of Representatives. The Legislature has been emptied, therefore, of those

characters who had made the revolution their own political career, to embrace more connected sectors
to the economic-social power or to military and priests loyal to the governor, all figures who operated almost
like a second-grade electoral board, when it comes to appointing -in an absolutely predictable manner- the
Governor and renew his extraordinary powers on each occasion. The Chamber lost its centrality and, although
continued to hold sessions throughout the period in which Rosas governed the province and exercised representation
exterior of the 1st Confederation, its powers were frankly devalued. This particular mechanism
elections were combined, also, with the frequent plebiscites held during the period in which the
inhabitants of the province -organized by the lower authorities of the regime- demanded the reelection of
Roses with the sum of public power. Such claims generally originated from the already mentioned
ritual that included the resignation from office by Rosas and his subsequent assumption in the name of duty and of the
public reason.
Her obsession with maintaining and controlling the practice of suffrage expresses the search for legitimacy.
founded on the pre-existing legal order and the vocation to make the regime a system capable of singularizing the
command and obedience. The electoral acts served to reaffirm his proclaimed adherence to the laws,
demonstrate -towards the inside and towards the outside of the Confederation- the consensus it enjoyed, to mobilize a
increased number of inhabitants in order to plebiscite their power
and to know who attended the event to publicly demonstrate support for the leader.

The unique list

Letter from Juan Manuel de Rosas to unknown recipient, December 3, 1843:
I am sending you the folder from last year regarding the elections so that after receiving this, you can focus only on that.
purely from this matter; and that by virtue of it, tomorrow Monday, he starts the printing of the lists and sends them to me without
not a single moment of delay, proceeding in accordance with the orders recorded in the same folder for the
lists from the previous year indicated, from 1842.
Everything that General Edecán Dr. Manuel Corvalán carried out in it must now be understood as an order to be fulfilled in everything and for everything.

to the official scribe Dr. Carlos Reymond, because he is unwell.

For Henar, the void left by the passing of Colonel Dr. Antonio Ramírez can be filled by the citizen Dr. Tiburcio Córdoba.
The citizen Dr. Juan Alsina is placed in 8.o section, and the citizen Dr. Miguel Riglos in 11o, to which he belonged.
I have sent the decree to the printing house today for it to be published in La Gaceta tomorrow Monday the 4th, and I have also sent it to the editor of the

Afternoon diary so that it may also be published in tomorrow's Monday edition.

It is twelve o'clock at night and since nothing has come from you about this matter, I consider that you misunderstood me yesterday or that there will be

There has been some mistake or loss of your office. I mean to say that I was expecting the circulars that I need precisely for
dispatch them in advance to the campaign because time is short for the more distant sections, and therefore tomorrow itself
Once I receive the circulars that you send me, I will get them moving; and then tomorrow right away if the lists start coming in
I will also attend to the farthest sections without any delay, walking with the men I have for everything from today on.
ready.
Thus everything will be fine and there will be no need, for proceeding in this way will allow the elections to take place on time throughout the
campaign.
Rosas' Secretariat, Ravignani Institute Archive [1842-1843, folder 20, no. 47, files 264-65.JSF

According to various testimonies, the electoral event was suspended several times due to bad weather and rain.
moving it to the following week, so that the voters could attend and ratify with their
the delegation of sovereignty in the body of representatives that the governor anointed in advance to the
make the lists.
In that context, electoral abstentions were interpreted as potential oppositions, lending themselves to such
attention to those as to the enthusiastic participation of a large universe of voters. The abstentions to him
they remembered that Rosas's leadership was not undisputed, and it greatly irritated him not to be able to obtain a flow
of votes such that it would make forget the divisions that, although latent, existed in society. Although the
the achieved unanimity was, in large part, the product of the coercive threat exercised by the state apparatus,
It expressed at the same time a support, especially from the popular sectors, never seen in the periods
precedents.
This support was also staged during the federal parties, organized and celebrated by the
government both in urban and rural areas to commemorate various dates, thereby strengthening the
federal identity and loyalty to Rosas. Not only were the traditional May and Julia festivities celebrated anymore, but
also the honor and glory of the generals of the armies that had defended the federal cause, or the visit
of a federal leader from another province, or the failure of some attack against Rosas. Other celebrations were
used to express the main conflict between unitarians and federals; for example, those of Holy Week,
when in the public burning the stuffed Judas adopted the sky blue outfit and the typical sideburns of the
unitarians, or the carnivals, where the humiliation of the gentlemen in frock coats and tailcoats was represented... Thus, we

it attended a deep change in civic rituals, with the figure of the governor being exalted to the grotesque
There has never been such a proliferation of portraits of a public figure as in those years - and when recalling them a
order, both republican and federal, that vastly exceeded the borders of Buenos Aires.

Intolerance to dissent
The flip side of consensus was the growing threat of punishment for dissenters. To achieve this, various means were appealed to.

control instruments - over the press, the right to assembly, associations and public spaces
—, to the purging of the public administration and to an increasingly sophisticated repressive apparatus. More than
never, written expressions were subjected to censorship. While the tendency to control the press has
It had started in 1828, and from 1835 the validity of the law enacted in 1832 was restored - during the first
government of Rosas - which legalized a strong state control. With this instrument in its hands, the government was
increasingly curtailing freedom of expression, although it is worth noting that certain conditions existed until 1838.
leaks. Although it was clear that dissent was not tolerated in the newspapers, it is also true that
they were not yet required -as will happen after 1839- repeated demonstrations of loyalty to the regime. If in
In those early years, it was possible to read political news and commentary in the circulating press, then there will be attendance to

a monotonous and repetitive official propaganda. Rosas counted for this with a group of publicists and
collaborators in charge of editing the regime's newspapers. Undoubtedly, the most prominent was the Neapolitan.
Pedro de Angelis, editor of laGaceta Mercantil, the most important official newspaper of the time, and of
American File, a trilingual publication aimed at showcasing the virtues of the regime to countries and readers.
foreigners. In addition to this "cultured" journalism, Rosas sought the collaboration of "popular" journalists to
spread propaganda slogans among these sectors. Texts in prose or in
verses, written in a direct and easy-to-remember language.
In tune with what was happening in the press, civil society organizations were subjected to a
increasing control, especially after 1839. From then on, the few that operated in the city of
Buenos Aires was mainly mobilizing foreigners, while those created during the Rivadavian era
they began to disappear. Rosas imposed the need for prior authorization to carry out any type of
meeting, and already in 1837 he denounced the members of the Literary Salon of Marcos Sastre as enemies of the
Federation. In that hall, the young people who made up the romantic generation in the River of the
Silver -known as the 'Generation of 37'- among whom was Esteban Echeverría, leader of
movement, Juan Bautista Alberdi, Juan María Gutiérrez, Félix Frías, José Mármol and Vicente Fidel López.
There were also attendees from the previous generation who, along with the younger ones, debated the

literary and philosophical novelties coming from Europe.

The Rosas press

The popular journalism of the Rosas era spread especially between 1830 and 1840. Among the main titles of popular newspapers
caben destacar:El torito de los muchachos, El gaucho, La gaucha, El toro de once, De cada cosa un poquito, Don Cunino, Los
muchachos, La Ucucha, El avisador, El gaucho restaurador.
In the first appearance of the gaucho restorer on March 16, 1834, the following can be read: "We have decided to face the
difficulties and inconveniences that it presents, especially in the day-to-day, the career of public writer, with the patriotic aim of supporting the
great national cause, to whose glorious triumph we have the satisfaction of having contributed. -We are restorers: that is our faith
politics. We are just admirers of the eminent civic virtues of the restorer of the laws, Juan Manuel de Rosas: this is
our predominant sympathy. We do not capitulate nor will we capitulate with those who want to turn back in this regard. The government itself
In its tortuous march, it will not escape our legal censorship... We will march with public opinion and justice...

Extracted from Jorge Myers, Order and Virtue. The Republican Discourse in the Rosas Regime, Bernal, University of Quilmes, 1995 .

In such a hostile environment, student youth began to abandon the practice of meeting in cafes, in
so much so that the so-called 'decent people' tended to return to the old forms of sociability in the
traditional gatherings, meetings in the neighborhoods, in the church courtyards, walks through the promenade, etc.
The only associative forms that survived during the Rosas era were the African societies - in which
The blacks grouped according to their ethnic origins to contribute to their mutual defense and to defend liberation.
of the slaves - with whom Rosas maintained a classic relationship of protection in exchange for loyalty.
Control over society was exercised both from the highest positions in public administration of the
province, which underwent a thorough cleansing at all its levels, starting from the lowest.
The role of the justices of the peace was key, especially during the campaign. They acted as authorities.
maximums in their districts, as they fulfilled multiple functions: political, minor justice, treasury, of
police and sometimes military. The judges were appointed directly by the governor based on issues
proposals by outgoing judges. The conditions they had to meet were, basically, fidelity and loyalty to the
federal case. The testimonies reveal the control that Rosas exercised directly in the management of each one of
they, as well as these judges over the populations under their charge.

Roses and the Africans

The associations of Africans played a very important role in the party mobilization in support of Rosas and the
Federation. Rosas used to frequent the celebrations of African nations, something that was strongly criticized by his opponents. The
the opposition saw in those demonstrations a sign of social inversion and suspected that the descendants of Africans were
denouncers of unitarians.

But undoubtedly, the most well-known coercive system of the Rosista experience was embodied by the Society
Popular Restauradora, formed in 1833, which had the Mazorca as its armed wing. Although both
organizations were initially unified, after 1835 they were distinguished by the fact that the Mazorca,
as the execution wing, was in charge of committing murders and torture, and that almost all its members were part
of the police. In this way, the coercive apparatus of the rosism was constituted, on one hand, by the
legal machinery that functioned through the police - formed by a body of commissioners with jurisdiction
in the city of Buenos Aires, while in the countryside those functions fell to the justices of the peace - and, for
on the other side, by the Mazorca which, as a paramilitary group, operated from the shadows, illegally, and with a
link with the governor that never fully became clear. In fact, the police acted under the
orders of the executive power, which by absorbing the totality of public power could decide executions at will; the
Mazorca, on the other hand, apparently did it autonomously, which allowed the government to justify
his actions on various occasions as popular excesses, disengaged from the person of Rosas.
The exercise of coercion was completed with the body of city and countryside militias and with the army.
regular at the service of the federal cause. Both institutions had more weight in the campaign during those years.
that in the city; the most notable center was the camp of Santos Lugares, Rosas' headquarters,
symbol of the federal troops that defended the city and its government. The population of Buenos Aires was seen
subjected to a high rate of military services and attended, as in the time of the wars of independence,
to an increasing militarization of their daily life, especially among popular sectors. The armies
federal recruiters were constantly enlisting soldiers, with the greatest burden falling on the regulars or line troops.
military responsibilities. Thus, expressions of dissent were gradually eradicated from the province of
Buenos Aires, while seeking to impose federal unanimity beyond its borders.

The Holy Federation

The republican and federal order that the government constantly evoked through its publicists in the press
periodic, in the proclamations and messages issued and in the federal celebrations it presented diverse meanings. By
on one hand, the republic sometimes seemed to be reduced to the outlines of the province of Buenos Aires and, other times,

to extend beyond its borders. The republican order was based both on the devices of the modern
Atlantic experiences, with a legitimacy based on a representative regime with periodic elections,
as in topics of classical republicanism, as highlighted by Jorge Myers in his classic book Order and
virtue. These can be recognized in the use of extraordinary powers that were delegated to save the
republic, in the ideal of a stable and harmonious rural world, in the image of a constantly maintaining republic
threatened by groups of conspirators always identified with the 'unitary savages', and in the idea of a
order that was to be guaranteed through an authority meant to calm passions and enforce the law.
That order was proclaimed federal. And, although the federal component of Rosismo was always imprecise and
ambiguous, there is no doubt that he was referring to the entire Confederation. Rosas managed to create a de facto power by weaving

a complicated network of relationships that allowed him to exert control over the provincial governments, while
that, in the political discourse, emphasized the autonomy of the provinces. For this, he made use of tactics that,
transmitted through their correspondence or their armies, combined the search for consensus through
of the personal bond with governors, leaders, or lesser figures, with a strong dose of threat of
coercion if the recipient of the moment did not comply with their directives. Sources abound in intrigues, denunciations,
plots and in a sometimes subtle use of discursive strategies aimed at engendering suspicions among the
recipients of the messages, thereby trying to make it depend solely on the governor of Buenos Aires the
potential relationships that could be established between their provincial interlocutors. The chosen representation
for the Mayan festivals of 1839 expresses the complex bond that united Buenos Aires with the rest of the
Confederation during Rosas' rule.

A Jupiter from Olympus

At the celebration of May 25, 1839, the Pyramid of May erected in 1811 was adorned in the following way: on its four
on the front were read Dorrego, Quiroga, López, Heredia. Four representatives of the Federal Party from different provinces, deceased in
different circumstances: Manuel Dorrego, executed by the military movement of a unitary sign led by Juan Lavalle in 1828;
Facundo Quiroga, assassinated in an ambush in 1835; Estanislao López, federal leader of the province of Santa Fe, governor
between 1819 and 1838, the year of his death; Alejandro Heredia, governor of the province of Tucumán, murdered in 1838. At the same time, in the
four faces of the pyramid featured four emblematic dates: May 25, 1810, July 9, 1816, October 5, 1820 and 13
of April 1835.
At first glance, the inscription with the names of the federal leaders of the provinces displayed the evocation of the so-called 'Holy
"Federation" by recognizing a strong role in them. But this recognition by the government of Buenos Aires towards the
provinces did not assume that the former capital would be placed on an equal footing within the Federation. In the dates and images that
accompanied by those names, the role that Buenos Aires assigned to itself becomes clearly visible, and particularly the one that
Rosas awarded. Although there were two commemorative dates for the entire Río de la Plata territory - the revolution of 1810 and the declaration of
the independence of 1816-, the other two dates inscribed were of an absolutely local and porteno character: October 5, 1820
it marked Rosas's first public intervention, when he collaborated with Governor Martín Rodríguez with his campaign militias.
to pacify the province of Buenos Aires, after nine months of anarchy, and on April 13, 1835, he remembered the date when
Rosas assumed the governorship of Buenos Aires for the second time with the sum of public power, even on national holidays.
antonomasia, 1810 and 1816, Buenos Aires and its governor were present in the ornamentation of the pyramid introducing along with
the first date, the allegorical figure of the law, under which was the force with the saints of the expeditionary army of the
Southern Deserts in 1833-1834 commanded by Rosas, and, along with the second date, the figure of independence represented by the
genius of war and peace, at the base of which appeared the province of Buenos Aires with the arms and the saints of the army
expeditionary.
Now, that localism seemed to place not only Buenos Aires as the guiding city of the Holy Federation but also Rosas as
its constructor revealed itself in all its power by accompanying the third date inscribed -October 5, 1820- with the image of Jupiter
as an emblem of order. The moment when both the first public appearance of Rosas and the year in which Buenos
Aires knew how to turn his defeat into victory when the province was pacified, symbolized by the god he held in his hands.
center of Olympus and the lightning. Two attributes that Rosas was finally able to display from the Olympus of Buenos Aires in 1835 (last date
evoked) through a domain that was based both on the new art of (politics, through the use of the sum of public power in
Buenos Aires and the management of foreign relations of all the provinces, such as in the use of their armies and militias that,
like the lightning of Jupiter, they could punish, intimidate, threaten, and convince all those in the territory of the Confederation
they will challenge you for the domain.

From the image of the Silver Athens, one returned to that of a republican Rome. Only that, in this case, unlike the decade
Revolutionary, Rome not only deployed its armies but also established itself on the figure of a ruler with powers.
exceptional, intended to 'save' the republic from conspirators and enemies. JBP

Thus, both the use of the term 'federation' and that of 'confederation' remained very flexible.
During those years, they functioned as a kind of large umbrella to replace the bond.
constitutional that Rosas refused to give to the country. If in the preceding period the governor had revealed his
reluctance to issue a constitution, after 1835, the topic directly ceased to be part of the agenda. That
ambiguous federal component presumed several things. Firstly, a supraprovincial order that, while not
it was translated into a national constitution, nor was it reducible to the management of foreign relations
from the governor of Buenos Aires. Even though the management of foreign relations constituted for Rosas the
top of the federal system that advocated, at the same time it was increasing the functions under its responsibility. This did not

it was always due to an effective delegation of powers: on many occasions it was the Buenos Aires government itself
the one who, based on doctrines wielded according to the occasion, directly intervened in common matters
all the provinces, among which stood out, for example, the exercise of the right of patronage and the
judgment of the accused of crimes against the nation.
In turn, the federal component, as understood by Rosismo, involved the extension of the system.
unanimously imposed in Buenos Aires to the entire territory of the Confederation. From the ruling city, an example
of republican virtue that the provinces should follow if they wanted to achieve the necessary maturity to govern themselves.

a national constitution, no unitary administration would be tolerated. This claim was made effective at
through one of the powers claimed by Buenos Aires or, more specifically, its governor: the
right of intervention in the political organization of the provinces. According to legal theory, the intervention
In the political powers of the provinces, it occurs within a federal system of government and not in a
confederation, as it was then titled the league of the Rio de la Plata or Argentine provinces. In fact, the Pact
The Federal Constitution of 1831 did not contemplate such a right. However, it constituted a practice frequently adopted by Rosas.

after 1835.
If we return, then, to the image of the May Pyramid, when it was adorned for the celebrations.
homonymous from 1839, each of the described traits becomes visible, especially the displacement that
turned Buenos Aires into the center of the Holy Federation. A federation that was not strictly an order.
confederal is not a federal system of government, but a complex political engineering that presupposed an order
supraprovincial that rested upon the most powerful province,
Buenos Aires, and more specifically about its First Magistracy, exercised through a regime
unanimous and plebiscitary centered on the figure of Juan Manuel de Rosas. Thus, in this stage, the government of
Buenos Aires set out to reconquer the territory now called the Federation, although without intending to establish itself.
in capital letters. The opposite: Rosas systematically refused to summon a constituent congress, despite the
insistence of many governors and federal leaders of the provinces, who however gradually became
silencing their voices in pursuit of the acceptance of that de facto order. The province could be the center of the
Federation, to dominate the entire country from its own stage, without losing the benefits that
derived from their autonomy. To be a guiding city without paying the cost of being the capital and avoiding the distribution of resources that

He could use the province for his sole benefit; these were undeniable facts when discussing an organization.
national.

The new order in the provinces

In December 1835, with the purpose of appeasing the claims, the government of Buenos Aires enacted a
Customs Law, which aimed to mitigate the most harmful effects suffered by the provinces from
the validity of free trade and thus negotiate an exchange that, although it continued to be unequal respecto to the
benefits obtained by Buenos Aires insofar as it did not affect the successful livestock and export direction
from its economy, it prevented the always postponed constitutional exit from becoming the only alternative
to achieve peace with the provincial governments. The protectionist criteria used on this occasion, to
establish tariffs for certain imported products that could compete with local productions of
some regions -including Buenos Aires- also reviewed the objective that the Rosas government pursued when trying to give
greater balance to the provinces' payment balances, which are always in deficit. Although the law suffered several
corrections following its sanction, and its implementation did not meet the proposed objectives due to the
conflicts faced by the Confederation after 1838, it is pertinent to highlight the political projection that the
The government aimed to achieve, especially following the debates generated on the occasion of the signing of the Federal Pact.

from 1831.
In this sense, the Customs Law was one of the many mechanisms used by the government of
Buenos Aires to maintain a certain balance in the power system of the Confederation. Of course, not everyone
The methods were so peaceful and diplomatic.

Roses and Heredia

Letter from Juan Manuel de Rosas to Alejandro Heredia, July 16, 1837. "My dear friend:
To ensure yourself on all fronts against these treacherous maneuvers, it is not enough for you to rely on the intimate testimony of your conscience and to

the substance of things; it is necessary to give these an enthusiastic ostentation, that always presents it to you as full and always
occupied with the spirit of Federation and the Federal Cause; for this reason, it is of absolute necessity that in their offices and proclamations and in

all official acts always resonate with the Federation warmly, trying to mention it as many times as possible with
special application to the case or matter at hand, and this even if it seems to be with some shoving or violence, because that same
Machaca proves before the generality of the people that the Federation is an idea that occupies and overflows the heart of the one who speaks.

I give you this indication because I notice that in your communications and proclamations the voice and Holy Cause of the ...
Federation, and that for example when saying all Argentine, the good Argentines, all patriot, the good patriots, you do not say you all
federal Argentine, the good federal Argentines, all federal patriots, the good federal patriots, about what I know is fixed
a lot of attention by federals and unitarians, here and in almost all the provinces of the Republic; because the former do not have a good
Argentine, not for being a good patriot, as they must not have it, to the one who today is not federal, and these, to cover themselves that they are unitarians, and

disregarding the federal classification, they use bare voices, good Argentine, good patriot, which for that same reason if before
They had a noble significance among us, today it has a very ambiguous and suspicious one.
I see that this often depends on the writers who mistakenly view these circumstances as trivial and
irrelevances that do not matter, and that a governor overwhelmed incessantly with a multitude of concerns that occupy him does not
You can always notice such omissions. But it is necessary to make some particular effort in this regard, either by taking it seriously and
I earnestly urge the writers not to neglect these points, focusing on them closely, even if it is with a delay.
dispatch, because I believe that this is less harmful than proceeding with the writings with the indicated defects.
Driven by these considerations, I have not deemed it appropriate to publish your last official correspondence; however, if it is very
satisfactory in substance, because I know that of these, which some call little hairs when they are more than braids of hair in our
current circumstances, the unitarios logistas had to take material to work on their wicked plan to discredit you among the
federal. And so I must estimate that you tell me frankly if you authorize me in this case and any other in the future to publish your
official communications with the corrections I deem appropriate, without altering the substance of its content. For although I do not doubt
that after these friendly indications, which the particular affection I have for you induces in me, and the confidence and frankness with which I believe

we must communicate on the matters of the Republic, you will strive to conform to them, for the conviction of their usefulness and
need. But considering from the experience I have in myself that you may not always be able to prevent some oversights, or
omissions of the writers nor being in all the blows and points that it will be convenient to issue according to the cases and circumstances that occur, it
I request this authorization not only for the aforementioned last correspondence, but for the others in the future, well with the precise
restriction on not altering the substance of its content.
The two proclamations that you have addressed; one to the Argentines and the other to the people of Chichas and Tarija, have seemed very good to me.

the same as that of his brother Mr. Don Felipe, in Salta, on the occasion of the anniversary of May 25, the only downside I find is
that nothing is said to the Unitarians; and no longer let the echo of the federation abound in them, and now more than ever it must resonate everywhere.

the things and everywhere, for this voice alone is a spark that with just its noise shakes Cholo Santa Cruz, and that
wherever he goes, he disrupts and undoes all his maneuvers. I, then, placed in the position of our companion Mr.
Don Felipe, in addition to the established heading or introduction: Long live the Federation!, would have added to the conclusion a Long live the
Argentinian Confederation! and a Death to the Unitarians! It doesn't mean anything particular that the Unitarians should die, because this is not to say

may so-and-so or certain individuals die, but only to express by saying it, the desire for them to die civilly or to be
forever exterminated the fierce unitary faction.
I have gone on longer than I thought in this letter, but I couldn't help it for having touched on points in it about what I
It is very difficult to put down the pen. Perhaps you will classify me in your mind as meticulous and tedious; but this will be for not having.
found in the theater in which I find myself many years ago, nor seeing things from the place where I am seeing them. Let this be what
You are outside your duty to grant me your indulgence, for I act only by the strong desire for success in benefit.
General of the country and particularly yours, I wish you the best success in the important task I have entrusted to you on behalf of
the entire Argentine Confederation.
May God grant you the best health and success, illuminating the path of your public journey, is the wish of your attentive companion and
friend.
Juan Manuel de Rosas.
Extracted from Marcela Ternavasio, The Correspondence of Juan Manuel de Rosas, Buenos Aires, Eudeba, 2005.

The governor of Buenos Aires sought from the beginning to extend his dominion over the provinces and
establish the foundations of the new federation. The case of Córdoba illustrates this very well. After the assassination of

Quiroga, Rosas used his powers as in charge of foreign relations to pressure the
governor of that province, Reinafé, who was attributed the instigation of the crime of the leader, to whom
he abandoned the position and submitted to a confederal court. Then, he did not recognize any of the successive ones.
governors appointed by the Córdoba House of Representatives and pressured through weapons for the
the designation fell to Commander Manuel López, a loyal acolyte of Rosas during his long governorship of
more than fifteen years in the Mediterranean capital. The governor of Buenos Aires took charge of the trial against
Reinafé and the defendants of the Quiroga crime, which culminated in exemplary punishment: all were hanged.
and displayed in the Plaza de la Victoria, and its image, disseminated in engravings by the state printing house
Buenos Aires.
In fact, the death of the Riojan leader had left the regional leadership vacant in the provinces of
interior. Who was emerging to replace him was Alejandro Heredia, governor of Tucumán since 1832.
Heredia, fully identified with the Federal Party, began however to weave a system of alliances.
through a strategy that did not have Rosas' approval. This consisted of implementing the fusion of
parties, which implied a certain tolerance towards figures committed to a unitary past.
Heredia was wary of Rosas and other federal leaders from the interior, such as Felipe Ibarra, governor of Santiago.
Estero, and Estanislao López, from Santa Fe. Everyone looked on with some alarm as Heredia, from Tucumán,
he extended his domain, placing loyal governors in the neighboring provinces: in Salta, his brother, Felipe
Heredia, and in Jujuy -which had just separated as an autonomous province from the jurisdiction of Salta- to Pablo
German. He did the same with Catamarca, and in each of these provinces he placed Tucuman ministers to
collaborate with the addicted governors. However, the distrust generated by such displays of autonomy
and power did not prevent Rosas from accepting the leadership of Heredia, despite expressing certain reluctances.
In other provinces, the government of Buenos Aires intervened directly, as was the case in San Juan,
where the governor since 1834, Martín Yanzón, was accused of being a unitario and forced to leave the position,
first through a threatening correspondence and then through the mobilization of the armies. Examples
similar cases abound in other provinces. In the coastal area, the situation became even more complicated as a result of the
death, in 1838, of Estanislao López, champion of federalism in the region and loyal to Rosas -among other reasons,
because its deficit fiscal survived largely thanks to the subsidies sent from Buenos Aires- and
because the unanimist republic was besieged from various fronts. However, from that date on, the
challenges to the Rosist order, far from weakening the regime imposed during those years throughout the Confederation, it

they consolidated in their most authoritarian and at the same time plebiscitary aspects.
9. From the republic of terror to the crisis of the Rosas order
Starting in 1838, the Rosas regime faced various internal and external attacks. The attempts to create an order
Unanimous federal actions were resisted by opposition movements, both inside and outside the province of Buenos Aires.
The alliances, which involved different provinces and foreign countries, did not manage to overthrow in the
First years of the 1840s to those who held the greatest power of the Confederation. The regime of
the terrorism imposed in that situation managed to "pacify" the province of Buenos Aires, but it did not reach
eradicate the resistances. The actions of the opponents in exile became increasingly active, although the
the regime seemed to always emerge consolidated from the sieges. However, around 1850, the old rivalry between
Buenos Aires and the coast were revived. From the province of Entre Ríos, Justo José de Urquiza led an alliance.
with the province of Corrientes, with Uruguay and Brazil that ended the long period of hegemony of
Rosas, upon defeating his armies in the Battle of Caseros.

The besieged republic The fronts of conflict

The first front that Rosas decided to challenge was the war against the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation.
in 1837. Although the trigger was the issue of Tarija, claimed by Salta and held by Bolivia, the
The motivations for the war were multiple. In fact, the formation of that confederation in 1836, led by
by Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz, raised fears of a break for both Chile and the Argentine Confederation
of the balance in the fragile South American borders, in the midst of the process of formation. This led to Chile
he will declare war on Santa Cruz and will request the support of Rosas, who, encouraged by Alejandro Heredia
-fervent supporter of the conflict-, accepted the challenge. Although Rosas was aware that behind the stance
Heredia's belicist was hiding the desire to consolidate his own leadership in the Northwest provinces,
he was also convinced that Santa Cruz was providing protection to his unitary enemies. Heredia was left,
Well, at the command of the army, whose role was, however, almost irrelevant in the final outcome of the war.
Chilean victory in Yungay in January 1839 ended the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation; Heredia was
murdered shortly before the outcome.
Meanwhile, several simultaneous conflicts overlapped on the coast. First of all, the one that had to
to confront the Confederation against the French blockade of the port of Buenos Aires in 1838. Although the reasons
the blockade arose from an old diplomatic claim, then intersected with internal political issues
in the Eastern Republic of Uruguay and with the action of the Unitarians who had exiled there. The conflict
the diplomat was responding to a demand from the French government, which had sought to receive since the 1820s
the status of 'most favored nation', as Great Britain had obtained in 1825. This meant enjoying
commercial advantages and the exemption from any type of arms service for the French residing in
Buenos Aires, exemption granted during the government of Lavalle, but unknown to Rosas even in his first
government. From that moment on, France had pressured to obtain a favorable response to its claim,
until the death in a Buenos Aires prison of the French artist Cesar Bacle, in early 1838, led to
the hardening of positions and the blocking.
Now, just as had happened with the conflict against Marshal Santa Cruz, suspected of
protect and assist the unitarians, in this case the blockade was linked to Uruguayan politics, since
Montevideo had become the main destination for emigrants from the Confederation: the unitarians, the
federal cismatics and many others suspected of enmity with Rosas. What was, then, the connection?
Among these events? First of all, the increasing intervention of the governor of Buenos Aires stands out in the
eastern policy by supporting Manuel Oribe, president of the Uruguayan republic until 1838, with the aim of
through him the presence and power of the emigrants weakened, who were embarked in those years on a strong
anti-Rosist propaganda. The opponent of Oribe, Fructuoso Rivera, sought the protection of France to displace
that of the position. At this point, although the French government's support for Rivera was reluctant, with the blockade
started at the port of Buenos Aires in March 1838, the conflicts became entangled. The French presence
it stimulated the hope of the Unitarians settled in Montevideo that the Rosas regime would come to an end:
Rivera declared war on Rosas for intervening in eastern internal politics in favor of Oribe, and the coast.
Rioplatense became a stage for disputes that challenged the unanimity that Rosas was trying to impose.
In fact, the blockade significantly harmed the economic interests of the coast. For this reason, the provinces
From Santa Fe and Corrientes, they demanded from Rosas for the harm caused by a conflict originated in a
a problem that only affected Buenos Aires. Estanislao López sent Domingo Cullen as a commissioner
to convey such claims and informed the governor of Corrientes, Genaro Berón de
Astrada. But López died in June 1838, in the midst of the negotiations, leaving a legacy of a void.
power and great instability, which Rosas took advantage of to intervene in the politics of the province. Although
Domingo Cullen was elected governor by the House of Representatives of Santa Fe, Rosas disavowed such
appointment and, in alliance with the governor of Entre Ríos, Pascual Echagüe, appointed Juan Pablo López,
brother of Estanislao, as the new Santa Fe leader. Cullen was accused of being a unitario; in his flight,
found protection in Santiago del Estero with Ibarra. A however fleeting repair, since, pressured by
Rosas, Ibarra should have handed over Cullen, who was executed by order of the governor of Buenos Aires in June of
1839.
Meanwhile, the governor of Corrientes, after expressing his opposition to Rosas' policy and to the
harms that the French blockade brought with it, and upon being isolated, after the death of López and the
Cullen's displacement sought to ally with Rivera and the French. In this case, Berón de Astrada did not.
it was more than just revisiting old claims from Corrientes, already expressed by Pedro Ferré in the debates surrounding the

Federal Pact of 1831: the demand for free navigation of rivers, the distribution of customs revenues
from overseas and the prompt enactment of a national constitution. But the governor of Corrientes acted the same
luck that Cullen: was defeated and killed in the Battle of Pago Largo in March 1839 by the troops
commanded by the man from Entre Ríos, Pascual Echagüe. This confrontation left as a legacy not only hundreds of
slaughtered corregidores - a display of cruelty that expressed the extreme virulence of the conflicts during that time.
years-, but also the creation of a government addicted to Rosas.

The opposition in Buenos Aires

In that context, the leader of the Decemberist movement of 1829, General Juan Lavalle, led a campaign
military to overthrow Rosas with the support of the emigrants in Montevideo, Fructuoso Rivera, and France.
His campaign began in July 1839 from Martín García. Although the initial objective was to disembark in
Buenos Aires, where I expected to receive support from a discontented population, eager to find a
"liberator", decided to first penetrate into Entre Ríos and then into Santa Fe. He would soon notice that neither in these
in the provinces nor in Buenos Aires would I find the expected reception. There were no lack of reasons for these
populations to adopt such an attitude, especially in Buenos Aires, where other conflicts had been experienced before.
less virulent.
The first of them was the so-called 'Maza conspiracy', in which several leaders were involved.
military. Colonel Ramón Maza, son of the president of the Legislature of Buenos Aires, was the leader of
this movement that, in the form of a military uprising, aimed to overthrow the governor. The conspiracy
It was ready for June 1839, but a complaint not only led it to failure, but also triggered a reaction.
amplified. The leaders were arrested, Ramón Maza was shot on Rosas's orders, and his father, Manuel
Vicente Maza, murdered by members of the Mazorca, suspected of participating in the conspiracy and wanting to
to assassinate the governor. Although there are no indications about the real basis of such suspicion, it is appropriate to highlight

that, although the executions decreed by the governor in the use of his extraordinary powers had already
took place on the public stage of Buenos Aires, this was the first murder committed by the mazorqueros after
1835. The crime, however, does not seem to have been ordered by Rosas, which indicates that, at
less at that moment, both the Popular Restoration Society and the Mazorca could act with some
autonomy in the name of a blind defense of their leader.
The Restorative Popular Society took advantage of this episode to stir up the population, particularly the
popular sectors, and to stoke the feeling of danger for the republic and its federal leader, threatened
constantly by unitary conspirators. The press and all the machinery of the regime were put into
march to further heighten factionalism and establish a climate of terror in the population, making it clear
what would be the fate of those who challenged the governor's power. The parties held to celebrate the
The failure of the conspiracy was a fundamental vehicle to showcase that spirit of threat, within a framework
of a festive atmosphere.

Once the city was pacified, a few months later the conflict arose in the Buenos Aires campaign. It was
Just in the cattle-raising south, in the districts of Dolores and Chascomús, a support base for Rosismo until recently.
time before, when an armed movement was generated against Rosas. For those landowners, the French blockade
was coming to ruin their profit expectations based on exports; and the direct contribution that the
the government was trying to impose, threatening even more the hopes of increasing its revenues. Furthermore, the

the movement had the support of the supposed invasion that Lavalle would end from the campaign of Buenos
Aires. Now, Lavalle's itinerary changed on the fly as he entered through Entre Ríos, and the uprising
that erupted in southern Buenos Aires at the end of October 1839, with improvised forces made up of militias,
ranchers, laborers, and indigenous groups were quickly suppressed by the border regiments and their
leaders executed. While those accused of "traitors to the homeland" were severely punished,
the defenders of the Holy Federation began to be rewarded, no longer just with honorary mentions, but
with the most desirable rewards in lands, confiscated outright from the participants of the rebellion.

Topics under discussion

One of the most widespread traditional historiographical images is the one that identified Rosas's government management with that of a
a boss who dominated the country as if it were a large estate. Such a perspective - which favored his condition as a man of the field and
direct representative of the interests of the landowner sector - not only minimized the conflicts that Rosas had with some sectors
owners of the province, but also the political dimension of the process in which he was the main protagonist. While the new contributions
realized from economic, social, political, and cultural history do not deny the existence of fluid ties between the governor and the
rural sectors on the rise, in the midst of livestock expansion, reveal at the same time that the relationships between both were very
complex and depended on the different circumstances.
In this direction, faced with the perspectives that tried to explain the links of subordination and loyalty to Rosas in a key that
it reproduced in the political sphere the social relationship of boss and worker, there is now a tendency to pay greater attention to variables that are not reduced to

the private sphere.

The role of campaign justices of the peace, for example, shows that authority derived more from their institutional position than from the place.
what they occupied in the social sphere. The obedience that was rendered to them was fundamentally due to the fact that they monopolized all the

attributions of public power in its jurisdiction. Thus, when the peace judge of a campaign party distributed the ballots with the
official candidate for an election, was merely updating his institutional role, exercised as the authority of the district. The same
judge -who collected taxes, administered justice, enrolled in the militias or acted in police functions- then presided over the table at the
that the inhabitants should cast their vote publicly.
The consolidation of the regime and terror
Once the province was pacified - in fact, after these two uprisings in the city and the countryside, there were no
no other movement in Buenos Aires to overthrow Rosas-, the challenge to the port authority remained
posed within. The war against the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation had left as a legacy in the
North - where the discontent of the provinces, on which almost all the responsibility for the conflict fell
warlike, it was evident - a situation of great instability. In early 1840, the dissatisfaction of some
provincial opposition groups to Rosas translated into an alliance, the Northern Coalition, led by the
governments of Tucumán and Salta, which received the support of Catamarca, La Rioja, and Jujuy. The Coalition aimed to
denounce the authoritarian maneuvers of the governor of Buenos Aires, withdraw the attributes of the relationships
outdoors and extend its power over the rest of the provinces to overthrow him. He had the support for this.
of the emigrated unitarios, of many who made up the romantic generation, and of the expedition of
Lavalle. But although the Coalition, led by General Lamadrid, was able to dominate a large part of the provinces
from the interior -except for Cuyo- during the year 1840, neither Lavalle was able to join them, due to the successive failures in

their campaigns, nor their expansion was meant to endure. The armies sent from Buenos Aires, to
I command now Manuel Oribe - displaced from his position in the oriental republic by his enemy, Fructuoso.
Rivera—, put an end to the Northern Coalition. The repression established in the rebellious provinces by
the forces of Oribe are remembered for their extreme cruelty, while the already stripped forces of Lavalle,
in constant retreat, they were defeated, and their leader met his death in Jujuy, in October 1841.
The end of the siege of the Rosas regime in the Northern provinces occurred at a time when Rosas
He capitalized on the end of the French blockade, following the signing of the treaty between Mackau, representative of
France and Arana, Minister of Foreign Affairs under Rosas, in October 1840. A treaty had been reached.
after the decline of the businesses of landowners and merchants, who had seen their operations hindered
export possibilities, as well as the harm suffered by the Buenos Aires treasury, dependent on
the marketing rights. However, Rosas had adopted the strategy of resisting the blockade, to the
waiting for a closer approach with Great Britain to push the French towards a dignified retreat. Their
The tactic was successful, to the extent that the formation of a new cabinet in France led to its
The government will evaluate the costs of maintaining the blockade and interfering in the internal factional affairs of the
The Río de la Plata policy was greater than the possible benefits. The Mackau-Arana treaty stipulated the return.
from Martín García and the lifting of the blockade in exchange for the enjoyment of the claimed rights for the
French citizens.
While the treaty did not provide anything extraordinary to the Argentine Confederation -except the
regularization of trade and all economic activities dependent on exports, the celebrations
and the celebrations that followed its signing express the capacity of the Rosist regime to turn each of the
confrontations in triumphs of the federal forces against the staunch enemies of the Confederation. And not
just that: from that date, the regime demonstrated a huge capacity to impose terror as a form
to achieve the expected unanimity.

The anti-Russian propaganda

Just as the Rosas regime deployed its political propaganda through the official periodical press, the opposition also sought to occupy.
spaces in the press from exile. In this sense, the publication of two newspapers that, although fleeting, highlights the
exacerbated climate of violence and terror of those days. The Argentine Cry and Down with Rosas were published by Rosas' enemies
Exiles in Montevideo. The first published 33 issues, between February 24 and June 30, 1839; the second, 13.
numbers, between December 23, 1841 and April 9, 1842. The furious anti-Rosist propaganda was basically intended,
to the popular sectors, as stated in its first issue El Grito Argentino: "this paper is not for educated men, the
those who do not need him; except for the poor, for the ignorant, for the gaucho, for the changador, for the black, for the mulatto.
Aware of the consensus that Rosas had reached among these sectors, the newspapers unleashed the diatribes of the opposition to
through an iconography that portrayed Rosas and his followers as monsters dedicated to sowing terror and death among the
population. The images appealed to caricature with curved captions - which anticipated the balloon of illustrated comics - in which
The Restorer of Laws was systematically depicted as intoxicated, surrounded by skulls and demons, stealing money.
public and carrying out bloody or violent acts.

The month of October 1840 was marked by murders, attacks, tortures, and imprisonments of
unit assumptions in the city of Buenos Aires. Although it is not known for sure what the amount was
deaths resulting from the direct actions of the Mazorca, the climate of terror that it had created was unprecedented.
The same scene was then repeated inside when Oribe's forces defeated the Northern Coalition.
and in the same Buenos Aires, in March 1842, when the news arrived that General Paz, after fleeing from
his arrest in Buenos Aires, he had defeated Pascual Echagüe in Caaguazú in November 1841. The action of
General Paz aligned himself in an alliance with the governor of Corrientes, Pedro Ferré, and with the governor of Santa Fe,
Juan Pablo López, to once again demand the constitutional organization of the country. The man from Santa Fe did not demonstrate

great fidelity towards the governor of Buenos Aires and was defeated by the armies of Oribe and Echagüe in April
from 1842. On the other hand, the alliance did not prosper due to the disagreements between Paz and Ferré, with the former passing

In Montevideo. Pascual Echagüe was appointed governor of Santa Fe: thus, unanimity was sealed.
rosista in the province.

These events unleashed new scenes of terror in Buenos Aires. In April 1842, the Mazorca took control of
The streets: murders, tortures, and attacks were repeated. Rosas' role in all these events is unclear.
While he was not a stranger to the massacres, it is also not possible to determine whether it was he himself who ordered them and which ones.

it was his level of responsibility towards his fan followers who, in some cases, acted with a certain
autonomy in its thirst for revenge. The truth is that this new terror closed a chapter from which the regime emerged.
consolidated. Federal unanimity and loyalty to Rosas spread, therefore, throughout the territory, after defeating
the last dissident stronghold of the coast. In December 1842, Rivera's army, in conjunction with Corrientes, was
defeated by the troops of Oribe; in this way, the rebellious province of the coast remained under the aegis of Buenos
Aires, while the opposition was reduced to Montevideo, refuge of exiles.

Pacification and crisis The peace of the cemeteries

After 1840, the regime consolidated its unanimist and plebiscitary machinery in Buenos Aires, a
machinery that was already well-oiled that seemed to work almost automatically. The ritual manifestations,
what they made of each civic or religious celebration an occasion to renew adherence to the regime, they
they were mimicked with the electoral acts and the plebiscites held during the period. Although it was never repeated.
the experience of 1835, strategies were indeed applied that took the form of the traditional petition. In 1840,
for example, once the period for which Rosas had been appointed governor had expired, the local authorities
(at the suggestion of certain members of the Chamber), urged the residents of the city and countryside to sign
requests in which the reelection of Rosas was sought with the same powers conferred five years ago.
More than sixteen thousand signatures were gathered throughout the province, an event considered "historical" —such
as the deputy Garrigós stated in the House of Representatives - "for it had not been seen until today a
mass demonstration of the entire population, calling for the reelection of the head of state." There is no doubt that
with this gesture a certain type of legitimization was sought, to the extent that the law stipulated that the election of
The governor was in the hands of the Court, which was, on the other hand, addicted to Rosas. However, if the latent threat was the

deliberation within an elite always ready to split into factions and of which the Legislature
it acted as a sounding board, what was sought with this kind of popular consultation was the authorization
of the electoral world and the strengthening of the direct link between the people and the governor.

The infernal machine

The assassination attempt on Rosas, which led the Chamber to propose his daughter as successor, occurred with the sending from Montevideo of
the so-called 'infernal machine', intended to kill anyone who opened it. It was received by Manuela Rosas, who saved her life because the mechanism
the shot missed.

Of plebiscites and petitions

The minutes of the petitions demanding the reelection of Rosas with extraordinary powers show, unlike the
documentation on the annual elections, modes of expressing opinion in which there was a lack of mobilization
required in the elections. In the petitions of 1840, for example, in the parish of Concepción, the nine signatures that it
The leaders consisted of the justice of the peace, two commissioners, the parish priest, and five prominent figures from the Popular Society.
Restorer. Then formulas like the following appeared: "the lieutenant colonel on behalf of himself and five officers and one hundred twenty
troop individuals, Celestino Vázquez; three hundred thirteen signatures at request (or by order to third parties); sheets with lists of
names with a signature at the end that subscribed for all of them; or 'individuals who have cast their vote and do not know how to sign'. From a total of
One thousand one hundred sixty-three petitioners in that parish, only three hundred eighteen signed personally. Something similar happened in that
same occasion in the rest of the parishes of the city, in some of which were present, as in that of San Nicolás, the members
from the African nations Burundi, La Womber, and the Congo. From the first, the minutes of the meeting held therein were added, in the
This is, sir, the express will of this entire Nation [Burundi], and the proof of this is that I am sending the attached list with
his names, preventing that the one who could not sign made the sign that is presented and the thoroughness of everything is authorized by our secretary." It has already been

reference to the links between Rosas and the African nations. Now, what these acts certainly show is a
plebiscitary modality is less labor-intensive than that required for elections, and less restrictive from a formal point of view. Although
Informally, it is clear that many times the voters did not fit the ambiguous condition of 'free man or resident.'
-as stipulated by the election law-, but in the case of requests there was no limitation whatsoever from a legal standpoint to
express support for the governor. In fact, they signed as free men or slaves, nationals or foreigners, residents or passersby.
In 1849, the call for a new petition was reissued, with characteristics that place it between the traditional petition and the plebiscite.
Among the instructions for its execution were the following:
1 - Gather the line forces and militias of that department and that all citizens who exist in it, from the age of 15 years
upwards, without distinction of any kind, laborers, masters, servants, men of color and whites, Chileans, Mendocinos, and from all
the other provinces.
2- As you have gathered, you will ask them the following question: whether they want the illustrious General Rosas to govern or not.
Republic, if you want to grant a vote of absolute confidence, and if it is your will to grant the illustrious general all the powers,
powers and rights that the province has to use these faculties as it deems appropriate for the happiness of the
Confederation.
3- Having asked the previous question, will you have all the men who are in favor [...] sign in the notebook that
It is attached... For those who do not know how to sign [...] will put their name and surname [...] and a small cross as a sign of assent.
4- Those who refuse to sign the previous proposals, you will list them separately and send them to the government along with
with the other list on a separate paper [...] The provincial government wants no citizen, no matter how poor and defenseless they are, to be left behind
unresolved
The petition-referendum was made as instructed, presenting a curious fact that illustrates the events.
the peculiar ways of expressing the signatures -as recounted in the petition of 1840-, were complemented by the intervention of the British minister, to
to communicate to the government that several English subjects residing in Buenos Aires had consulted him 'to know the conduct that
they should adopt regarding 'invitations they had received to sign the petition' intended to be presented to the Chamber so that
Rosas will not abandon the government. Rosas did not take long to respond to you saying that even though the resident foreigners should not have
interference in the country's affairs, however, they were not forbidden to sign 'requests', as long as they were done 'willingly' and with the
“previous permission from the executive authority”. The affair culminated with the drafting of a note signed by seventy-six merchants.
English, written in English and sent to Her British Majesty, who sent it with a copy and translation to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Outdoors of the Río de la Plata.
The note was far from assuming the sycophantic, factional, and inflammatory tone of the popular petition presented at that very moment in the
He prayed for the peace judges of the city and the countryside, but that did not stop him from providing his warm support for the governor's reelection.

The cited documentation is located in the General Archive of the Nation, Room X, Justices of the Peace. Cited in Marcela Ternavasio, The
Vote Revolution. Politics and Elections in Buenos Aires, 1810-1850

Now, the plebiscitary ritual would not have been convincing enough if it were not followed, once again, by the
resignation so many times reiterated by the governor - which on the other hand had given rise to the staging of the
requests - and the demand to be replaced. This gesture, always based on personal and domestic reasons
-linked to their health and need for rest after so many 'sacrifices' in public service-, compelled to
the Room to double the bet and invoke the mandate of the people, so that Rosas would accept the position. The ritual of the
the resignation gave rise to an interim formula that preserved the legal formality -so dear to the Restorer of the
Laws - while perpetuating the situation of indecision and, consequently, of plebiscite claim:
Rosas did not accept being elected for a new five-year term, but rather extended his mandate for the
six-month term. At the beginning of 1841, once the Legislature was renewed, Rosas accepted a new
extension following the repeated requests of the Chamber and their 'unyielding' resignations, a cycle that was repeated in
annual form. The rejection of a new definitive election -with the respective oath of office that
established the law - left the entire political society in suspense, provoking increasingly
strong personal adhesion to the head of government. Among them, it is worth highlighting the one developed within a
group of conspicuous federals, who after an alleged assassination attempt on Rosas, proposed
to designate his daughter Manuelita as his successor in the event of the governor's death. These whims
pseudo-monarchical, inspired by a kind of hereditary succession rule in a local manner, even though they were
publicly rejected by their main recipient, they highlight the atmosphere experienced in those years.
The order and peace achieved in Buenos Aires spread to the entire Confederation.
conflicts and the greatest threats after 1843 were located outside the borders of the republic
unanimist. Montevideo was the center of a dispute that involved not only the exiles and the government of that
Chinese country, once again, to foreign forces. The siege of the eastern capital maintained by Oribe's troops.
-which lasted nine years- was supported by Rosas' intervention while trying to block it with his squadron. Such
The intervention sparked a reaction from France and England, which, on this occasion, decided to carry out a blockade.
a group to defend the interests of neutral countries, harmed in their business with the eastern port.
Such a decision was influenced by the pressures exerted by the anti-Rosista exiles in Montevideo. Both
powers demanded Rosas to withdraw his squadron from the eastern republic; as he refused, the fleet
The Anglo-French blocked the port of Buenos Aires between 1845 and 1848. Once again, the ties remained tied.
internal factional conflicts with international ones, and once again the businesses of
landowners and merchants, the provincial economies and the treasury of Buenos Aires. But the strategy of resistance
the blockade, already used between 1838 and 1840, yielded results again for a regime that did not allow any of
these occasions to turn apparent defeats into victories. With the lifting of the blockade, Rosas
achieved, among other things, that in response to the constant demand for the free navigation of rivers, the powers
they would admit that navigation on the Paraná River was an internal problem for the Confederation.

Battle of Obligado, 1845

In the Battle of Vuelta de Obligado, which took place on November 20, 1845, in the waters of the Paraná River, the Confederation faced
the Anglo-French squadron. There, the European forces managed to break the blockade on the way to the North.
Thus, after 1848, the federal order led by Rosas seemed invincible. The provinces had been gradually tamed - already
no one dared to raise their voice to demand a constitution - and in Buenos Aires a peace reigned that, although it resembled that of the
cemeteries, also revealed a certain relaxation of controls, probably the result of the conviction of Rosas and his most loyal followers
followers of having reached the long-sought unanimity. Buenos Aires seemed to enjoy more than ever being the center of a republic
not established.

The battle of ideas

Just as, in this last stage, the armed challenges to the Rosista order came from external forces to the
Confederation, those who were freed in the realm of ideas also had their origins outside the borders.
Embodied by those who had exiled, especially in Uruguay and Chile, the intellectual battles - which for
certainly were not unlinked from the organized military movements to put an end to the regime- they
they translated both into virulent diatribes against Rosas and into country projects for when his fall occurs
rosism will materialize. Although the anti-rosist propaganda was initially led by the emigrants from
unitary origin, and even by the schismatic federals, the leading role that young people were acquiring
Romantics became more noticeable as they were forced into exile. In the first stage, the new generation
he condemned the worst remnants of the Spanish inheritance while trying to differentiate himself from the generation
preceding, both in intellectual terms - by rejecting the predominant neoclassical and materialistic framework in the
Rivadavian period and absorb the new ideas of romanticism, socialism, Saint-Simonism, and eclecticism.
among other currents - as in political terms - by attempting to overcome the antinomy between unitarians and federals
to propose a new conception of what the nation should be-. The theme of the nation was central to that
generation, since among its main objectives, and in tune with the Romantic movements of the Old
The goal was to achieve a deep understanding of the local reality in all its dimensions to
define a national identity, the foundation of the state and a new country as it was supposed to be
emerge after the revolution.
The Young Generation
The great thought of the revolution has not been realized. We are independent but not free. The arms of Spain do not us
They oppress, but their traditions overwhelm us. From the depths of anarchy, the counter-revolution was born.
The stationary idea, the Spanish idea, emerging from its dark lair, raises its foolish head triumphantly once again and throws
anathemas against the reforming and progressive spirit:
But their triumph will be brief. God has willed it, and the history of humanity bears witness to it, that the ideas and the facts that existed
disappear from the scene of the world and become engulfed forever in the abyss of the past, like they disappear one after another
generations.
God has wanted today not to resemble yesterday; that this century is not a monotonous repetition of the previous one; that it
that it wasn't reborn; and that in the moral world as in the physical, in the life of man as in that of nations, everything moves and
progress, everything is / incessant activity and continuous movement.
The counter-revolution is nothing more than the slow agony of a decaying century, of the retrograde traditions of the old regime, of a
Ideas that have already had a full life in history. Who, by violating God's law, could revive that specter that rises in their
delirious, already wrapped in the shroud of the grave? The impotent effort of some obsessed spirits? Chimera!
The revolution roars silently in the bowels of our society. It waits for the reappearance of the star to show its head.
generator of the homeland; she sharpens her weapons in the darkness and hones her tongues of fire in the prisons where they oppress her and put her
muzzle; she ignites all patriotic hearts; she silently matures her reform plans and collects in the greater leisure
intelligence and power.
The revolution marches on, but with crickets. It is up to the young generation to dismantle them and conquer the glory of initiative in the great work.
of the emancipation of the American spirit, which is summed up in these two problems: political emancipation and social emancipation.
The first one is solved, the second one still needs to be resolved.

Esteban Echeverría, fragment from the Socialist Dogma. Taken from José Carlos Chiaramonte, Cities, provinces, States: origins of
the Argentine Nation, Buenos Aires, Ariel, 1997.

But the political avalanches experienced during the Rosas era led the young romantics to
sharing the political experience of exile with those who belonged to the old unitary branch softened the idea of
that it was necessary to achieve a synthesis between federalists and unitarians to launch a political struggle against the
regime. In fact, after 1839, the Generation of 37 was involved in factional disputes and
he cooperated with the armed movements to overthrow Rosas. Starting in 1842, the group began to disperse
Geographically: not only did Chile become one of the main recipients of young exiles - although
many remained in the most convulsed Eastern Republic, as were the cases that left Mármol,
Bartolomé Mitre and Esteban Echeverría-, but some began to undertake more ambitious journeys,
both Europe and the United States: Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Juan Bautista Alberdi and Juan María
Gutiérrez, among others.
 The experiences lived in those geographies were crucial for those who were attentive to the news.
coming from other latitudes and willing to adopt those that would be functional to the projects of
countries designed in those years. For those who settled in Chile, like the last three mentioned characters, the
possibility of living in a country that had achieved political stability under a conservative regime with
A high degree of institutionalization notably influenced both their ideological perspectives towards the future.
like in their possibilities of surviving in the dark present. Inserted into the Chilean bureaucratic apparatus and
increasingly professionalized in journalistic activities, Argentine emigrants stood out for
his ability to absorb the latest literary and philosophical innovations, which often led them
to clash with their Chilean peers, of a more traditional and Catholic cultural style. Some of those novelties
were enthusiastically embraced, while others generated a strong reaction, as was the case with the
European revolutions of 1848 that, especially in France, showed a threatening face when expressed in
a virulent social conflict.
In such a changing international context and apparently stagnant internally
Confederation, around the mid-1840s, the hope of seeing the new Argentine nation established ~already
fully matured as a project of that generation, beyond the diverse individual paths
of its members - seemed like a chimera. Rosas had imposed an order that, according to what they could notice,
enemies, was not founded solely on terror —as they denounced in all their diatribes— but also on a
a consensus that is difficult to explain. Sarmiento was, without a doubt, one of those who could best recognize this paradox,

when, shortly after the overthrow of the Rosas regime, he stated: "Rosas was a republican who imposed on
it played all the artifices of the representative popular system. It was the expression of the will of the people, and in
Indeed, the election records reflect this. This will be a mystery that better and more impartial individuals will clarify.
studies
that which we have done until today.” But before accepting the existence of this mystery, Sarmiento had
attempted to explain the rosista phenomenon in his famous essay Civilization and Barbarism. Life of Juan Facundo
Quiroga, published during his Chilean exile in 1845. Among the interpretive keys he offered to his readers
-exacerbated through the deliberate use of language intended for political propaganda- the tension is revealed
of whom I could only admit that Rosas was an exception or an anomaly regarding that modality of
a caudillo who seemed to have been in power for a long time. The difference that set Rosas apart from the other caudillos of
the interior was embodied in the contrast with Facundo Quiroga. While Rosas was portrayed as someone who had
systematized barbarism, premeditating all its "savage" actions under a logic of calculation in terms of
costs and benefits, Quiroga represented the animal spontaneity of the rural world. If Rosas symbolized the
sophisticated cunning that could only stem from civilization, the result - that is, rosismo - was a hybrid in
the one where city and countryside, civilization and barbarism merged.
About that hybrid and about the diagnosis that the order imposed by Rosas left behind an impossible legacy.
must be ignored, the projects of a future country had to be built. However, for such projects to be able to
finding channels of realization required eliminating those who dominated the geography and the stage of the
new and projected Argentine nation.

The final battle: Caseros

Juan Manuel de Rosas was removed from his position as governor and in charge of foreign relations of the
Confederation in February 1852, after being defeated in the battle of Caseros by the allied forces of Entre
Ríos, Corrientes, Brazil, and Uruguay, commanded by Justo José de Urquiza. After having dominated the
Argentine Confederation for more than two decades, its power crumbled at the initiative of a federal leader.
of the coast that governed the province of Entre Ríos since 1841. Urquiza, representative of his province of the
unanimity of the regime when he took office, remained loyal to Rosas during the course of the decade of
1840. But during that period, other changes began to silently affect the order.
tax from Buenos Aires. While the hegemonic province had been experiencing a successful process
of livestock expansion, largely due to the crisis experienced during the wars of independence and the
civil wars the provinces naturally destined to undergo a similar process, as were the cases of Entre
Ríos and the Banda Oriental, during the 40s, Entre Ríos was managing to recover economically from the
devastation suffered after 1810. Such recovery renewed the old disputes between the former capital and the coast.
The monopoly exercised by the former over overseas trade, customs, and free navigation of the
Ríos ultimately became one of the triggering causes of the conflict that overthrew Rosas.
Caricature of the time. Satire of Urquiza.
In fact, the so-called 'great war' in Uruguay and the Anglo-French blockade in Buenos Aires had
stimulated the economy in Between. Its ranchers -among whom was Urquiza himself- had
converted into the suppliers of the besieged Montevideo. Therefore, the most powerful governor of the coast had
I have a great interest in maintaining coastal traffic with the Uruguayan capital. On the other hand, for some time now, Rosas

It maintained a conflictive situation with Brazil. After the signing of the treaties that culminated in the blockade.
Anglo-French, Buenos Aires, and the Brazilian Empire were left free to face each other on the stage forever.
contended: the Banda Oriental. Brazil supported the government of Montevideo; Rosas supported Oribe. The claim of
Brazil in its confrontation with Rosas aimed to secure its southernmost province, Rio Grande do
South, and achieving the free navigation of the Paraná River. Rosas evaluated this claim as yet another display of the
appetites of the Brazilian Empire and its ancestral expansionist desire over the River Plate.
At the beginning of 1851, latent tensions converged into an open conflict. At the break of relations
between the Argentine Confederation and Brazil, the pronouncement of Urquiza on May 1, 1851 was added.
The foundations of the anti-Rosista coalition were established. With the proclamation, the governor of Entre
Ríos literally accepted the ritual of resignation, so many times staged, in which Rosas declined the
representation of the foreign relations of the entire Confederation. Urquiza reassumed such powers,
delegates always in the government of Buenos Aires, and expressed her aspiration to see the country established.
Aware that this gesture meant a declaration of war against the regime, the governor of Entre Ríos
I hoped that the rest of the provinces would join their challenge. But only Corrientes adhered to it.
pronouncement, while in Buenos Aires the event was taken advantage of, as so many other times, to reignite the
popular mobilization in support of Rosas. Urquiza was labeled as "crazy" and the former capital once again experienced the already

known samples of federal adhesion.

However, this time, instead of consolidating the regime, Urquiza's alliance with Corrientes and then with Brazil
And Uruguay, sealed at the end of May 1851, would put an end to a government that until shortly before
it seemed destined to endure.
The military campaign began in Montevideo. By that time, some of the exiles, such as Sarmiento and
Mitre joined the so-called 'Great Army' commanded by Urquiza, along with some officers.
deserters of the Rosista army. However, as Urquiza approached Buenos Aires, he found no
more than a hostile attitude from the inhabitants of the countryside. Rosas not only had a very
powerful, but continued to maintain in his province an unconditional support from a large part of the
population. Finally, the armies faced each other 30 kilometers from Buenos Aires.

Homemade
On February 3, 1852, nearly fifty thousand men were on the battlefield. Although evenly divided in the two
gangs, Rosas's troops could not withstand the attack of the army commanded by Urquiza. The victory was swift and there were about
of two hundred casualties. A few hours later, the city of Buenos Aires was looted by scattered soldiers from both sides,
While Urquiza established his general command in Palermo, which had been the residence and government seat of Rosas during
all its management.

The swift and decisive defeat of Rosas' army at Caseros - largely the result of mistakes
strategic commitments made by their troops - led the Restorer of the Laws to immediately embark towards
England, not without first packing and taking with her her copious documentation. The official documents of the
years of his government (which included letters and notes received, and a copy of those he had written or dictated) filled
nineteen drawers. Rosas left for exile, which lasted until his death in 1877, with very scarce resources;
Once settled in England, it was not possible for him to live off the income from his lands because they were taken from him.

confiscated.
The claim regarding your assets and the written protest distributed in three languages in Europe and America does not
They managed to reverse the measure: Rosas suffered firsthand the same policy he had applied to his enemies.
during his administration. Economic hardships were a constant theme in his letters from exile, such as
also the complaints and criticisms towards those relatives and friends who, once fallen from grace, denied him their support

help. However, he knew how to thank Urquiza, his opponent, for trying to restore his properties and the
regular income from a sum of money that the victor of Caseros transferred personally. One of the many
paradoxes of the political ups and downs experienced in those turbulent years.

Letter from Juan Manuel de Rosas to Justo José de Urquiza

Southampton, April 22, 1865.
Great and good friend:
By virtue of your letter, dated February 11th last to Mr. General Dr. Dionisio de Puche, which our dear friend Ms. sent to me.
Yes. Pepita Gómez, I hereby acknowledge receipt of the one thousand pounds sterling {£1000}, which you promised me in your very interesting letter.
28 out of 64, as an annual allocation, which would be continued to me as long as possible to V E.
General Puche has fulfilled your order with fine accuracy and without delay. As soon as he received it, he wrote to me enclosing...
a letter in my favor, which was promptly accepted by a respectable house in London, and for that reason I have no doubt, it must have been yesterday or the

They will be received today, those thousand pounds, by the person to whom I endorsed them. I reiterate to you my most heartfelt and expressive gratitude.

Strength, and in your security, allow me to add a few words regarding my situation.
If I was too critical the first time I went to Your Excellency, the time that has passed since then would make it extreme. Since mid-64
I contemplated the idea of moving to live in this farm that I rent and cultivate, freeing myself from expenses, albeit moderate, of the
house that I occupied for twelve years in the city of Southampton. After selling the furniture that I had there, if I was able to pay for one with its proceeds

As part of my commitments, I remained indebted for other amounts that I had already allocated to meet my most urgent needs.
Established in this residence, I reduced myself to immediate and personal attention to farming, also contracting for it,
other precise and indispensable financial commitments, which required double contraction.
In this situation, early this year, a part of the establishment, which consisted of a subleased dairy, perished due to
fire, with livestock, tools, and others, as explained in the attached pamphlet:
This contrast was partly offset by the insurance that, if it helped me to recover part of the invested capital, at the same time it
I deprived myself of the main weekly income to attend to work and my meager living expenses.
My troubles, in such a state, were already at the highest extreme.

At this moment, the assistance that Your Excellency has placed in my hands has calmed me, as with it I temporarily emerge from the worst.
urgent.
The truth of this account and that today my subsistence depends solely on my daily personal work are witnessed by the neighborhood and the country.
whole where I reside. This way, Your Excellency can feel the awareness and satisfaction that all assistance in my gift is an agreement of true.
charity, in the adversity of my fate.
My gratitude for my benefactors is unconditional, and nothing could satisfy me more than being able to acquire the means to fulfill my
commitments, and to provide Your Excellency with proof of my enduring gratitude and my sincere desire to be of service to you.

Juan Manuel de Rosas

Extracted from Marcela Temavasio, The Correspondence of Juan Manuel de Rosas, Buenos Aires, Eudeba, 2005.
The end of the Rosas regime opened a new era. Everything indicated that, with the disappearance of the one who had
hindered the definitive constitutional organization of the country -which after so many ups and downs seemed to have
adopted a more or less stable geography, identified for several years with the so-called
Argentine Confederation, the path to its institutionalization was cleared. However, this
it proved to be more winding than the most optimistic versions predicted. The difficulties did not arise solely
from the grudges and resentments, a legacy of so many years of factional clashes and civil wars, but rather of
problems that, with the fall of Rosas, had not been resolved. Among them, the difficult relationship of Buenos
Air conditioning in the rest of the provinces remained in effect. The ongoing debates regarding national organization,
even when they posed new challenges, they could not evade the dilemma already configured with the revolution:
define the distribution of power between territories now willing to form a state and a nation in Argentina.

Epilogue
In 1852, Juan Bautista Alberdi, one of the most prominent representatives of the Generation of 37, published
in Valparaíso Bases and starting points for the political organization of the Argentine Republic. In this work,
the inspiration of the Constitution approved in 1853 stated that there was no longer room for a discussion about the
form of government, since republicanism had established itself in practice, and presented the dilemma
between 'federation' and the regime of 'unit' as a legacy of the past that needed to be reconciled through
mechanisms of constitutional engineering. In terms of the political regime and its territorial distribution, Alberdi
it stated that 'the federation will not be a mere alliance between independent provinces', but 'the
The Argentine Republic shall be and cannot be less than a federative state, a national republic, composed of
various provinces, simultaneously independent and subordinate to the general government created by them.
Although the indeterminacy of the terms 'federation,' 'confederation,' and 'federal system' seemed
still retains some relevance - since both the constitution project presented by Alberdi in 1852
like the Constitution ratified in 1853 kept the name of Argentine Confederation used
during the Rosas regime, there was no doubt that, in both cases, a federal system of government was imposed,
similar to the model of the Federal Constitution of the United States of 1787. The margin of autonomy of
the provinces were dulled by a series of powers delegated to the central government while
presidential power was controlled in a fundamental aspect: the Constitution of 1853, in its article 29,
prohibited the delegation of extraordinary powers and the concentration of public authority, both by the Congress
to the national executive and to the provincial legislatures to the governors.
Such exclusion highlighted the particular aversion left as a legacy by the immediate past and the
the dilemma of ensuring that the central government - and, in particular, the president of the republic - became
guarantee of the political-territorial unity, without repeating the Rosist formula that had made of the powers
extraordinary a fundamental tool in the imposition of order. How to establish a stable order and
avoid despotism at the same time? The challenge was to think of a unified republic that respected both
the attributions of the provinces like individual rights, systematically violated during
the Rosas regime. Precisely, what the delegation of extraordinary powers involved was the suspension
-first temporary and then for an indefinite period- of individual guarantees.
At this point, there is evidence of a slide towards new problems and challenges. In fact, during
the 1850s, although in the political-territorial plan the relationship between Buenos Aires and the rest of the
The Confederation remained the main focus of conflict in achieving political unity, in the social realm.
profound transformations were proposed. If in the territorial dimension, the self-representation that Buenos
Aires was building to connect with the rest of the Río de la Plata jurisdictions, moving away from the image.
from the republican Rome, dominant in the 1810s, to that of the Athens of the Silver after 1820 and to that of
center of the Holy Federation from 1835, then after 1852 it had to seek new negotiation mechanisms
policy to maintain its status as a center, without renouncing its privileges. This dispute will only be resolved
in 1880, when Buenos Aires was defeated and declared the capital of the republic.
In the context of these displacements, other changes were taking place, less perceptible to
principle and more evident after 1852. Governance no longer depended solely on the resolution of the dispute
around the definition of the subject of sovereignty - the peoples, the provinces, the nation™, but not
also in the manner in which control over the inhabitants of the new borders was to be exercised
republic. The Alberdian motto 'to govern is to populate', which quickly translated into a deliberate policy
immigration that changed the country's appearance, involved new challenges. The invitation made in the
Preamble of the Constitution of 1853 to enjoy liberty, defense, and general welfare 'to all men
of the world they want to inhabit on Argentine soil" forced an evaluation, more than ever, of who would enjoy
the civil and political rights and what barriers would distinguish ordinary inhabitants from citizens.
Governing now meant both mapping the territories over which authority was intended to be exercised and
census those who inhabited them.
Now, this change, evident in the second half of the 19th century, began to take shape, although from
more quietly, in the period that this book analyzes. First of all, because with the revolution
New languages began to spread that placed the notion of 'individual' at the center of a
constellation that sought to transform the old order inherited from the colony, based on corporate hierarchies,
natural and immutable, in which the territories, among other estates, were conceived as bodies with their
own rights and privileges and in which the very notion of individual freedom was unimaginable. In
second place, because although the transformation was slower than the reformist groups expected, it did not
for this reason, it became evident that the old hierarchical and communal order had been profoundly
eroded.
Even though the introduction of the notion of "individual freedom" in the languages spread after the
the revolution had serious limitations in translating into legal rights, it is in its flagrant deprivation during the
Rosista order where it is possible to notice the gradual and silent mutation stated. Such mutation is expressed,
on one hand, in the fact that in the same context in which the most brutal disregard occurred
denial of individual rights and freedoms, new mechanisms of governance were invented aimed at
to individualize consensus and obedience. With Rosas, domination had to be exercised over the territories, but
also about each of its inhabitants. For that, the already described instruments were put into motion:
unanimity and the plebiscite, based on a conception of government as control of individuals.
On the other hand, such notions gradually became instruments of political dispute. Some
members of the young romantic generation, who did not identify in their early stages with the ideology
liberal, they began to take ownership of the defense of individual liberties in a scenario that visibly
it curtailed; in turn, against the accusations from its opponents, the official press of Rosismo denied the
antiliberalism of the regime. Although this rejection was only rhetorical and used in a circumstantial manner in the
argumentative dispute, highlighted the peculiar situation created by a republican and unanimous system
which compelled some and others to discuss, more than ever, about individual freedoms and the notion of
limited government.
The adherence to liberal theories by the majority of the leading groups in the construction
the national state had this experience at the starting point. If the notion of a free individual and
autonomous proposal by the theorists of liberalism seemed, at that point, as much an abstraction as a
irrevocable principle, the one of governing over territories and individuals subjected to authority did not cease to
to establish a concrete aspiration that the new ruling elite was not willing to renounce.
The Republic of Argentina was born, therefore, as a project for the future and as a product of a negotiation with the

past. This negotiation was necessary for the long-announced delivery to open the future
promising that everyone announced. The confidence in the success of a project that was supposed to be progressing in the

the sense of history could not evade, however, the difficulties that it would have to face. To give effective shape to
the nation was the great challenge of the following decades, and building the state, the most intense task that
they embarked on the ruling elites of the second half of the 19th century.
Bibliography
The suggested bibliography below represents only a minimal part of what has been produced in the
last years about the / River Plate history between the end of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th.
historiographical renewal has been very prolific in all fields. For this reason, selections have been made
those titles that are more directly linked to the themes developed in this book, although, for
supposedly, they do not exhaust the options for consultation.

Among the general works that cover the entire period, the third volume of Tulio's Argentine History stands out first.
Halperin Donghi edited by Paidós, From the Independence Revolution to the Rosist Confederation (Buenos Aires, 1980).
We also have volumes 2 and 3 of the New Argentine History published by Sudamericana, The Colonial Society (Buenos
Aires, 2000) and Revolution, republic, confederation, 7806-7852 (Buenos Aires, 1998), directed respectively by Enrique
Tandeter and Noemí Goldman. Both volumes consist of different articles by various historians and offer a
updated synthesis of the most relevant topics. The New History of the Argentine Nation, directed by the National Academy of
History and edited by Planeta, includes some very valuable contributions in volumes 2, 3, 4, and 5, which are the ones that
correspond to the period worked here.
As for the specific bibliography, it is very difficult to separate it according to the themes and periods analyzed in each chapter. For such
the chapters have been grouped in order to distribute the selected texts, although it is necessary to keep in mind that
many of them can be useful for other chapters.
Chapters 1 and 2
The process opened by the English invasions and the crisis of the monarchy in the Río de la Plata is dealt with exhaustively.
In the work of Tulio Halperin Donghi, Revolution and War. Formation of a ruling elite in Creole Argentina (Mexico, Century
XXI, 1979). This work constitutes a classic of Argentine historiography and remains a mandatory reference for the entire period.
analyzed here.
For the topic of the Bourbon reforms and their application both on an imperial scale and in the Río de la Plata, the following can be mentioned:

From Empires to Nations: Ibero-America

Brading, David, "The Spain of the Bourbons and its American empire", in Leslie Bethell (ed.), Independence, vol. V of History
from Latin America, Barcelona, Cambridge University Press/Critica, 1990.
Chíaramonte, José Carlos, The Illustrated Critique of Reality. Economy and Society in Argentine and Ibero-American Thought
from the 18th century, Buenos Aires, Latin American Publishing Center, 1982.
Di Stefano, Roberto
Twenty-first century, 2004.

Fernández Albadalejo, Pablo (ed.), The Bourbons. Dynasty and national memory in 18th century Spain, Madrid, Marcial
Pons, 2002.
Fradkin, Raúl and Juan Carlos Garavaglia, The Colonial Argentina. The Rio de la Plata between the 16th and 19th Centuries, Basic Library of
History, Buenos Aires, 21st Century, 2009.
Agustín Guimerá
Halperin Donghi, Tulio, Reform and Dissolution of the Iberian Empires 1750-1850
Lynch, John
Pietschmann, Horst, The Bourbon Reforms and the Intendancy System in New Spain. A Political-Administrative Study
Mexico, Economic Culture Fund, 1996.
Socolow, Susan
Regarding the English invasions, the following books by Klaus Gallo can be consulted:
From Invasion to Recognition. Great Britain and the River Plate, 1806-1826
The English Invasions
For the biennium corresponding to 1808-1810, both in the peninsula and in America:
Artoia, Miguel
Bushnell, David, "The Independence of Spanish South America", in Leslie Bethell (ed.), The Independence, vol. V of the History
from Latin America, Barcelona, Cambridge University Press/Critica, 1991.
The Juntera Eclosion in the Hispanic World
 Mexico, 2007.
War, Frangís, Modernity and Independences. Essays on Hispanic Revolutions
1993.
Atlantic Crisis. Autonomy and Independence in the Crisis of the Hispanic Monarchy
Pons, 2006.
Chapters 3 and 4
On the revolutionary process and the wars of independence, historiographical production has multiplied significantly.
in recent years. It would be impossible to list here the multiplicity of authors and texts that have renewed the perspectives of
research. Therefore, only some of the most significant are indicated, according to the privileged themes in this book.
About the revolutionary process on a Hispanic American scale:
Lynch, John
Rodríguez O., Jaime
In the realm of political history, the works that have particularly addressed the themes of sovereignty and the
political representation, as well as the transformations that occurred in the context of the wars of independence:
Annino, Antonio (coord.)
Bragoní, Beatriz, 'Virtuous warriors, mercenary soldiers. Motivations for military recruitment during the course of the war of'
Independence, in Anthropological Dimension, year 12, vol. 35, 2005.
Calderón, María Teresa and Clement Thíbaud (coords.), The Revolutions in the Atlantic World, Bogotá, Taurus, 2008.
From Subjects to Citizens. An Essay on Freedoms in the Republican Origins. Buenos Aires 1810-1852
Buenos Aires, Imago Mundi, 2003.
José Carlos Chiaramonte
Di Meglío, Gabriel, Long live the lower people! The urban plebe of Buenos Aires and politics between the May Revolution and Rosismo,
Buenos Aires, Prometheus, 2006.
Frega, Ana, Towns and sovereignty in the Artiguista revolution. The region of Santo Domingo Soriano from the late colonial period to the
French occupation, Montevideo, Ediciones Banda Oriental, 2007.
Goldman, Noemí, "Imperial Crisis, Revolution and War (1806-1820)" in Noemí Goldman (ed.), Revolution, Republic,
confederation (1806-1852), vol. III of the New Argentine History, Buenos Aires, Sudamericana, 1998.
González Bernaldo, Pila-, "The French Revolution and the Emergence of New Political Practices: The Eruption of Sociability"
Politics in the Río de la Plata Revolutionary (1810-1815), in Bulletin of the Institute of Argentine and American History 'Dr.
Emilio Ravignanioseries, no. 3, 1991.
Halperin Donghi, Tulio, "Revolutionary Militarization in Buenos Aires, 1806-1815", in Tulio Halperin Donghi (ed.), The Decline
of the colonial order in Hispano-America, Buenos Aires, Sudamericana, 1978.
Herrero, Fabián, "Buenos Aires, year 1816: a confederationist trend", in Bulletin of the Argentine History Institute
Americana "Dr. Emilio Ravignani", no. 12, 1995.
Martínez, Ignacio, "From the Catholic Monarchy to the Republican and Federal Nation. Sovereignty and Patronage in the Río de la Plata. 1753-
1853, in Sequence, Mexico, Instituto Mora, in press.
Sara Mata de López
The war of independence in Salta and the emergence of new power relations1, enAndes, no. 13, Salta, CEPIHA, 2002.
Saturday
from Economic Culture, 1999.
Ternavasio, Marcela, Governing the Revolution. Powers in Dispute in the Río de la Plata, 1810-1816, Buenos Aires, Siglo XXI, 2007.
Uncle Vallejo, Gabriela, Ancien Régime and Liberalism. Tucumán, 1770-1830, National University of Tucumán, 2001.
Verdo, Geneviéve, "Sovereignty of the people or of the peoples? The double face of sovereignty during the independence revolution"
(1810-1820), in Andes, no. 13, Salta, CEPIHA, 2002.
About the new languages, ideas, and representations, you can refer to:
Botana, Natalio
The republican tradition, Buenos Aires, South American, 1984.
Chiaramonte, José Carlos, 'Forms of identity in the Río de la Plata after 1810', in Bulletin of the Argentine History Institute
and American "Dr. Emilio Ravignan, 3rd series, no. 1, 1989.
Nation and State in Ibero-America. Political language in the times of independence, Buenos Aires, Sudamericana, 2004.
Dávilo, Beatriz, "From Rights to Utility: Political Discourse in the Río de la Plata during the Revolutionary Decade", in
 Prismas. Journal of Intellectual History. National University of Guemes, No. 7, 2003.
Gallo, Kiaus, 'At the Height of the Lights of the Century': The Rise of an Intellectual Climate in Post-Revolutionary Buenos Aires', in
Jorge Myers (ed.)
History of intellectuals in Latin America. The lettered city, from the conquest to modernism, Buenos Aires, Katz Editores,
2008.
Goldman, Noemí, History and Language. The Discourses of the May Revolution, Buenos Aires, Centro Editor de América Latina
1992.
Language and Revolution. Key Political Concepts in the Río de la Plata, 1780-1850
Herrero, Fabián (ed.), Revolution. Politics and Ideas in the Rio de la Plata during the 1810s, Buenos Aires, Ediciones
Cooperatives, 2004.
Molina, Eugenia, “Civic Pedagogy and Social Discipline: Representations of Theater Between 1810 and 1825”, in Prismas.
Intellectual History Journal, National University of Quilmes, no. 8, 2004.
Myers, Jorge, "The Patriotic Man of Letters: The Men of Letters from Latin America at the Crossroads of the Collapse of the Spanish Empire in
America", in Jorge Myers (ed.), History of Intellectuals in Latin America. The Lettered City, from the conquest to
modernism, Buenos Aires, Katz Publishers, 2008.
Paiti, Elias, The Time of Politics. The Nineteenth Century Reconsidered
Roldán, Darío, "The issue of representation at the origin of modern politics. A comparative perspective (1770-1830)''
Hiída Sabato and Alberto Lettieri (comps.), The Political Life in 19th Century Argentina. Arms, Votes and Voices, Buenos Aires,
Economic Culture Fund, 2003.
Salas, Rubén Dario, Language, State and Power in the Río de la Plata (1816-1827), Buenos Aires, Institute of Research
History of Law, 1998.
They deserve a special mention, within the field of new languages and representations, the contributions coming from the
studies conducted in art history and urban history. This mention not only responds to the quality of the work produced in the
last years but also that such contributions were widely used throughout this book, not only in the chapters here
reviewed but also in the following:
Aliata, Fernando and María Lía Muniiía Lacasa (eds.), Cario Zucchi and Neoclassicism in the Río de la Plata, Buenos Aires,
Eudeba, 1998.
Aliata, Fernando, The Regular City. Architecture, Programs and Institutions in Post-Revolutionary Buenos Aires, 1821-1835
Buenos Aires, National University of Quiimes, 2006.
Burucúa, José Emilio (ed), Art, Society and Politics, vol. 1 of the New Argentine History, Buenos Aires, Sudamericana, 1999.
Burucúa, José Emilio, Teresa Espantoso Rodríguez, Florencia Galesio, Marcelo Renard, Cristina Serventi and Adriana Van Deurs,
History of the monuments: a chapter in the process of creating the Argentine Nation, mimeo, Buenos Aires, 1992.
Burucúa, José Emilio, Andrea Jáuregui, Laura Maiosetti, and María Lía Munipa Lacasa, "Influence of the iconographic types of the
French Revolution in the River Plate countries, in AA. W, image and reception of the French Revolution in Argentina.
Buenos Aires, Latin American Publishing Group, 1990.
Muniila Lacasa, María Lia, '19th Century: 1810-1870', chapter 2 of Art, Society and Politics, vol. 1 of the New Argentine History.
Buenos Aires, South America, 1999.
"Of shows and politics: the performance of Cario Zucchi at the celebrations of Rosismo," in Diana Wechsier (ed.), Italy in the
horizon of plastic arts in Argentina, Buenos Aires, Dante Alighieri Association/Italian Institute of Culture, 2000.
"Festival, art and politics. A historiographical approach to the study of civic celebrations in Buenos Aires", in Education in
Social Sciences, no. 2, Buenos Aires, May-August 1999.
The contributions in the field of social and economic history in the transition from the old colonial regime to the period
independent have also been very prolific. The texts cited below are only indicative of a very vast field:
Garavaglia, Juan Carlos and José Luis Moreno, Population, society, family and migrations in the Río de la Plata region. 18th century and
XIX, Buenos Aires, Cántaro, 1993.
Juan Carlos Garavaglia
The Economic History of Argentina at the Crossroads. Balances and Perspectives
"The rural world in transition," in Noemí Goldman (ed.), Revolution, republic, confederation (1806-1852), vol. III of the New
Argentinian History
Haiperin Donghi, Tulio, War and Finances in the Origins of the Argentine State (1791-1850), Buenos Aires, Belgrano, 1982.
Irigoin, María Alejandra and Roberto Schmit, The Disintegration of the Colonial Economy. Trade and Currency in the Interior of
 colonial space (1800-1860), Buenos Aires, Bibios, 2003.
Mayo, Carlos
Chapters 5 and 6
The process of political-territorial redefinition after 1820 has been analyzed, among other authors, by José Carlos Chiaramonte.
In addition to the works already mentioned, the following should be noted:

Littoral Merchants. Economy and society in the province of Corrientes, first half of the 19th century, Buenos Aires, Fondo de
Economic Culture, 1991.
The Argentine federalism in the first half of the 19th century, in Marcelo Carmagnaní (ed.), Latin American Federalisms:
Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Fondo de Cultura Económica. 1993.
Regarding the debates about the nature and revision of the phenomenon of caudillismo, the following can be consulted:
Chiaramonte, José Carlos, “Constitutional legality or caudillismo: the problem of social order in the emergence of states
autonomous of the Argentine Coast in the first half of the 19th century", in Economic Development, vol. 102, July-September,
1986.
Fradkin, Raúl, The history of a montonera. Banditry and caudillismo in Buenos Aires, 1826, Buenos Aires, Siglo XXI, 2006.
Goldman, Noemí, "Legality and legitimacy in caudillismo. Juan Facundo Quiroga and La Rioja in the Río de la Plata interior (1810-
1835), in Bulletin of the Argentine and American History Institute 'Dr. Emilio Ravignan?', 3oseries, no. 7, 1993.
Goldman, Noemí and Ricardo Salvatore, River Plate Caudillisms. New Perspectives on an Old Problem, Buenos Aires,
Eudeba/Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, 1998.
Stories of Argentine Caudillos
In the field of political history, new studies on provincial cases stand out. Among many others, they can be consulted.
the following:
Bragoni, Beatriz
Corsti, Viviana (with the collaboration of Emma Raspi), "From the Wars of Independence to the Organization of the State, 1810-1852"
in Ana Teruel and Marcelo Lagos (dirs.), Jujuy in History. From the Colony to the 20th Century, National University of Jujuy, 2006.
Galio, Klaus, "A Voltairian Society? Politics, Religion, and Theater in Buenos Aires (1821-1827)"
García de Saltor, Irene, The construction of political space. Tucumán in the first half of the 19th century, National University
Tucumán, 2003.
Marchionni, Marcelo, 'The Redefinition of Political Spaces in the Revolutionary Process. Salta in the Early Decades of the Century'
XIX, Regional history. Case studies and theoretical reflections, Salta,
CEPiHA, EDUNSA, 2006.
López, Sara (ed.), Persistences and Changes: Salta and Northwestern Argentina, 1770-1840, Rosario, Prohistoria, 1999.
Myers, Jorge, "The literary culture of the Rivadian period; illustrated knowledge and republican discourse", in Fernando Aliata and María Lia
Munilía Lacasa, (comps.), Cario Zucchi and Neoclassicism in the Río de la Plata
Gustavo Paz
Romano, Silvia, "Colonial institutions in republican contexts: the Judges of the Córdoba campaign in the first decades"
del siglo XIX y la construcción del estado provincial autónomo", en Fabián Herrero (comp.),Revolución. Política e ideas en
The River Plate during the 1810s, Buenos Aires, Cooperative Editions, 2004.
Romero, Luis Alberto, Buenos Aires. The happy experience, 1820-1824,
Buenos Aires, The Bastille, 1976.
Sanjurjo, Inés, The political-administrative organization of the Mendoza campaign in the transition from the old regime to order
liberal, Buenos Aires, Institute of Research on the History of Law, 2004.
Tedeschi, Sonia, “The Last Years of a Colonial Institution: the Cabildo of Santa Fe and Its Relation to Other Political Spaces
institutional between 1819 and 1832", in Journal of the Provincial Board of Historical Studies of Santa Fe, LIX, Santa Fe, 1993.
Ternavasio, Marcela, The Revolution of the Vote. Politics and Elections in Buenos Aires, 1810-1852, Buenos Aires, Siglo XXI, 2002.
"The Rivadavia Reforms in Buenos Aires and the General Constituent Congress (1820-1827)" in Noemí Goldman (ed.),
Revolution, Republic, Confederation (1806-1852), Vol. III of the New Argentine History, Buenos Aires, Sudamericana, 1998.
About the social and economic aspects most linked to the political history of the period:
Burgín, Mirón, /Economic aspects of Argentine federalism
Cansanello, Oreste Carlos, 'Economy and Society: Buenos Aires from Cepeda to Caseros', in Noemí Goldman (ed.), Revolution,
republic, confederation (1806-1852), vol. III of the New Argentine History, Buenos Aires, Sudamericana, 1998.
Chiaramonte, José Carlos, Guillermo Cussianovich and Sonia Tedeschi, "Public finances and interprovincial politics: Santa Fe and its
 dependence of Buenos Aires in the times of Estanislao López'', in Bulletin of the Institute of Argentine and American History
Dr. Emilio Ravignanío series, no. 8, 1993.
Gelman, Jorge, 'Crisis and Reconstruction of Order in the Buenos Aires Campaign. State and Society in the First Half of the Century'
XIX”, in Bulletin of the Institute of Argentine and American History “Dr. Emilio Ravignani”,3oseries, no. 21.2000.
Halperin Donghi, Tulio, 'Landowner Class and Political Power in Buenos Aires (1820-1930)', in Regional History Notebooks
National University of Luján, second stage, No. 15, vol. V, 2nd semester, 1992.
Manchal, Carlos, "Liberalism and fiscal policy: the Argentine paradox, 1820-1862", in IEHS Yearbook, Tandil, National University
from the Center, no. 10, 1995.

Romano, Silvia
Schmit, Roberto, "Trade and Public Finances in the Provincial States", in Noemí Goldman (ed.), Revolution,
republic, confederation (1806-1852), vol. III of the New Argentine History, Buenos Aires, Sudamericana, 1998.
Markets and trade flows in the provincial states of Argentina in the first half of the 19th century. The trade of Corrientes
to Buenos Aires (1822-1833)'', in Bulletin of the Argentine and American History Institute 'Dr. Emilio Ravignani', 3 o series, no. 4,
1991.
Ruins and resurrection in wartime. Society, economy, and power in post-revolutionary Eastern Entre Ríos, 1810-1852.
Buenos Aires, Prometheus, 2004.
Capítulos 7, 8 y 9
For the period of rise and consolidation of the Rosista order, many of the already cited texts are mandatory references. In the
field of political history as well as in the recording of ideas and representations it is worth mentioning:
Batíicuore, Graciela, Klaus Gallo, and Jorge Myers, Romantic Resonances. Essays on the History of Argentine Culture (1820-
1890), Buenos Aires, Eudeba, 2p05.
Di Meglio, Gabriel, Death to the savage unitarios! La Mazorca and politics during the times of Rosas, Buenos Aires, Sudamericana
2007.
González Bemaido, Pilar, Civility and Politics in the Origins of the Argentine Nation. The Socialities in Buenos Aires, 1829-
1862, Buenos Aires, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2001.
Halperin Donghi, Tulio, Project and Construction of a Nation
Lobato, Mírta
Lynch, John
Myers, Jorge
Myers, Jorge, 'The revolution in ideas: the romantic generation of 1837 in Argentine culture and politics', in Noemí
Goldman (dir.). Revolution, republic, confederation (1806-1852), vol. III of the New Argentine History, Buenos Aires,
South American, 1998.
Pagani, Rosana, Nora Souto and Fabio Wasserman, “The Rise of Rosas to Power and the Emergence of the Confederation {1827-1835}”
Noemí Goldman (ed.), Revolution, Republic, Confederation (1806-1852), vol. III of the New Argentine History, Buenos Aires
Aires, South American, 1998.
Salvatore, Ricardo, “Federal parties: representations of the republic in Rosas' Buenos Aires”, in Entrepasados, year VI, no. 11,
1998. "Consolidation of the Rosista regime (1835-1852)", in Noemí Goldman (ed.), Revolution, Republic, Confederation
(1806-1852), Vol. III of the New Argentine History, Buenos Aires, Sudamericana, 1998.
Victor Anzoátegui
Correspondence of Juan Manuel de Rosas
Wasserman, Fabio, 'From Funes to Mitre: representations of the May Revolution in the politics and culture of the Rio de la Plata (first
mid-nineteenth century)
The generation of 1837 and the process of constructing the Argentine national identity, in Bulletin of the Institute of History
Argentina and American "Dr. Emilio Ravignani",3oseries, no. 15, 1997.
In relation to the social and economic order:
Barsky, Osvaldo and Julio Djenderedjian, The livestock expansion until 1895, vol. I of the History of agrarian capitalism in the Pampas,
Buenos Aires, 21st Century, 2003.
Gelman, Jorge, "The rebellion of the ranchers against Rosas. Some reflections on the Ubres del Sur of 1839", in
Intercalated, year XJ, no. 22, 2002.
Rosas, Estanciero. Government and Cattle Expansion
Roses Under Fire. The French, Lavalle and the Revolt of the Landowners, Buenos Aires, Sudamericana, 2009.
Halperin Donghi, Tulio, "The livestock expansion in the campaign of Buenos Aires (1810-1852)" in Economic Development, 3 (1-2),
Buenos Aires, April-September, 1968.
Mandrini, Raúl, 'Development of an Indigenous Pastoral Society in the Interserrana Area of Buenos Aires', in IEHS Yearbook, Tandil,
National University of the Center, No. 2, 1987.
"The borders and indigenous society in the pampean region," in IEHS Yearbook, Tandil, National University of the Center, no. 12,
1997
Mandrini, Raúl and Andrea Reguera (comps.), Traces on the Land. Indians, Farmers, and Landowners in the Buenos Aires Pampas.
Tandil, IEHS, 1993.
Ratto, Silvia, “Conflicts and Harmonies on the Buenos Aires Border, 1834-1840”
The power structure in the allied tribes of the province of Buenos Aires (1830-1850) in Quinto Sol. History Journal
Regional, year 1, no. 1, 1997.
Salvatore, Ricardo, "The Empire of Law. Crime, State, and Society in the Rosas Era", in Crime and Society. Journal of Sciences
Social, year III, no. 4/5, 2nd semester of 1993 and 1ofrom 1994.
Military recruitment, disciplining, and proletarianization in the era of Rosas, in Bulletin of the Argentine History Institute
Americana "Dr. Emilio Ravignaní", no. 5, 1992.
Wandering Paysanos, State Order and Subaltern Experience in Buenos Aires during the Rosas Era, Durham and London, Duke
University Press, 2003.