Part 1
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THE HISPANIC SERIES
UNDER THE EDITORSHIP OF
JOHN D. FITZ-GERALD, PH.D.
PROFESSOR OF SPANISH, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS MEMBER OF THE HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA CORRESPONDIENTE DE LAS REALES ACADEMIAS ESPAÑOLA, DE LA HISTORIA DE MADRID, Y DE BUENAS LETRAS DE BARCELONA
ARGENTINA
LEGEND AND HISTORY
ARGENTINA
LEGEND AND HISTORY
READINGS SELECTED AND EDITED BY GARIBALDI G. B. LAGUARDIA, A.M. AND CINCINATO G. B. LAGUARDIA, A.B. OF THE UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY
BENJ. H. SANBORN & CO. CHICAGO NEW YORK BOSTON
COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY BENJ. H. SANBORN & CO.
Norwood Press J. S. Cushing Co.--Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
AI NOSTRI GENITORI
PREFACE
In this book, the editors offer reading material which will give the student some idea of the history of Argentina, of her great men, of her development since the dawn of independence, and of her wonderful possibilities, as shown in Blasco Ibáñez's _Con Rumbo a la Esperanza_.
The choice of material has necessarily been restricted, but within that limited field, the editors have selected what was representative and typical and best adapted to the purpose in view.
The book has been arranged to suit the needs of third-year high school work, or second-year college Spanish. It was taken for granted that the student would be familiar with the underlying principles of Spanish grammar before taking up this book; and yet, grammatical explanations have been given wherever they were deemed necessary, and translations of difficult passages have been suggested. The Introduction gives a brief historical sketch of Argentina, which will furnish a background on which to locate the specific events related in the book. Considerable detailed information concerning the authors represented and the institutions and customs of Argentina and her people will be found in the Biographical Notes and in the annotations to the selections.
If the book succeeds in arousing a sympathetic interest in the struggles for Argentine independence and her subsequent progress, the editors will feel more than repaid. Upon that sympathetic interest must rest the ever growing Pan-American ideal to bring both Americas closer to each other.
The editors gratefully acknowledge their obligation to the Pan-American Union, Washington, D.C., to The Hispanic Society of America, New York, and to Doubleday, Page & Co., New York, for their courtesy in permitting the reprinting of the article on the _Congreso de Tucumán_, taken from the July, 1916, number of _La Revista del Mundo_. To their colleague, Mr. Julian Moreno-Lacalle, the editors are sincerely grateful for valuable suggestions and for many kindnesses, which have made the work easier to accomplish. Thanks also are due to Professor F. B. Luquiens (of Yale), Messrs. H. K. Stone (of Grinnell College, Iowa), O. d'Amato (of the University of Illinois), and J. Pittaro (of the Stuyvesant High School, New York).
GARIBALDI G. B. LAGUARDIA CINCINATO G. B. LAGUARDIA
UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 1919
CONTENTS
PAGE
DEDICATION v
PREFACE vii
INTRODUCTION xv
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES l
HIMNO NACIONAL ARGENTINO 1 _Vicente López y Planes_
EL GAUCHO ARGENTINO 7 _Vicente Fidel López_
ORIGINALIDAD Y CARACTERES ARGENTINOS 22 _Domingo F. Sarmiento_
I. El Rastreador 36
II. El Baquiano 40
III. El Gaucho Malo 46
IV. El Cantor 49
ASOCIACIÓN 56 _Domingo F. Sarmiento_
La Pulpería 56
LEYENDAS DEL PAÍS DE LA SELVA 74 _C. O. Bunge_ (Según Ricardo Rojas)
I. El País de la Selva, Sus Leyendas y Trovadores 74
II. Zupay 78
III. El Kacuy 80
LA LEYENDA DE SANTOS VEGA 86 _C. O. Bunge_
LA TRADICIÓN DE LUCÍA MIRANDA 91 _C. O. Bunge_
EL LUCERO DEL MANANTIAL: EPISODIC DE LA DICTADURA DE DON JUAN MANUEL ROSAS 98 _Manuela Gorriti_
I. María 98
II. Un Sueño 100
III. El Encuentro 101
IV. Amor y Agravio 102
V. Dieciséis Años Después 103
VI. Madre e Hijo 108
VII. En la Sala de Representantes 110
VIII. El Terrible Drama 112
IX. Conclusión 114
LOS 3000 PESOS DE DORREGO 116 _C. O. Bunge_
CUMPLIR LA CONSIGNA 120 _C. O. Bunge_ (Según Juan M. Espora)
LA LEALTAD DE SAN MARTÍN 122 _C. O. Bunge_ (Según Juan M. Espora)
LAVALLE EN RÍO BAMBA 125 _Pedro Lacasa_
EL OMBÚ 129 _Marcos Sastre_
EN LA CORDILLERA 133 _Juan María Gutiérrez_
LA NATURALEZA SUDAMERICANA: DE VALPARAÍSO A BUENOS AIRES 141 _Juan María Gutiérrez_
LINIERS Y LA RECONQUISTA DE BUENOS AIRES 148 _C. O. Bunge_ (Según P. Groussac)
I. Los Preparativos y la Marcha hacia Buenos Aires 148
II. La Reconquista 153
EL NEGRO FALUCHO 161 _Bartolomé Mitre_
LA ABDICACIÓN DE SAN MARTÍN 166 _Bartolomé Mitre_
EL GENERAL BELGRANO 177 _Bartolomé Mitre_
EL GENERAL LAS HERAS 184 _Bartolomé Mitre_
DON JUAN MARTÍN DE PUEYRREDÓN 190 _V. F. López_
MARIANO MORENO 195 _Juan María Gutiérrez_
GÜEMES 202 _Bartolomé Mitre_
FACUNDO QUIROGA 209 _Domingo F. Sarmiento_
ESTEBAN ECHEVERRÍA 217 _Pedro Goyena_
EL CONGRESO DE TUCUMÁN: 1816-1916 222 _Ernesto Nelson_
BUENOS AIRES EN 1815 243 _Vicente Fidel López_
BUENOS AIRES: LAS TIENDAS ANTIGUAS 251 _Lucio V. López_
CON RUMBO A LA ESPERANZA (from _La Argentina y sus grandezas_) 255 _Vicente Blasco Ibáñez_
EL MINISTRO DRAGO AL MINISTRO GARCÍA MÉROU 292 _Luis M. Drago_
VOCABULARY 307
LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
JOSÉ DE SAN MARTÍN _Frontispiece_
REPUBLICA ARGENTINA (_mapa_) xiv
EL 25 DE MAYO DE 1810 xxii
BELGRANO EN TUCUMÁN xxix
LA BAHÍA DE MONTEVIDEO EN 1825 xxxii
EL PASO DE LOS ANDES vxxxv
LOS TREINTA Y TRES ORIENTALES xliii
CHOZA DE GAUCHO EN LA PAMPA 11
VISTA DE UN PAGO DE GAUCHOS 15
DOMINGO F. SARMIENTO 23
ESTANCIA EN LAS PAMPAS 43
UNA PULPERÍA EN EL CAMPO 60
GAUCHO EN EL ACTO DE ARROJAR UN TIRO DE BOLAS 65
RICARDO ROJAS, JOVEN ESCRITOR ARGENTINO 77
UNA PAYADA DE CONTRAPUNTO 87
CARLOS OCTAVIO BUNGE 92
JUAN LAVALLE 126
UNA VISTA DE LA PAMPA 129
UN OMBÚ 130
SUD-AMÉRICA (_mapa_) _facing_ 141
SANTIAGO ANTONIO DE LINIERS 150
PAUL GROUSSAC 154
BUENOS AIRES Y SUS CONTORNOS (mapa) 156
AVANCE DE LOS INGLESES SOBRE BUENOS AIRES 158
ESTATUA AL NEGRO FALUCHO EN BUENOS AIRES 163
BARTOLOMÉ MITRE 167
ESTATUA ECUESTRE DEL GENERAL SAN MARTÍN, PLAZA SAN MARTÍN, BUENOS AIRES 169
SAN MARTÍN Y BOLÍVAR EN GUAYAQUIL 174
MANUEL BELGRANO 179
JUAN GREGORIO DE LAS HERAS 187
JUAN MARTÍN DE PUEYRREDÓN 191
MARIANO MORENO 197
MARTÍN GÜEMES 204
JUAN FACUNDO QUIROGA 211
CASA DONDE SE REUNIÓ EL CONGRESO DE TUCUMÁN 224
ERNESTO NELSON 232
VISTA DEL PUERTO DE BUENOS AIRES 265
VICENTE BLASCO IBÁÑEZ 273
BUENOS AIRES: LOS ELEVADORES 285
BUENOS AIRES: LA AVENIDA DE MAYO 291
LUIS M. DRAGO 295
INTRODUCTION
The material of which this textbook is composed must be so new to the vast majority of both teachers and students of Spanish in this country, that the need of an introduction has been deemed imperative by the editors.
Americans have of late been growing more and more alive to the urgent necessity of gaining a better knowledge of the vast continent and the peoples to the south of them. Argentina, as the most prosperous of the South American republics, has claimed no small share of this newly awakened interest. It is hoped that this book will aid in promoting and strengthening this interest, and that this introduction, in its turn, will be of aid in elucidating and furnishing a proper background for the material herein presented.
If we wish to understand Argentina, we must begin first of all by familiarizing ourselves with one pivotal sentiment that has permeated and controlled every aspect of Argentine life and development since colonial days. This sentiment is an exalted and haughty patriotism, so intense, indeed, that the tone with which an Argentine says "_Soy argentino_", is no whit less assertive and proud than that in which citizens of ancient Rome were wont to say "_Civis Romanus sum_".
Whatever the origin of this sentiment, the evidences of it are irrefutable. Argentina has to-day about nine million inhabitants: of these, fully two thirds are of recent foreign origin, mainly Italian and Spanish, and to a much smaller extent, English, French, and German. Argentina, in other words, has relatively a much larger population of recent foreign extraction than the United States. Nevertheless, the hyphen does not exist in Argentina; and the terms Italo-Argentine, Hispano-Argentine, Franco-Argentine, etc., are entirely unknown. The jealous and uncompromising patriotism of the Argentine makes hyphenated national designations impossible. If we turn from the evidence of purely popular sentiment to the more sober and more controlled evidence of literature, we find the same thing. Take away from the literature of Argentina the theme of patriotism, and you have taken away its most distinctive and its greatest life-giving element. It has been said, and justly, that the Italian literature of the nineteenth century centered entirely about the theme of Italian unification, voicing during the first half of the century the aspirations of her great men for a united Italy, and during the second half intoning the pæan of joy at the accomplishment of those aspirations. The same may be said of Argentine literature. The names of the great leaders of her immortal Revolution, both against the mother country and later against the internal _caudillo_ tyrants--the most important of whom was Rosas--and the deeds that they performed, recur again and again through the pages of her men of letters, whatever be the form of literature they engage in, narrative, dramatic, or poetic.
It is for this reason that for the proper understanding of the Argentine temperament, as evidenced by her literature as well as by her popular ideals, the knowledge of her political history, beginning with the time of the English invasions in 1806 (when the latent nationalism of the then Viceroyalty of the Plata first manifested itself in action), is a requisite of prime importance.
Until the year 1776, Argentina had been but a negligible part of the Spanish possessions in South America, being a dependency of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Despite, however, the short-sighted commercial policy of Spain, which forbade the colonies from trading with any European country, save the mother country, and then by restricted routes and through specific Spanish ports, Buenos Aires, towards the end of the eighteenth century, had far outstripped all other colonial cities with the exception of Lima. By royal decree, therefore, on the 8th of August, 1776, the Viceroyalty of the Plata River was established with Buenos Aires as its capital. It included what is to-day Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and the province of Rio Grande, belonging now to Brazil.
The first Viceroy was Don Pedro de Ceballos, a soldier of ability and an administrator of unusual talent. As a result of the war he waged against the Portuguese, who had taken possession of northern Uruguay and the harbor of La Colonia, this port was won back to the Viceroyalty of the Plata. It may be said that the driving out of the Portuguese from La Colonia marks the first of a series of events that finally led to the independence of Argentina; for, if Buenos Aires had been able to grow commercially, it had been due, in no small measure, to the clandestine trade that was carried on through the port of La Colonia. Its capture forced the Viceroy to assume a very grave responsibility; namely, to change on his own authority the trade regulations then in force. His permission to allow certain foreign merchandise to come into Buenos Aires, an act which was later approved by the Crown, was the first recognition of the needs of the new Viceroyalty, as well as of the pressure that the colonists could bring to bear upon the mother country.
Of the Viceroys that followed Ceballos till the period of the English invasions, there is but one that deserves to be recalled here. He was Don Juan José de Vértiz, under whose administration still greater commercial freedom was granted to Buenos Aires. To take the place of the schools of the Jesuits, who were at this time expelled from Spain and the colonies, Vértiz founded in Buenos Aires the Colegio de San Carlos. It was also during his administration that the famous brothers Biedma explored Patagonia, and that the settlement of this immense region was begun, forestalling thus the plans contemplated by the English as a result of the voyages of Thomas Falkner.
The decay into which Spain had fallen towards the beginning of the nineteenth century, and the rule of the seas that England gained as a result of the battle of Trafalgar (1805), led the English to attempt the conquest of the Viceroyalty of the Plata, of whose great possibilities Falkner, upon his return to England, had given a glowing account. Sir Home Popham, therefore, who had coöperated with Sir David Baird in the occupation of the Cape, put 1635 men under the orders of General W. Beresford for the purpose of capturing Buenos Aires. The English expedition landed at Quilmes, not far from Buenos Aires, the 25th of June, 1806. The Viceroy at that time was Don Rafael de Sobremonte, one of the weakest men who had occupied that important office since the establishment of the Viceroyalty of the Plata. Instead of leading the colonies against the invader, he fled to the interior with whatever moneys he was able to gather from the treasury. Under these circumstances the English force, small as it was, easily took possession of Buenos Aires. Meanwhile, the people under the leadership of Don Santiago de Liniers and Don Juan Martín Pueyrredón, prepared to drive out the invader, and it was not long before Liniers, with the aid of forces from Montevideo, and Pueyrredón, with forces hastily raised in the province, forced Beresford to surrender unconditionally. In recognition of the valor and ability displayed by Liniers, the people chose him as their leader, forcing Sobremonte to surrender his power. This was the second time that the colonists imposed their will; the time was not distant when they should do so forever.
In July, 1807, another British expedition, composed of 12,000 soldiers, under General Whitelock, attempted to reconquer Buenos Aires. But Liniers was fully prepared to meet the new and increased forces sent to take possession of the colony. In less than a year he had been able to reorganize the scanty and demoralized forces that protected the capital. Whitelock, having effected a landing, marched upon Buenos Aires; but after much fierce street fighting, in which women and children took part, he was forced to capitulate with the loss of over 3000 of his effectives. The heroism of the people of Buenos Aires on this occasion is well attested by the testimony of Whitelock himself, who said: "Each home was a castle, and each soldier a hero."
These signal victories, which the colonists were able to obtain without any aid from the home government, coupled with their ancient dissatisfaction over the trade restrictions forced upon Buenos Aires, had a double effect: first, they inspired the colonists with a new sense of self-reliance and confidence; secondly, they heightened the old discontent, and gave rise to thoughts of independence. When, therefore, Napoleon, in 1810, dethroned Ferdinand VII, and crowned his own brother Joseph King of Spain, the occasion presented itself for the colonists to translate those sentiments of dissatisfaction into actual revolt.
Liniers was at this time Viceroy, the choice of the people having received the official sanction of the royal government. As a Frenchman, however, he was distrusted, and in his place Don Baltasar Cisneros was appointed in July, 1809. One of his first acts, the throwing open of the commerce of the Viceroyalty to all nations, quieted for a while the general discontent, and gained for the new Viceroy a certain measure of popularity. But his harshness in repressing an outbreak that took place in La Paz (Bolivia), in February of 1810, lost him at once the prestige he had at first won.
The minds of the multitude were irrevocably bent on separation; men like Belgrano, Castelli, Chiclana, Paso, Rodríguez Peña, were secretly working for the independence of the provinces. On the 25th of May, 1810, after news had been received of the complete subjugation of Spain, the people _en masse_ demanded the deposition of Cisneros, and a committee presided over by Cornelio Saavedra was appointed to take the reins of government. Castelli, Belgrano, Azcuénaga, Alberti, Matheu y Larra, were the other members of this Junta, and Paso and Moreno were its secretaries. Thus the change in government was carried out, in form at least, by a mass meeting of the population of Buenos Aires.
The task of the newly established government was indeed an arduous one; for, not only did it have to defend its authority against Spain, but also to make its power felt and obeyed by the provinces of the interior. The first task was accomplished when the Spaniards were finally driven from South America; the carrying out of the second task brought on a second revolution, a fratricidal strife, which came very near establishing in Argentina a number of petty and insignificant states instead of a united, strong nation. In this second struggle, though in principle the battle was lost for Buenos Aires (since the federal form of government is the one that obtains to-day in Argentina), the leadership of the capital remained unquestionably established so far as initiative and spiritual ascendancy are concerned.
Buenos Aires set out, as Rome had done, to expand politically from a city-state into a vast republican state. She partly failed in this, as is evidenced by the withdrawal of Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia from the old Viceroyalty of the Plata, but, as we have said, she succeeded in establishing, if not the political hegemony of the Plata, the undisputed spiritual leadership, and the proud claim of being the second largest and wealthiest Latin city in the world, and the greatest in all the Southern Hemisphere.
We shall attempt to trace briefly: first, the steps by which the Spaniards were expelled from the South American countries; second, the steps by which the provinces of the Plata emerged from the chaos of civil strife, and came, after the battle of Pavón, to enjoy the sweet fruits of peace.
After the deposition of Cisneros, the provisional Junta sent out circulars to the provinces, asking for their recognition of its authority. The provinces, save Uruguay and Paraguay, signified their support of the new government. From the very beginning, then, these two provinces showed a tendency not to accept the leadership of Buenos Aires. Furthermore, not long thereafter, when it became known that the Junta aimed at separation, the province of Córdoba and those of Alto Perú (Bolivia) joined with Uruguay and Paraguay in their opposition to the provisional government. The "Tory" reaction was thus not long in manifesting itself.