Part 42

"In the year 1580 the foundations of a lasting city were laid at Buenos Ayres by De Garay on the same situation as had twice previously been chosen—namely, by Mendoza, and by Cabeza de Vaca, respectively. The same leader had before this founded the settlement of Sante Fe on the Paraná. The site selected for the future capital of the Pampas is probably one of the worst ever chosen for a city … has probably the worst harbour in the world for a large commercial town. … Notwithstanding the inconvenience of its harbour, Buenos Ayres soon became the chief commercial entrepôt of the Valley of the Plata. The settlement was not effected without some severe fighting between De Garay's force and the Querandies. The latter, however, were effectually quelled. … The Spaniards were now nominally masters of the Rio de La Plata, but they had still to apprehend hostilities on the part of the natives between their few and far-distant settlements [concerning which see PARAGUAY: A. D. 1515-1557]. Of this liability De Garay himself was to form a lamentable example. On his passage back to Asuncion, having incautiously landed to sleep near the ruins of the old fort of San Espiritu, he was surprised by a party of natives and murdered, with all his companions. The death of this brave Biscayan was mourned as a great loss by the entire colony. The importance of the cities founded by him was soon apparent; and in 1620 all the settlements south of the confluence of the rivers Parana and Paraguay were formed into a separate, independent government, under the name of Rio de La Plata, of which Buenos Ayres was declared the capital. This city likewise became the seat of a bishopric. … The merchants of Seville, who had obtained a monopoly of the supply of Mexico and Peru, regarded with much jealousy the prospect of a new opening for the South American trade by way of La Plata," and procured restrictions upon it which were relaxed in 1618 so far as to permit the sending of two vessels of 100 tons each every year to Spain, but subject to a duty of 50 per cent. "Under this miserable commercial legislation Buenos Ayres continued to languish for the first century of its existence. In 1715, after the treaty of Utrecht, the English … obtained the 'asiento' or contract for supplying Spanish colonies in America with African slaves, in virtue of which they had permission to form an establishment at Buenos Ayres, and to send thither annually four ships with 1,200 negroes, the value of which they might export in produce of the country. They were strictly forbidden to introduce other goods than those necessary for their own establishments; but under the temptation of gain on the one side and of demand on the other, the asiento ships naturally became the means of transacting a considerable contraband trade. … {126} The English were not the only smugglers in the river Plate. By the treaty of Utrecht, the Portuguese had obtained the important settlement of Colonia [the first settlement of the Banda Oriental—or 'Eastern Border'—afterwards called Uruguay] directly facing Buenos Ayres. … The Portuguese, … not contented with the possession of Colonia … commenced a more important settlement near Monte Video. From this place they were dislodged by Zavala [Governor of Buenos Ayres], who, by order of his government, proceeded to establish settlements at that place and at Maldonado. Under the above-detailed circumstances of contention … was founded the healthy and agreeable city of Monte Video. … The inevitable consequence of this state of things was fresh antagonism between the two countries, which it was sought to put an end to by a treaty between the two nations concluded in 1750. One of the articles stipulated that Portugal should cede to Spain all of her establishments on the eastern bank of the Plata; in return for which she was to receive the seven missionary towns [known as the 'Seven Reductions'] on the Uruguay. But … the inhabitants of the Missions naturally rebelled against the idea of being handed over to a people known to them only by their slave-dealing atrocities. … The result was that when 2,000 natives had been slaughtered [in the war known as the War of the Seven Reductions] and their settlements reduced to ruins, the Portuguese repudiated the compact, as they could no longer receive their equivalent, and they still therefore retained Colonia. When hostilities were renewed in 1762, the governor of Buenos Ayres succeeded in possessing himself of Colonia; but in the following year it was restored to the Portuguese, who continued in possession until 1777, when it was definitely ceded to Spain. The continual encroachments of the Portuguese in the Rio de La Plata, and the impunity with which the contraband trade was carried on, together with the questions to which it constantly gave rise with foreign governments, had long shown the necessity for a change in the government of that colony; for it was still under the superintendence of the Viceroy of Peru, residing at Lima, 3,000 miles distant. The Spanish authorities accordingly resolved to give fresh force to their representatives in the Rio de La Plata; and in 1776 they took the important resolution to sever the connection between the provinces of La Plata and the Viceroyalty of Peru. The former were now erected into a new Viceroyalty, the capital of which was Buenos Ayres. … To this Viceroyalty was appointed Don Pedro Cevallos, a former governor of Buenos Ayres. … The first act of Cevallos was to take possession of the island of St. Katherine, the most important Portuguese possession on the coast of Brazil. Proceeding thence to the Plate, he razed the fortifications of Colonia to the ground, and drove the Portuguese from the neighbourhood. In October of the following year, 1777, a treaty of peace was signed at St. Ildefonso, between Queen Maria of Portugal and Charles III. of Spain, by virtue of which St. Katherine's was restored to the latter country, whilst Portugal withdrew from the Banda Oriental or Uruguay, and relinquished all pretensions to the right of navigating the Rio de La Plata and its affluents beyond its own frontier line. … The Viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres was sub-divided into the provinces of—(1.) Buenos Ayres, the capital of which was the city of that name, and which comprised the Spanish possessions that now form the Republic of Uruguay, as well as the Argentine provinces of Buenos Ayres, Santa Fé, Entre Rios, and Corrientes; (2.) Paraguay, the capital of which was Asuncion, and which comprised what is now the Republic of Paraguay; (3.) Tucuman, the capital of which was St. Iago del Estero, and which included what are to-day the Argentine provinces of Cordova, Tucuman, St. Iago, Salta, Catamarca, Rioja, and Jujuy; (4.) Las Charcas or Potosi, the capital of which was La Plata, and which now forms the Republic of Bolivia; and (5.) Chiquito or Cuyo, the capital of which was Mendoza, and in which were comprehended the present Argentine provinces of St. Luiz, Mendoza, and St. Juan."

_R. G. Watson, Spanish and Portuguese South America, volumes 13-14._

ALSO IN: _E. J. Payne, History of European Colonies, chapter 17._

_S. H. Wilcocke, History of the Viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres._

ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1806-1820. The English invasion. The Revolution. Independence achieved. Confederation of the Provinces of the Plate River and its dissolution.

"The trade of the Plate River had enormously increased since the substitution of register ships for the annual flotilla, and the erection of Buenos Ayres into a viceroyalty in 1778; but it was not until the war of 1797 that the English became aware of its real extent. The British cruisers had enough to do to maintain the blockade: and when the English learned that millions of hides were rotting in the warehouses of Monte Video and Buenos Ayres, they concluded that the people would soon see that their interests would be best served by submission to the great naval power. The peace put an end to these ideas; but Pitt's favourite project for destroying Spanish influence in South America by the English arms was revived and put in execution soon after the opening of the second European war in 1803. In 1806 … he sent a squadron to the Plate River, which offered the best point of attack to the British fleet, and the road to the most promising of the Spanish colonies. The English, under General Beresford, though few in number, soon took Buenos Ayres, for the Spaniards, terrified at the sight of British troops, surrendered without knowing how insignificant the invading force really was. When they found this out, they mustered courage to attack Beresford in the citadel; and the English commander was obliged to evacuate the place. The English soon afterwards took possession of Monte Video, on the other side of the river. Here they were joined by another squadron, who were under orders, after reducing Buenos Ayres, to sail round the Horn, to take Valparaiso, and establish posts across the continent connecting that city with Buenos Ayres, thus executing the long-cherished plan of Lord Anson. Buenos Ayres was therefore invested a second time. But the English land forces were too few for their task. The Spaniards spread all round the city strong breastworks of ox hides, and collected all their forces for its defence. Buenos Ayres was stormed by the English at two points on the 5th of July, 1807; but they were unable to hold their ground against the unceasing fire of the Spaniards, who were greatly superior in numbers, and the next day they capitulated, and agreed to evacuate the province within two months. {127} The English had imagined that the colonists would readily flock to their standard, and throw off the yoke of Spain. This was a great mistake; and it needed the events of 1808 to lead the Spanish colonists to their independence. … In 1810, when it came to be known that the French armies had crossed the Sierra Morena, and that Spain was a conquered country, the colonists would no longer submit to the shadowy authority of the colonial officers, and elected a junta of their own to carry on the Government. Most of the troops in the colony went over to the cause of independence, and easily overcame the feeble resistance that was made by those who remained faithful to the regency in the engagement of Las Piedras. The leaders of the revolution were the advocate Castelli and General Belgrano; and under their guidance scarcely any obstacle stopped its progress. They even sent their armies at once into Upper Peru and the Banda Oriental, and their privateers carried the Independent flag to the coasts of the Pacific; but these successes were accompanied by a total anarchy in the Argentine capital and provinces. The most intelligent and capable men had gone off to fight for liberty elsewhere; and even if they had remained it would have been no easy task to establish a new government over the scattered and half-civilized population of this vast country. … The first result of independence was the formation of a not very intelligent party of country proprietors, who knew nothing of the mysteries of politics, and were not ill-content with the existing order of things. The business of the old viceroyal government was delegated to a supreme Director; but this functionary was little more than titular. How limited the aspirations of the Argentines at first were may be gathered from the instructions with which Belgrano and Rivadavia were sent to Europe in 1814. They were to go to England, and ask for an English protectorate; if possible under an English prince. They were next to try the same plan in France, Austria, and Russia, and lastly in Spain itself: and if Spain still refused, were to offer to renew the subjection of the colony, on condition of certain specified concessions being made. This was indeed a strange contrast to the lofty aspirations of the Colombians. On arriving at Rio, the Argentine delegates were assured by the English minister, Lord Strangford, that, as things were, no European power would do anything for them: nor did they succeed better in Spain itself. Meanwhile the government of the Buenos Ayres junta was powerless outside the town, and the country was fast lapsing into the utmost disorder and confusion. At length, when Government could hardly be said to exist at all, a general congress of the provinces of the Plate River assembled at Tucuman in 1816. It was resolved that all the states should unite in a confederation to be called the United Provinces of the Plate River: and a constitution was elaborated, in imitation of the famous one of the United States, providing for two legislative chambers and a president. … The influence of the capital, of which all the other provinces were keenly jealous, predominated in the congress; and Puyrredon, an active Buenos Ayres politician, was made supreme Director of the Confederation. The people of Buenos Ayres thought their city destined to exercise over the rural provinces a similar influence to that which Athens, under similar circumstances, had exercised in Greece; and able Buenos Ayreans like Puyrredon, San Martin, and Rivadavia, now became the leaders of the unitary party. The powerful provincials, represented by such men as Lopez and Quiroga, soon found out that the Federal scheme meant the supremacy of Buenos Ayres, and a political change which would deprive them of most of their influence. The Federal system, therefore, could not be expected to last very long; and it did in fact collapse after four years. Artigas led the revolt in the Banda Oriental [now Uruguay], and the Riverene Provinces soon followed the example. For a long time the provinces were practically under the authority of their local chiefs, the only semblance of political life being confined to Buenos Ayres itself."

_E. J. Payne, History of European Colonies, chapter 17._

ALSO IN: _M. G. Mulhall, The English in South America, chapters 10-13, and 16-18._

_J. Miller, Memoirs of General Miller, chapter 3 (volume 1)._

_T. J. Page, La Plata, the Argentine Confederation and Paraguay, chapter 31._

ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1819-1874. Anarchy, civil war, despotism. The long struggle for order and Confederation.

"A new Congress met in 1819 and made a Constitution for the country, which was never adopted by all the Provinces. Pueyrredon resigned, and on June 10th, 1819, José Rondeau was elected, who, however, was in no condition to pacify the civil war which had broken out during the government of his predecessors. At the commencement of 1830, the last 'Director General' was overthrown; the municipality of the city of Buenos-Aires seized the government; the Confederation was declared dissolved, and each of its Provinces received liberty to organize itself as it pleased. This was anarchy officially proclaimed. After the fall in the same year of some military chiefs who had seized the power, General Martin Rodriguez was named Governor of Buenos-Aires, and he succeeded in establishing some little order in this chaos. He chose M. J. Garcia and Bernardo Rivadavia—one of the most enlightened Argentines of his times—as his Ministers. This administration did a great deal of good by exchanging conventions of friendship and commerce, and entering into diplomatic relations with foreign nations. At the end of his term General Las Heras—9th May, 1824—took charge of the government, and called a Constituent Assembly of all the Provinces, which met at Buenos-Aires, December 16th, and elected Bernardo Rivadavia President of the newly Confederated Republic on the 7th February, 1825. This excellent Argentine, however, found no assistance in the Congress. No understanding could be come to on the form or the test of the Constitution, nor yet upon the place of residence for the national Government. Whilst Rivadavia desired a centralized Constitution—called here 'unintarian'—and that the city of Buenos-Aires should be declared capital of the Republic, the majority of Congress held a different opinion, and this divergence caused the resignation of the President on the 5th July, 1827. After this event, the attempt to establish a Confederation which would include all the Provinces was considered as defeated, and each Province went on its own way, whilst Buenos-Aires elected Manuel Dorrego, the chief of the federal party, for its Governor. {128} He was inaugurated on the 13th August, 1827, and at once undertook to organize a new Confederation of the Provinces, opening relations to this end with the Government of Cordoba, the most important Province of the interior. He succeeded in reëstablishing repose in the interior, and was instrumental in preserving a general peace, even beyond the limits of his young country. The Emperor of Brazil did not wish to acknowledge the rights of the United Provinces over the Cisplatine province, or Banda Oriental [now Uruguay]. He wished to annex it to his empire, and declared war to the Argentine Republic on the 10th of December, 1826. An army was soon organized by the latter, under the command of General Alvear, which on the 20th of February, 1827, gained a complete victory over the Brazilian forces—twice their number—at the plains of Ituzaingó, in the Brazilian province of Rio Grande do Sul. The navy of the Argentines also triumphed on several occasions, so that when England offered her intervention, Brazil renounced all claim to the territory of Uruguay by the convention of the 27th August, 1828, and the two parties agreed to recognize and to maintain the neutrality and independence of that country. Dorrego, however, had but few sympathies in the army, and a short time after his return from Brazil, the soldiers under Lavalle rebelled and forced him to fly to the country on the 1st December of the same year. There he found aid from the Commander General of the country districts, Juan Manuel Rosas, and formed a small battalion with the intention of marching on the city of Buenos-Aires. But Lavalle triumphed, took him prisoner, and shot him without trial on the 13th December. … Not only did the whole interior of the province of Buenos-Aires rise against Lavalle, under the direction of Rosas, but also a large part of other Provinces considered this event as a declaration of war, and the National Congress, then assembled at Santa-Fé, declared Lavalle's government illegal. The two parties fought with real fury, but in 1829, after an interview between Rosas and Lavalle, a temporary reconciliation was effected. … The legislature of Buenos-Aires, which had been convoked on account of the reconciliation between Lavalle and Rosas, elected the latter as Governor of the Province, on December 6th, 1829, and accorded to him extraordinary powers. … During this the first period of his government he did not appear in his true nature, and at its conclusion he refused a re-election and retired to the country. General Juan R. Balcarce was then—17th December, 1832—named Governor, but could only maintain himself some eleven months: Viamont succeeded him, also for a short time only. Now the moment had come for Rosas. He accepted the almost unlimited Dictatorship which was offered to him on the 7th March, 1835, and reigned in a horrible manner, like a madman, until his fall. Several times the attempt was made to deliver Buenos-Aires from his terrible yoke, and above all the devoted and valiant efforts of General Lavalle deserve to be mentioned; but all was in vain; Rosas remained unshaken. Finally, General Justo José De Urquiza, Governor of the province of Entre-Rios, in alliance with the province of Corrientes and the Empire of Brazil, rose against the Dictator. He first delivered the Republic of Uruguay, and the city of Monte Video—the asylum of the adversaries of Rosas—from the army which besieged it, and thereafter passing the great river Parana, with a relatively large army, he completely defeated Rosas at Monte-Caseros, near Buenos-Aires, on the 3rd February, 1852. During the same day, Rosas sought and received the protection of an English war-vessel which was in the road of Buenos-Aires, in which he went to England, where he still [1876] resides. Meantime Urquiza took charge of the Government of the United Provinces, under the title of 'Provisional Director,' and called a general meeting of the Governors at San Nicolás, a frontier village on the north of the province of Buenos-Aires. This assemblage confirmed him in his temporary power, and called a National Congress which met at Santa-Fé and made a National Constitution under date of 25th May, 1853. By virtue of this Constitution the Congress met again the following year at Parana, a city of Entre-Rios, which had been made the capital, and on the 5th May, elected General Urquiza the first President of the Argentine Confederation. … The important province of Buenos-Aires, however, had taken no part in the deliberations of the Congress. Previously, on the 11th September 1852, a revolution against Urquiza, or rather against the Provincial Government in alliance with him, had taken place and caused a temporary separation of the Province from the Republic. Several efforts to pacify the disputes utterly failed, and a battle took place at Cepeda in Santa-Fé, wherein Urquiza, who commanded the provincial troops, was victorious, although his success led to no definite result. A short time after, the two armies met again at Pavon—near the site of the former battle—and Buenos-Aires won the day. This secured the unity of the Republic of which the victorious General Bartolomé Mitre was elected President for six years from October, 1862. At the same time the National Government was transferred from Paraná to Buenos-Aires, and the latter was declared the temporary capital of the Nation. The Republic owes much to the Government of Mitre, and it is probable that he would have done more good, if war had not broken out with Paraguay, in 1865 [see PARAGUAY]. The Argentines took part in it as one of the three allied States against the Dictator of Paraguay, Francisco Solano Lopez. On the 12th October, 1868, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento succeeded General Mitre in the Presidency. … The 12th October, 1874, Dr. Nicolas Avellaneda succeeded him in the Government."

_R. Napp, The Argentine Republic, chapter 2._

ALSO IN: _D. F. Sarmiento, Life in the Argentine Republic in the Days of the Tyrants._

_J. A. King, Twenty-four years in the Argentine Republic._

{129}

ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1880-1891. The Constitution and its working. Governmental corruption. The Revolution of 1890, and the financial collapse.