United Provinces of the Río de la Plata

The United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (Spanish: Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata), earlier known as the United Provinces of South America (Spanish: Provincias Unidas de Sudamérica), a union of provinces in the Río de la Plata region of South America, emerged from the May Revolution in 1810 and the Argentine War of Independence of 1810–1818. It comprised most of the former Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata dependencies and had Buenos Aires as its capital.

United Provinces of the Río de la Plata
(United Provinces of South America)

Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata
(Provincias Unidas de Sudamérica)
1810–1831
CapitalBuenos Aires
(1810–1820)
(1826–1827)
Common languagesSpanish
Religion
Christianity
GovernmentMonarchy (nominally) (1810–1816)
Republic (1816–1831)
King Ferdinand VII of Spain (nominally)
(1810-1816)
Provisional Juntas
(1810–1812)
Triumvirates
(1812–1814)
Supreme Directorship
(1814–1820)
Presidency
(1826–1827)		 
Historical eraNapoleonic Wars
1806–1807
25 May 1810
9 July 1816
• Battle of Cepeda
End of centralized authority
1 February 1820
8 February 1826
• Treaty of Montevideo
Independence of Uruguay
28 August 1828
• Pacto Federal
4 January 1831
CurrencyReal (from 1813)
Sol (from 1815)
Peso fuerte (from 1826)
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
Argentine Confederation
Bolivia
Empire of Brazil

It is best known in Spanish-language literature as Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata ("United Provinces of the River Plate" i. e. River of silver), this being the most common (occasionally the official) name in use for the country until the enactment of the 1826 Constitution. The Argentine National Anthem refers to the state as "the United Provinces of the South". The Constitution of Argentina recognises Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata as one of the official names of the country, referred to as "Argentine Nation" (Nación Argentina) in modern legislation.[1]

Description

The United Provinces of South America were bordered on the south by the sparsely populated territories of the Pampas and Patagonia, home to the Mapuche, Ranquel and Puelche peoples. To the north, the Gran Chaco was populated by the Guaycuru nations. To the northwest, across the Upper Peru, lay the Spanish Viceroyalty of Perú. Across the Andes, to the west, was the Spanish-controlled Captaincy General of Chile. To the northeast was Colonial Brazil, a part of the Portuguese Empire (in 1815, the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves), later the Empire of Brazil in 1821.

Government

The change from the Viceroyalty into the United Provinces was not merely a change of governors, but a revolutionary process that would replace the absolutist monarchy with a republic. The main influences in this were the Enlightenment in Spain, promoting new ideas, and the Peninsular War that left Spain without a legitimate king after the Abdications of Bayonne. The concept of separation of powers gradually became a tool to prevent despotism.[2](p12)

The new political situation generated great political conflict between the cities for two reasons. First, the vacatio regis removed the sovereignty from the King of Spain, but there was no clear view about who and how would be able to claim such sovereignty. Some people thought that it passed to other offices of the Spanish monarchy, while others held the notion of the retroversion of the sovereignty to the people: sovereignty returned to the people, who had now the right to self-governance. The vertical organization of the absolutist monarchy was compromised as well. Patriots thought that all cities, both in Spain and in the Americas, had the right to self-government, whereas Royalists assigned that right only to cities in European Spain, holding that the Americas should stay subject to the new government that Spain would provide.[2](p14)

The other source of conflict was the nature of the new governments, which declared themselves to be provisional during the King's absence but were making strong changes in the political organization. Unlike the First Republic of Venezuela, which declared independence early on, the United Provinces were faced with the inconsistency of acting like an independent state without actually having declared such independence.

History
See also: May Revolution and Argentine war of independence

The United Provinces of the Río de la Plata were established through a lengthy process that started in May 1810, when the citizens and militias of Buenos Aires, the capital city of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, ousted the Spanish Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros in the May Revolution. Although there was not a formal declaration of independence at the time, and the government that emerged from the revolution declared loyalty to the deposed king Ferdinand VII, in fact it attempted to reorganise the social, political and economic structures of the Viceroyalty. As it faced immediate resistance in some quarters (namely the Banda Oriental, under self-proclaimed Viceroy Javier de Elío, Córdoba under former Viceroy Santiago de Liniers, the local government of Asunción in Paraguay and, notably, the royalist forces from the Viceroyalty of Perú), the revolution soon turned to be a War of Independence.

Battle of Maipú, 1819

In the midst of the war of independence, during the entire 1810–1831 period there were serious conflicts among ever-changing factions regarding the organization of the state and the political aims of the revolutionary governments. These conflicts involved coups d'état, mutinies, politically motivated trials, banishments and imprisonments and finally developed into an outright civil war.

United Provinces in the 1820s as understood by political cartographers at the time. 1821: Carte physique et politique de l'Amérique méridionale.[3] 1822: The American Atlas by Carey & Lea. 1825: South America by Fisher.

Initial revolutionary governments
Main articles: Primera Junta, Junta Grande, Cry of Asencio, and First Triumvirate (Argentina)
See also: Cornelio Saavedra, Mariano Moreno, Juan José Castelli, and Paraguay campaign

Ever since the revolution, there were serious conflicts among diverging views regarding the political organization of the provinces. While some advocated a strong and executive central government with little accountability to the regional interests, a position at first favored by the "enlightened" revolutionary and independentist elements, others sought to integrate representatives from the provinces in a larger deliberative assembly. As the latter position gained the upper hand, the Primera Junta grew to incorporate delegates from the provinces in 1811. However, as it became evident that such an arrangement was not effective enough to lead the war efforts, a triumvirate assumed executive powers while the assembly retained some controlling functions.

Assembly of the year XIII
United Provinces represented at the 1813 Congress.
Main articles: Revolution of October 8, 1812; Second Triumvirate (Argentina); and Assembly of the year XIII
See also: Army of the North and Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers

Supreme Directorship
Main article: Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata
See also: Army of the Andes and Carlos María de Alvear

Declaration of independence
Main articles: Congress of Tucumán and Argentine declaration of independence
See also: Inca Plan and Juan Martín de Pueyrredón

Liga Federal
Main articles: Liga Federal and Argentine Civil War

The Liga Federal (1815–1820), or Liga de los Pueblos Libres (League of the Free Peoples), was an alliance of provinces in what is now Argentina and Uruguay, organised under democratic federalist ideals strongly advocated by its leader, José Gervasio Artigas.

The government of the United Provinces of South America felt threatened by the growing appeal of the Liga Federal, so they did nothing to repel the incoming Portuguese invasion of Misiones Orientales and the Banda Oriental, the stronghold of Artigas. Brazilian General Carlos Frederico Lecor, thanks to their numerical and material superiority, defeated Artigas and his army and occupied Montevideo on January 20, 1817, but the struggle continued for three long years in the countryside. Infuriated by the passivity of Buenos Aires, Artigas declared war on Buenos Aires while he was losing to the Portuguese.

On February 1, 1820, Federal League governors Francisco Ramírez of Entre Ríos and Estanislao López of Santa Fe, defeated a Supreme Directorship diminished army, ending the centralized government of the United Provinces, and established a federal agreement with Buenos Aires Province. Similarly, the Federal League effectively came to an end when its constituent provinces rejoined the United Provinces.

Artigas, defeated by the Portuguese, retreated to Entre Ríos. From there, he denounced the Treaty of Pilar and entered into conflict with his former ally governor Ramírez, who crushed the remnants of Artigas' army. The former Protector of the Free Peoples was exiled in Paraguay until his death. The Eastern Province was annexed by Portugal to its Brazilian dependences in 1821.

Anarchy of the year XX
See also: Argentine Constitution of 1819, Battle of Cepeda (1820), and Treaty of Pilar

First presidency
See also: Bernardino Rivadavia

War with Brazil and Independence of Uruguay
Main articles: Cisplatine War and 1828 Treaty of Montevideo

Resumption of the Civil War
Main articles: Argentine civil wars, Unitarian League, and Pacto Federal
See also: Manuel Dorrego, Juan Lavalle, José María Paz, Juan Manuel de Rosas, and Argentine Confederation

Break up of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata

The result of the wars was the independence of the provinces. Several new nations appeared:

Bolivia

Five provinces would go on to become Bolivia:

Uruguay

The Eastern Province (Provincia Oriental) became independent as Uruguay, partly retaining its old name in its official name: the Eastern Republic of Uruguay.

Brazil

Misiones Orientales was de jure recognized as Brazilian, following the outcome of the Cisplatine War.

Argentina

Following a long civil war, the following provinces joined to become the Argentine Republic:

Falkland Islands
Main article: Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute

The United Provinces attempted to control the islands through commerce, granting fishing and hunting rights to Jorge Pacheco in 1824. Pacheco's partner Luis Vernet established a toehold in the islands in 1826 and a fledgling colony in 1828. He also visited the British consulate in 1826, 1828 and 1829 seeking endorsement of his venture and a garrison.[4](p48)[5] In 1829, he sought a naval vessel from the United Provinces to protect his colony but as none were available he was appointed Military and Civil Commander, prompting British protests.[4](p51)[6] Attempts to regulate fishing and sealing lead to conflict with the United States and the Lexington raid of 1831.[7] With the colony in disarray, Major Esteban Mestivier was tasked to set up a penal colony but was murdered in a mutiny shortly after arriving in 1832.[8](p50) Protests at Mestivier's appointment received no response and so the British dispatched a naval squadron to re-establish British rule.[8](p51)

See also

References
  1. The Constitution: "Art. 35.- Las denominaciones adoptadas sucesivamente desde 1810 hasta el presente, a saber: Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata; República Argentina, Confederación Argentina, serán en adelante nombres oficiales indistintamente para la designación del Gobierno y territorio de las provincias, empleándose las palabras "Nación Argentina" en la formación y sanción de las leyes."
    ("Article 35. The denominations successively adopted from 1810 to the present – United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and Argentine Republic, Argentine Confederation – shall henceforth be interchangeable official names to describe the Government and territory of the provinces. The phrase "Argentine Nation" is used for the formulation and the enactment of laws.")
  2. Ternavasio, Marcela; Luis Alberto Romero (2007). Gobernar la Revolución. Buenos Aires: Siglo veintiuno editores. ISBN 978-987-1220-96-0.
  3. Brué, Adrien-Hubert (1821), Carte physique et politique de l'Amérique méridionale : Physical and political map of South America (in French), Goujon, OCLC 494185362
  4. Cawkell, Mary (2001). The History of the Falkland Islands. Anthony Nelson. ISBN 978-0-904614-55-8.
  5. "February 1833: Parallel truths in parallel universes — can that be the only explanation? - BuenosAiresHerald.com". Buenosairesherald.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  6. Ricardo Rodolfo Caillet-Bois (1952). Las Islas Malvinas: una tierra argentina. Ediciones Peuser., p. 209
  7. Peterson, Harold (1964). Argentina and the United States 1810–1960. New York: University Publishers Inc. ISBN 978-0-87395-010-7., p.106
  8. Graham-Yooll, Andrew (2002). Imperial Skirmishes: War and Gunboat Diplomacy in Latin America. Oxford, England: Signal Books Limited. ISBN 978-1-902669-21-2.

Bibliography
  • Símbolos Nacionales de la República Argentina ISBN 950-691-036-7

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