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53-720: 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 ), was a name adopted in 1816 by the Congress of Tucumán for the region of South America that declared independence in 1816, with the Sovereign Congress taking place in 1813, during the Argentine War of Independence (1810–1818) that began with

106-686: A Constitution in 1819 , but the Constitution was rejected and the Congress was dissolved in 1820 after the Federal League Provinces of Santa Fe and Entre Ríos defeated a diminished Directorship army at the Battle of Cepeda , that staged the Unitarian (v.g. Centralist ) versus Federal conflict on the battlefield. The house where the declaration made was rebuilt and is now a museum and monument. It

159-696: 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

212-733: A change of governors, but a revolutionary process that would replace the Spanish monarchy with an independent 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. The new political situation generated great political conflict between

265-510: A consequence of the treaty of Montevideo , partly retaining its old name in its official name: the Eastern Republic of Uruguay. Due to the text of the aforementioned treaty, United Provinces and Imperial Brazil both renounced their claims to the province and agreed to grant it independence, but the treaty did not include nor ask the Orientals' opinion, and also omitted to detail the borders of

318-455: A customs office in 1778, and Montevideo in 1789. Spanish policy still was directed at restricting Argentina's commerce; the Empire banned the export of silver from Buenos Aires and tried to direct exports out of Potosí . The system of corregimientos to mark the subdivisions of the territory was ended in 1782, and replaced with Intendencias by Charles III. The new system was intended to reinforce

371-596: A fierce fight. In May Lt. Gen. John Whitelock arrived to take overall command and attacked Buenos Aires on 5 July 1807. After losing more than half his force, who were killed or captured, Whitelock signed a cease-fire and departed for Great Britain . The criollo bourgeoisie aspirations in the face of lack of support from Spain and the defeat of a world power by local forces added to their confidence and fueled their movement toward independence. As of 1814, Argentina had been self-governed for about four years, and Paraguay had already declared its independence. The viceroyalty

424-466: A list of Spanish ports allowed to trade with each other, certain Spanish American products were imported tax-free to Spain, and all the cities with ports were to be assigned Consulates or Tribunals of Commerce. This was not free trade , but a predecessor to what would develop. In the decade of 1778–1788, the commerce between Spain and Spanish America increased by nearly 700%. Buenos Aires was given

477-599: A name that was intended to appeal and eventually incorporate other Spanish American independentist regions that were not represented at the Congress. At that time, the President of the Congress was Francisco Narciso de Laprida , delegate from San Juan Province . Subsequent discussions centred on the form of government that the young state should have and were the Congress and the executive power should reside. The congress continued its work in Buenos Aires since 1817 and issued

530-607: Is best known in Argentinean 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 name (since 1811) 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

583-519: Is known as the " House of Tucumán ". Viceroyalty of the R%C3%ADo de la Plata The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata ( Spanish : Virreinato del Río de la Plata or Spanish : Virreinato de las Provincias del Río de la Plata ) meaning "River of the Silver", also called the " Viceroyalty of River Plate " in some scholarly writings, in southern South America, was the last to be organized and also

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636-532: The Buenos Aires Junta seditious. However, after being defeated at Las Piedras , he retained control only of Colonia del Sacramento and Montevideo. He departed by ship to Spain on 18 November and resigned in January 1812. In 1814, the revolutionary patriots entered Montevideo, following a two-year-long siege . The Viceroyalty was disestablished in 1825 as Spanish political entity with the fall of Upper Peru and

689-600: The Kingdom of Portugal . But these Enlightenment reforms proved counterproductive, or perhaps too late, to quell the colonies' demands. The entire history of this Viceroyalty was marked by growing domestic unrest and political instability. Between 1780 and 1782, the Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II inspired a violent Aymara -led revolt across the Upper Peru highlands, demonstrating the great resentment against colonial authorities by both

742-672: The May Revolution in 1810. It originally comprised rebellious territories of the former Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata dependencies and had Buenos Aires as its capital. The name "Provincias del Río de la Plata" (formally adopted during the Cortes of Cádiz to designate the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata) alludes to the Junta Provisional Gubernativa de las Provincias del Río de la Plata or Primera Junta . It

795-617: The May Revolution of 1810, the Viceroy had been replaced by the Primera Junta . The provinces had been moving towards full independence but royalist forces from the Viceroyalty of Peru have had the upper hand in the Upper Peru and were threatening the revolution. On April 15, 1815, a revolution ended the mandate of Carlos María de Alvear and called a General Congress. Delegate deputies, each representing 15,000 inhabitants, were sent from all

848-805: The Upper Peru , lay the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru . 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. The change from the Viceroyalty into the United Provinces was not merely

901-617: The mestizo and indigenous populations. Twenty-five years later, the Criollos , native-born people of Spanish descent, successfully defended against two successive British attempts to conquer Buenos Aires and Montevideo . This enhanced their sense of autonomy and power at a time when Spanish troops were unable to help. In 1809, the Criollo elite revolted against colonial authorities at La Paz and Chuquisaca , establishing revolutionary governments or juntas . Although short-lived, retroversion of

954-660: The provinces to the sessions that started on March 24, 1816. Nevertheless, some territories that formerly belonged to the Viceroyalty of the River Plate did not take part in the Congress: the delegates from the Banda Oriental ('Eastern Bank', today Uruguay ) and other Liga Federal provinces, faithful to the democratic federalist project of José Gervasio Artigas were rejected based on formalities; Paraguay had already proclaimed its independence from Spain and remained isolated from

1007-705: The Americas between the Iberian nations. From 1580 to 1640, Spain had controlled Portugal and thus all of its territories in America. In 1681 José de Garro quickly attacked and seized the new fort for Spain . On 7 May 1681, under the Provisional Treaty of Lisbon , it was ceded to Portugal . The Viceroyalty of Peru was requiring all commerce to go through the port of Lima , on the Pacific Ocean. This policy failed to develop

1060-502: The Continent preoccupied the Spanish government and, after its defeat, Napoleon placed his brother Joseph on the Spanish throne. By 1805, Spain had to help France because of their 1795 alliance , and lost its navy to the British in the Battle of Trafalgar . The Spanish prime minister had warned the viceroyalty of the likelihood of a British invasion , saying it could not provide support to

1113-598: The French colony on the Malvinas Islands, called Port St. Louis ; after assuming effective control in 1767, it placed the islands under a governor subordinate to the Buenos Aires colonial administration . The expulsion of the British settlement in 1770 brought the two countries to the brink of war but a peace treaty was offered by Spain "to restore the port and fort called Egmont, with all the artillery and stores, according to

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1166-591: The Spanish Provincias del Río de la Plata, against the resistance of Paraguay (which declared itself an independent nation in 1811) and the Upper Peru (which remained controlled by royalist troops from Lima, and was eventually re-incorporated into the Viceroyalty of Peru). Meanwhile, the Governor of Montevideo Francisco Javier de Elío , appointed as a new Viceroy by the Spanish Government in 1811, declared

1219-429: The Spanish viceroyalties in his name. In the beginning their terms had no fixed duration and could last for life. Later he established fixed terms of three to five years. Because of the distances between Spain and South America, and with sailing as the chief means of transport, there were long delays between the designation of a viceroy and the viceroy's effectively taking power. In addition, regular communication between

1272-436: The United Provinces politics. Representatives from Upper Peru Provinces (current Bolivia ) were, however, present. The congress was inaugurated in the house of Francisca Bazán de Laguna, consisted of 33 deputies, and its presidency rotated on a monthly basis. Because the congress had freedom to select the agenda, there were endless discussions. On July 9, it declared the independence of the United Provinces of South America ,

1325-442: The administration and defense of the Río de la Plata estuary ; it provided the main support but its silver production at Potosí was declining. In the first years of the viceroyalty, around 75% of the expenses were covered with revenues from the north. The Alto Plata (mostly present-day Paraguay ) also had problems with the Buenos Aires administration, particularly because of its keeping a monopoly on exports. The Napoleonic Wars on

1378-492: The cities for two reasons. First, the vacatio regis of Ferdinand VII and the French King of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte , there was no clear view about who was the king. 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 temporally. But, in 1810 under

1431-541: The city of Buenos Aires. On 27 June 1806, a British force of around 1,500 men under Col. William Carr Beresford successfully invaded Buenos Aires. Viceroy Rafael de Sobremonte had escaped to Córdoba . The British forces were thrown back by the criollos in December 1806, a militia force from Montevideo under the leadership of Santiago de Liniers . In February 1807, British reinforcements of about 8,000 men under Gen. Sir Samuel Auchmuty captured Montevideo after

1484-558: The death of the last Viceroy Pedro Antonio Olañeta . In 1680, Manuel Lobo, Portuguese governor of Rio de Janeiro , created the Department of Colonia and founded Colónia do Sacramento . The fort was located on the coast of present-day Uruguay and developed as the department's capital. Lobo's chief objective was to secure the Portuguese expansion of Brazil beyond the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas , which had defined areas of influence in

1537-429: The establishment of the new doctrine of popular sovereignty throughout the Spanish empire, the Spanish government summoned all the nations of America and Spain, to establish Spanish courts for the whole empire, but on the contrary, the patriots, under the same right of popular sovereignty, thought that any nation, both in Spain and America, had the right to self-government and to establish their own country. The freedom of

1590-580: The inventory" which was accepted by Britain. However, neither side relinquished sovereignty over the Malvinas. By the nineteenth century, Buenos Aires was becoming more self-sufficient, producing about 600,000 head of cattle annually (of which about one quarter was consumed locally). The area was rapidly developing. But wars with Great Britain meant a great setback for the region's economy, as maritime communications were practically paralyzed. The Upper Peru region started to show resistance to continued support of

1643-650: The issues between Portugal and Spain. Pedro de Cevallos conquered Colonia del Sacramento and the Santa Catarina islands after a siege of three days, gaining the First Treaty of San Ildefonso . With it, the Portuguese retired from the Río de la Plata and left the Banda Oriental for Spain. In exchange Spain ceded them the area of Rio Grande do Sul , which they developed as Brazil. Cevallos ended his military actions at this point and started working with government, but he

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1696-469: 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. The Liga Federal (1815–1820), or Liga de los Pueblos Libres (League of the Free Peoples),

1749-481: The new state what would give Brazil a chance to move its borders further south. The Constitutional Assembly approved the Constitution of Uruguay on 10 September 1829 and it was sworn by the citizens on 18 July 1830. Misiones Orientales , after years of Portuguese domain, were recovered with the 1828 Campaign of Fructuoso Rivera at the Misiones Orientales, but it was de jure recognized as Brazilian, following

1802-785: The new viceroyalty in August 1776. The ruling was resisted by the elite of Lima, but it was enforced. The cabildo of the Captaincy General of Chile requested from the king to be excluded from the new viceroyalty, which was accepted. The Cuyo region , with its main city Mendoza , was split from the Captaincy General of Chile. Leaders in Santiago resented this action as the Cuyo region had been originally settled by Spanish colonists from Chile. The Portuguese prime minister, Marquis of Pombal , encouraged

1855-609: The occupation of territory which had already been awarded to the Spanish in the Treaty of Paris (1763) , following the British defeat of France in the Seven Years' War . King Charles III quickly reacted to the advantageous conditions: France was bound to be an ally as a guarantor of the treaty, and Great Britain , due to its own colonial problems with revolution in the Thirteen Colonies in North America, maintained neutrality on

1908-602: The official names of the country, referred to as "Argentine Nation" ( Nación Argentina ) in modern legislation. 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

1961-739: The outcome of the Cisplatine War . Following a long civil war , the following provinces joined to become the Argentine Republic : Buenos Aires (The outpost of Carmen de Patagones in Patagonia is now part of Buenos Aires Province), Catamarca , Córdoba , Corrientes , Entre Ríos , Jujuy , La Rioja , Mendoza , Salta , San Juan , San Luis , Santa Fe , Santiago del Estero , and Tucumán . 34°40′00″S 58°24′00″W  /  34.6667°S 58.4000°W  / -34.6667; -58.4000 Congress of Tucum%C3%A1n Following

2014-486: The potential of Buenos Aires as an Atlantic port, adding months to the transport of goods and commodities in each direction. It resulted in encouraging widespread contraband activities in the eastern region, especially in Asunción , Buenos Aires and Montevideo . Under these conditions, Viceroy Manuel de Amat y Junyent issued a decree for the former governor of the Río de la Plata , Pedro Antonio de Cevallos , to found

2067-599: The present-day territories of Argentina , Chile , Bolivia , Paraguay and Uruguay , extending inland from the Atlantic Coast. The colony of Spanish Guinea (present-day Equatorial Guinea ) also depended administratively on the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata. Buenos Aires , located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata estuary flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, opposite the Portuguese outpost of Colonia del Sacramento ,

2120-517: The provinces of the Río de la Plata was established through a lengthy process that started in May 1810, when the citizens and militias of Buenos Aires , the capital city of the Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata , ousted the Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros in the May Revolution . Although there was not a declaration of independence at the time, and the government that emerged from

2173-611: 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. The result of the wars was the independence of the provinces. Several new nations appeared, there were: Five provinces would go on to become Bolivia: Charcas , Cochabamba , Mizque , Chichas , and Tarija . The Eastern Province ( Provincia Oriental ) became independent as Uruguay as

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2226-402: The revolution declared loyalty to the king Ferdinand VII, in fact it attempted to reorganise the social, political and economic structures of the provinces of the Río de la Plata. As it faced immediate resistance in some quarters (namely the Banda Oriental , under the new Spanish Viceroy Javier de Elío , Córdoba and Santiago de Liniers , the local government of Asunción in Paraguay and, notably,

2279-430: 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

2332-426: The royal authority and promote centralization. Buenos Aires had the main intendencia, and the other cities provincial ones. In 1778 Cevallos reinstated the Real Audiencia of Buenos Aires , by creating a new one; he maintained the Real Audiencia at Cochabamba . The Consulate of Commerce of Buenos Aires was authorized that year, but legal difficulties prevented its being established until 1794. In 1766, Spain acquired

2385-519: The royalist forces from the Viceroyalty of Perú ), the revolution soon turned to be a War of Independence . 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 . Ever since

2438-405: The shortest-lived of one of the viceroyalties of the Spanish Empire in the Americas . The name "Provincias del Río de la Plata" was formally adopted in 1810 during the Cortes of Cádiz to designate the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. The Viceroyalty was established in 1776 from several former Viceroyalty of Perú dependencies that mainly extended over the Río de la Plata Basin , roughly

2491-493: The sovereignty to the people provided a theoretical basis for the legitimacy of the locally based governments (temporarily in the absence of a legitimate king in Spain). These events proved decisive at the 1810 May Revolution events deposing Viceroy Cisneros at Buenos Aires. The name "Provincias del Río de la Plata" was formally adopted in 1810 during the Cortes of Cádiz to designate the Viceroyalty based on popular sovereignty . The revolution in Buenos Aires spread across

2544-522: 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

2597-402: 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 ,

2650-408: Was chosen as the capital. Usually considered one of the late Bourbon Reforms , the organization of this viceroyalty was motivated on both commercial grounds (Buenos Aires was by then a major spot for illegal trade ), as well as on security concerns brought about by the growing interest of competing foreign powers in the area. The Spanish Crown wanted to protect its territory against Great Britain and

2703-432: Was effectively dissolved locally when the rebel troops entered Montevideo after a two-year-long siege. The war remained in Upper Peru until 1825. The Real Audiencia of Charcas was established in 1559, but became part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776. It met in the city of La Plata until it was disestablished in 1825. It had the following provinces under its authority: The Real Audiencia of Buenos Aires

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2756-515: Was established in 1785. It met in the city of Buenos Aires until it was disestablished in 1813. It had the following provinces under its authority: The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was created in 1776 by Charles III of Spain . Although it functioned as a Spanish colony, Río de la Plata was technically a personal possession of the King of Spain . This allowed both European Spain and its overseas territories to have their own laws and regulations. The king of Spain appointed viceroys to govern

2809-505: Was soon replaced by Juan José Vertiz y Salcedo . The viceroyalty was tasked with promoting local production of linen and hemp as export commodity crops, to supply the Spanish cloth industries that the Bourbons sought to favor. The conditions imposed by Spain on local commerce were high, but Charles III sought to lighten the burden. He allowed commerce through Buenos Aires on Spanish flag ships that were manned with Spanish naval officers. The ports of Buenos Aires and Montevideo were included in

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