Juan Manuel de Rosas
Encyclopedia
Juan Manuel de Rosas was an argentine militar and politician, who was elected governor of the province of Buenos Aires in 1829 to 1835, and then of the Argentine Confederation
from 1835 until 1852. He was forced to resign after his defeat at the Battle of Caseros
against an army gathered by Justo José de Urquiza
.
region, Rosas ran away from home at a young age and began working in the fields of his cousins Juan José and Nicolás Anchorena. He modified his last name from "Rozas" to "Rosas" and removed the "Ortiz" part of it. At the age of 13, he fought during the British invasions of the Rio de la Plata
, joining the forces led by Santiago de Liniers
that drove the British out of Buenos Aires. He also fought during the second ill-fated British invasion, joining the Regiment of Migueletes.
After that, he resumed working in the fields as an arriero
, driving cattle through the immense pampas. When he was twenty-two, he created a business with Juan Nepomuceno Terrero and Luis Dorrego (brother of Manuel Dorrego
) which immediately flourished. He married on March 16, 1813, shortly before turning 20 the almost 18-year-old María de la Encarnación de Ezcurra y Arguibel. They had one child, a daughter Manuela Robustiana de Rosas y Ezcurra, born in Buenos Aires on May 24, 1817. Manuela eventually married the son of Juan Terrero. Rosas' businesses benefited when the Supreme Director Juan Martín de Pueyrredón
ordered the closing of salt-meat plants, which allowed him to buy 300,000 hectares of land.
He combined a strict discipline with the gauchos under his command by sharing their conduct and customs, and by subjecting himself to the same discipline he demanded from them. The territories of Rosas were next to those of the pampas, the Tehuelches and Ranqueles, so his gauchos were organized as a military force to resist malones
.
, provincial caudillo
s Estanislao López
and Francisco Ramírez
joined forces and advanced on Buenos Aires. The Supreme Director
José Rondeau
requested José de San Martín
and Manuel Belgrano
to return to Buenos Aires with the Army of the Andes
and the Army of the North
, but San Martín stayed in Peru to keep fighting against the Royalists, and the Army of the North mutinied to avoid joining the Argentine Civil War
. Buenos Aires had weak local defenses, which were defeated during the battle of Cepeda
. The authority of the Supreme Directors was terminated.
Ranchers feared that the ongoing events would lead to anarchy
, and organized a regiment of gauchos to face the situation. Rosas was trusted to lead them. He promoted the designation of Martín Rodríguez as governor of Buenos Aires, and negotiated with López his return to Santa Fe in exchange of 25,000 cattle. This started a strong relation between Rosas and López, which lasted for years.
Years later, Bernardino Rivadavia
resigned as president of Argentina
, incapable of securing the military victory in the Argentina-Brazil War
, and Manuel Dorrego
was chosen as governor of Buenos Aires. Under his rule, Rosas would be promoted to commander of the militias of Buenos Aires. However, the armies returning from Brazil turned against Dorrego, and Juan Lavalle
executed him and conducted a coup against the government of Buenos Aires. The Unitarians
started a reign of terror, aiming to destroy all Federalists
. In 1829, because of higher death rates than births the demographic growth was negative. During that time, José de San Martín
had returned from Europe, but disgusted with the new political situation, he refused to leave the ship and returned to Europe.
The other provinces did not recognize Lavalle as a legitimate governor, and supported the Rosist resistance instead. Lavalle was defeated a short time later at the Battle of Márquez Bridge
by the forces of Rosas and López. López returned to Santa Fe, which was menaced by José María Paz
, while Rosas kept Lavalle under siege and forced him to resign with the Cañuelas pact
. Juan José Viamonte
was designated as governor, and the legislature removed during Lavalle's revolution was restored. This legislature then elected Rosas as governor.
.
Rosas faced opposition from the unitarian provinces in the north. José María Paz
, after defeating Facundo Quiroga at the battle of Tablada, took control of Cordoba province and started a reign of terror to destroy all federals in the zone, similar to the one started by Lavalle in Buenos Aires. The newspaper "La Gaceta" numbered the victims of the unitarian terror as 2,500 victims. Paz expanded his influence by creating the Unitarian League
, while Rosas created the Federal Pact
instead. The plans of Paz would fail when his horse was taken down and he was captured. Federalist José Vicente Reinafé, close to López, replaced him as governor of Córdoba. Córdoba, Santiago del Estero, La Rioja and the provinces of Cuyo joined the Federal Pact in 1831, Catamarca, Tucumán and Salta did so the following year. As for Paz himself, he was held captive by Estanislao López, who refused to execute him. He requested Rosas to check that it was the will of all the provinces to execute Paz, but Rosas did not accept the request. He considered that the fate of Paz should be decided solely by López, who held him prisoner.
One of the keys to the economic supremacy of Buenos Aires was its monopoly over the port and customs of Buenos Aires, the only one linking the Confederation with Europe. Rosas refused to lift control over it, considering that Buenos Aires faced alone the international debt that was generated by the Argentine War of Independence
and the Argentina-Brazil War
.
The defeat of Paz and the expansion of the Federal Pact further ushered in a period of economic and political stability. As a result, Federalists were divided between two political trends: those who wanted the calling of a Constituent Assembly to write a Constitution, and those who supported Rosas in delaying it. Rosas thought that the best way to organize the Argentine Confederation
was as a federation
of federated states, similar to the successful States of the United States; each one should write its own local constitution and organize itself, and a national constitution should be written at the end, without being rushed.
He had a successful and popular first term, but refused to run for a second even though public support was strong.
were not done because of evil desires but because of the lacking lifestyle condition of the indigenous peoples. As a result, he had preference for a policy of doing pacts or giving gifts or bribes to the caciques before employing military force. The hostile ranquel
cacique Yanquetruz was replaced by Payné, who became a Rosas ally. Juan Manuel, in turn, adopted his son and raised him at his estancia. The pehuenche
Cafulcurá was made colonel and allowed to distribute large numbers of gifts among his people; in turn, he made the compromise of not making any more malones. On the other hand, caciques like the pehuenche Chocorí who defied Rosas were defeated.
Charles Darwin
met Rosas in 1833, and wrote about it in The Voyage of the Beagle
. He was at Carmen de Patagones
and knew that Rosas was located nearby, close to the Colorado River
. He had heard about him from before, so he moved to meet him. He described him as a man of extraordinary character, a perfect horseman who conformed to the dress and habits of the Gauchos and "has a most predominant influence in the country, which it seems he will use to its prosperity and advancement". Darwin included a story of how Rosas had himself put in the stocks for inadvertently breaking his own rule of not wearing knives on Sundays. This appealed to his men's sense of egalitarianism and justice. Darwin also described an anecdote about a pair of buffoons.
By the end of the first Conquest of the Desert, Buenos Aires increased its lands by thousands of square kilometers, which were distributed among new and older hacendados. The natives did not make any more malones, accepted to provide military aid to Rosas in case of need, and stayed in peaceful terms for all the remainder of Rosas' government.
Even being absent, the political influence of Rosas in Buenos Aires was still strong, and his wife Encarnación Ezcurra
was in charge of keeping good relations with the peoples of the city. On October 11, 1833, the city was filled with announcements of a trial against Rosas. A large number of gauchos and poor people made the Revolution of the Restorers
, a demonstration at the gates of the legislature, praising Rosas and demanding the resignation of governor Juan Ramón Balcarce
. The troops organized to fight the demonstration mutinied and joined it. The legislature finally gave up the trial, and a month later ousted Balcarce and replaced him with Juan José Viamonte
. The Revolution also led to the creation of the Sociedad Popular Restauradora
, also known as "Mazorca".
, which the legislature denied four times. Rosas even resigned as commander of militias to influence the legislature. The context changed with the social commotion generated by the death of Facundo Quiroga, responsibility for which is disputed (different authors attribute it to Estanislao López
, the Reinafé brothers, or Rosas himself). The legislature accepted then to give him the sum of public power. Even so, Rosas requested confirmation on whenever the people agreed with it, so the legislature organized a referendum
about it. Every free man within the age of majority
living in the city was allowed to vote for "Yes" or "No": 9.316 votes supported the release of the sum of public power on Rosas, and only 4 rejected it. There are divided opinions on the topic: Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
compared Rosas with historical dictator
s, while José de San Martín
considered that the situation in the country was so chaotic that a strong authority was needed to create order.
Although slavery was not abolished during Rosas' rule, Afro Argentine
s had a positive image of him. He allowed them to gather in groups related to their African origin, and financed their activities. Troop formations included many of them, because joining the army was one of the ways to become a free negro
, and in many cases slave owners were forced to release them to strengthen the armies. There was an army made specifically of free negros, the "Fourth Battalion of Active Militia". The liberal policy towards slaves generated controversy with neighbouring Brazil, because fugitive Brazilian slaves saw Argentina as a safe haven: they were recognized as free men at the moment they crossed the Argentine borders, and by joining the armies they were protected from persecution of their former masters.
The people who opposed Rosas formed a group called Asociacion de Mayo or May Brotherhood. It was a literary group that became politically active and aimed at exposing Rosas' actions. Some of the literature against him includes The Slaughter House, Socialist Dogma, Amalia and Facundo. Meetings which had high attendance at first soon had few members attending out of fear of prosecution. Rosas' opponents during his rule were dissidents, such as José María Paz
, Salvador M. del Carril, Juan Bautista Alberdi
, Esteban Echeverria
, Bartolomé Mitre
and Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
. Rosas political opponents were exiled to other countries, such as Uruguay
and Chile
.
against Argentina and Chile. Its protector Andrés de Santa Cruz
supported European interests in South America, as well as the Unitarians, whereas Rosas and the Chilean Diego Portales
did not. As a result, France gave full support to Santa Cruz in this war. Britain also supported Santa Cruz, but only by diplomatic means. Trusting in the military power at his disposal, Santa Cruz declared war against both countries at the same time. Initially, the Peruvian-Bolivian forces had the advantage, and captured and executed Portales. The war did not develop favorably for Argentina in the north, and the French Roger moved to Buenos Aires to request the surrender of Argentina. He demanded that two French citizens be released from prison, that two more be exempted from military service, and that France receive the same commercial privileges as granted by Bernardino Rivadavia
to Britain. Although the demands themselves were not onerous, Rosas considered that they would set a precedent for further French interference in the internal affairs of Argentina, and refused to comply. As a result, France started a naval blockade against Buenos Aires.
Rosas took advantage of British interests in the zone: minister Manuel Moreno
pointed out to the British Foreign Office that commerce between Argentina and Britain was being harmed by the French blockade, and that it would be a mistake for Britain to support it. The French judged that the people would seize the opportunity to stand against Rosas, but underestimated his popularity. With the nation being threatened by two European powers as well as two neighbouring countries allied with them, internal patriotic loyalty increased to the point that even some notable Unitarians who had fled to Montevideo returned to the country to offer their military help, such as Soler, Lamadrid and Espinosa. Things became more complicated for France as time passed: Andrés Santa Cruz was weakening, the strategy employed by Moreno was bearing fruit, and the French themselves started to have doubts about maintaining a conflict that they had expected to be quite short. Also, Britain would not allow the French to deploy troops, as they did not want a European competitor gaining territorial strength in the zone. Domingo Cullen
, governor of Santa Fe replacing the ill López, considered that Rosas had nationalized a conflict that involved just Buenos Aires, and proposed to the French that they should encourage Santa Fe, Córdoba, Entre Ríos and Corrientes to secede, creating a new country that would obey them, if this new country would be spared the naval blockade. Also, Manuel Oribe
, president of Uruguay and allied with Rosas, was ousted by Fructuoso Rivera
with French aid. France wanted Rivera and Cullen to join forces and take Buenos Aires, while their ships kept the blockade. This alliance did not take place, as Juan Pablo López
, brother of Estanislao López, defeated Cullen and drove him away from the province. Also, Andrés Santa Cruz was defeated by Chile in the Battle of Yungay
, and the Peru–Bolivian Confederation ceased to exist. Now Rosas was free to focus all his attention on the French blockade.
His wife Encarnación died in Buenos Aires on October 20, 1838.
Rivera was urged by France to take military action against Rosas, but he was reluctant to do so, considering that the French underestimated his strength, even more after Santa Cruz's defeat. As a result, they elected Juan Lavalle
to lead the attack, who asked not to share command with Rivera. As a result, each led his own army. His imminent attack was backed up by conspiracies in Buenos Aires, which were discovered and aborted by the Mazorca. Manuel Vicente Maza
and his son were among the conspirators, and were executed as a result. Pedro Castelli also organized an ill-fated demonstration against Rosas, and was executed as well. Rosas did not wait to be attacked, and ordered Pascual Echagüe
to cross the Parana river and move the fight to Uruguay. The Uruguayan armies split: Rivera returned to defend Montevideo, and Lavalle moved to Entre Ríos alone. He expected that local populations would join him against Rosas and increase his forces, but he found severe resistance, so he moved to Corrientes. Ferré defeated López, and Rivera defeated Echagüe, leaving Lavalle a clear path towards Buenos Aires. However, by that point France had lost faith in the effectiveness of the blockade, as what had been thought would be an easy and short conflict was turning into a long, possibly unwinnable, war. France started to negotiate for peace with the Confederation, and removed financial support from Lavalle. He found no help from local towns either, and there was strong desertion in his ranks. Buenos Aires was ready to resist Lavalle's attack, but his lack of support forced him to withdraw.
The unitarians and colorados (federalists) kept up their hostilities against Rosas, even after the defeat of France. The new plan was that Ferré and Rivera, in Corrientes and Uruguay, would create a new army, while Lavalle and Lamadrid moved to the north. Lavalle would move to La Rioja and distract the Federal armies, while Lamadrid organized another army at Tucumán. By this time José María Paz had escaped from his imprisonment. Rosas spared his life because he had sworn never to attack the Confederation again, but he broke his oath. His presence benefited the anti-Rosas forces, but also generated internal strife: Ferré gave him the command of the armies of Corrientes, which Rivera did not like. Rivera even accused Paz of being a spy of Rosas. Nevertheless, the combined forces of Paz, Rivera and unitarian ships at the river had the federal forces of Echague at Santa Fe surrounded. To counter the unitarian naval supremacy Guillermo Brown organized a naval squadron; it defeated captain Coe at Santa Lucía.
Oribe defeated the forces of Lavalle at La Rioja, but Lavalle himself managed to escape to Tucuman. Lamadrid attacked San Juan, but was completely defeated. At Tucuman Oribed defeated Lavalle, who barely escaped with a group of 200 men to the north; he was killed shortly after in a confusing episode. This ended the anti-Rosas threat in the Argentine northwest.
Rivera threatened to end their alliance if Ferré insisted in favoring Paz. Rivera wanted to annex the Riograndense Republic (part of Rio Grande do Sul
, that had declared independence from Brazil and was fighting the War of the Farrapos) and the Argentine mesopotamia into a projected Federation of Uruguay, but Paz was against that. Paz defeated Echague, and Rivera defeated the new federal governor of Entre Ríos, Justo José de Urquiza
. Federalist Juan Pablo López from Santa Fe changed sides to the unitarian ranks.
Rosas was again in a weak position, and would not have been able to resist an attack. But Paz, Ferré, Rivera and López had conflicting battle plans, and their armies did not move, which gave Oribe time to return from the north. The forces of Santa Fe refused to fight for the unitarians, and massive defection reduced López's armies from 2.500 men to 500. He was easily defeated at Coronda and Paso Aguirre. Ferré was finally interested in Rivera's federation, and put Paz aside. Rivera and Oribe, both considering themselves rightful presidents of Uruguay, would battle. The battle of Arroyo Grande
was a decisive victory for Oribe, and Rivera barely escaped alive. The unitarian threat to Rosas had been again removed.
into a new country, to set the borders of Uruguay, Paraguay and the Mesopotamia (without Brazilian intervention), and to help the anti-rosists to depose the governor of Buenos Aires and install one loyal to the European powers instead.
The European powers needed a convincing argument to justify a declaration of war. To this end, Florencio Varela requested that former Federalist José Rivera Indarte
write a list of crimes that Rosas could be blamed for. The French firm Lafone & Co paid him with a penny for each death listed. The list, named Blood tables, included deaths caused by military actions of the unitarians (including Lavalle's invasion of Buenos Aires), soldiers shot during wartime because of mutiny, treason or espionage, victims of common crimes and even people who were still alive. He also listed Nomen nescio (NN)
deaths (unidentified people); some entries were listed more than once. He also blamed Rosas for the death of Facundo Quiroga. With all this, Indarte listed 480 deaths, and was paid with two pounds sterling (about £140 in 2011 based on the retail price index, or £1500 based on average earnings). He tried to add to the list 22,560 deaths, the number caused by military conflicts in Argentina from 1829 to that date, but the French refused to pay for them. Indarte wrote in his libel that "it is a holy action to kill Rosas". Lafone & Co, who paid for the Blood tables, had control of Uruguayan customs, and would have greatly benefited from a new blockade of Buenos Aires. In March 1841, Indarte was the mastermind behind a failed bid against Rosas life, which consisted in sending him a firing device concealed in a diplomatic box, known as La Máquina Infernal ("The Infernal Machine").
Giuseppe Garibaldi
, commanding an Italian group, started hostilities by occupying Colonia del Sacramento and Isla Martín García, and led the controversial sack of Gualeguaychú. With the Uruguay river secured, the Anglo-French navy intended to control the Paraná river as well. Worried by the gravity of the danger, Rosas instructed Lucio Mancilla to fortify a section of the Parana to prevent the foreign navy from going any further. A similar study had been made years earlier by Hipólito Vieytes
during the Argentine War of Independence
, finding that a good strategic point was in Obligado.
An Anglo-French a convoy of three steamboats, many armed sailboats, and 90 merchant ships sailed up the Parana. Mansilla fortified Obligado with artillery, and closed the river with chains. The battle of Vuelta de Obligado
took many hours, and the navy finally forced their way through. However, 38 merchant ships returned to Montevideo, and word of the unequal fight generated support for Rosas across most of South America. Mansilla continued the attack at San Lorenzo and Quebracho. The expedition was a commercial failure, and the second battle at Quebracho during the return of the ships finally eliminated them.
After long negotiations, Britain, and then France, surrendered and lifted the blockade. Both countries made a 21-gun salute to the flag of Argentina.
General Urquiza
, who was governor of the Entre Ríos Province
and once backed Rosas, organized an army against him. Other provinces as well as Brazil and Uruguay joined the fight to take down the dictator. On February 3, 1852, Rosas was overthrown when his army was defeated at the Battle of Caseros
. After Caseros battle Rosas spent the rest of his life in exile, in the United Kingdom
, as a farmer in Southampton
. He was initially buried in the Southampton Old Cemetery
in Southampton Common
until his body was exhumed in 1989 and transferred to the La Recoleta Cemetery
in Argentina.
Rosas received the 'combat sable' from General San Martin, 'maximum hero' of Argentina, who judged that Rosas was the only man capable of defending Argentina against the European powers, especially the British.
In the context of the Argentine Civil War
, Rosas was the main leader of the Federalist party
, and as such the most part of the controversies around him were motivated by the preexistent antagonism of Federalism with the Unitarian Party
. During the government of Rosas most unitarians fled to neighbour countries, mostly to Chile, Uruguay and Brazil; among them we can find Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
, who wrote Facundo
while living in Chile. Facundo is a critic biography
of Facundo Quiroga, another federalist caudillo, but Sarmiento used it to pass many indirect or direct critics to Rosas himself. Some members of the 1837 generation
, such as Esteban Echeverría
or Juan Bautista Alberdi
, tried to generate an alternative to the unitarians-federalists antagonism, but had to flee to other countries as well.
After the defeat of Rosas in Caseros and the return of his political adversaries, it was decided to portray him in a negative light. The legislature of Buenos Aires charged him with High treason
in 1857; Nicanor Arbarellos supported his negative vote with the following speech:
The first historians of Argentina, such as Bartolomé Mitre
, were vocal critics of Rosas, and for many years there was a clear consensus in condemning him. However, authors like Mitre or Sarmiento can't be considered exclusiely from the perspectives of historiography or the history of ideas, as they were active people and even protagonists of the political struggles of their time; and their works were used as tools to advertise their political ideas. Adolfo Saldías
was the first in not condemning Rosas entirely, and in the book Historia de la Confederación Argentina he supported his international policy, while keeping the usual rejection on the treatment given by Rosas to detractors. Authors like Levene, Molinari or Ravignani, in the 1930 decade, would develop a neutral approach to Rosas, that Ravignani defined as "Nor with Rosas, nor against Rosas". Their work would be more oriented towards the positive things of the early years of Rosas, and less into the most polemic ones.
Years later, a new historiographical flow made an active and strong support of Rosas and other caudillos. Because of its great differences with the early historians the local historiography knows them as revisionists
, while the early one is named "official" or "academic" instead. However, despite namings, the early historiography of Argentina hasn't always followed standard academic procedures, nor developed hegemonic views at all topics. They would expand the work of Saldías and Ernesto Quesada, and developed instead negative views about Mitre, Sarmiento, Rivadavia and the unitarians.
Modern historians like Felipe Pigna
or Félix Luna
avoid joining the dispute, describing instead the existence of conflicting viewpoints towards Rosas. The historiographical dispute about Rosas is currently considered to be over.
The date of November 20, anniversary of the battle of Vuelta de Obligado
, has been declared "Day of National Sovereignty
" of Argentina, following a request by revisionist
historian José María Rosa
. This observance day was raised in 2010 to a public holiday
by Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
. Rosas has been included in the banknotes of 20 Argentine peso
s, with his face and his daughter Manuela Rosas in the front and a depiction of the battle of Vuelta de Obligado in the back. A monument of Rosas, 15 meters tall and with a weight of 3 tons, has been erected in 1999 in the city of Buenos Aires, at the conjunction of the "Libertador" and "Sarmiento" avenues.
The aforementioned law that charged Rosas of high treason was abrogated in 1974.
A portrait of Rosas was included in 2010 in a gallery of Latin American patriots, held at the Casa Rosada
. The gallery, which included works provided by the presidents of other Latin American countries, was held because of the 2010 Argentina Bicentennial
.
Silver and gold coins were struck during Rosas' tenure both with his portrait and without, but bearing his name. Portrait coins were issued in 1836 with a more youthful portrait and again in 1842 with a more mature portrait. Shown at right is a silver 8 soles (approx. 39 mm) coin from 1836.
Argentine Confederation
The Argentine Confederation is one of the official names of Argentina, according to the Argentine Constitution, Article 35...
from 1835 until 1852. He was forced to resign after his defeat at the Battle of Caseros
Battle of Caseros
The Battle of Caseros was fought near the town of Caseros, more precisely between the present-day train stations of Caseros and Palomar in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, on 3 February 1852, between the Army of Buenos Aires commanded by Juan Manuel de Rosas...
against an army gathered by Justo José de Urquiza
Justo José de Urquiza
Justo José de Urquiza y García was an Argentine general and politician. He was president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860.He was governor of Entre Ríos during the government of Juan Manuel de Rosas, governor of Buenos Aires with powers delegated from the other provinces...
.
Early life
He was the son of León Ortiz de Rosas y de la Cuadra and wife Agustina Teresa López de Osornio. Born to one of the wealthiest families in the Río de la PlataRío de la Plata
The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
region, Rosas ran away from home at a young age and began working in the fields of his cousins Juan José and Nicolás Anchorena. He modified his last name from "Rozas" to "Rosas" and removed the "Ortiz" part of it. At the age of 13, he fought during the British invasions of the Rio de la Plata
British invasions of the Río de la Plata
The British invasions of the Río de la Plata were a series of unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of the Spanish colonies located around the La Plata Basin in South America . The invasions took place between 1806 and 1807, as part of the Napoleonic Wars, when Spain was an ally of...
, joining the forces led by Santiago de Liniers
Santiago de Liniers
Jacques de Liniers was a French officer in the Spanish military service, and a viceroy of the Spanish colonies of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. He is more widely known by the Spanish form of his name, Santiago de Liniers...
that drove the British out of Buenos Aires. He also fought during the second ill-fated British invasion, joining the Regiment of Migueletes.
After that, he resumed working in the fields as an arriero
Arriero
thumb|250px|right|An arriero loading a [[pack horse]] in [[Zona Sur|southern Chile]]An arriero is a person who transports goods using pack animals.In South America, arrieros transport coffee, maize, cork, wheat, and myriad other items...
, driving cattle through the immense pampas. When he was twenty-two, he created a business with Juan Nepomuceno Terrero and Luis Dorrego (brother of Manuel Dorrego
Manuel Dorrego
Manuel Dorrego was an Argentine statesman and soldier. He was governor of Buenos Aires in 1820, and then again from 1827 to 1828....
) which immediately flourished. He married on March 16, 1813, shortly before turning 20 the almost 18-year-old María de la Encarnación de Ezcurra y Arguibel. They had one child, a daughter Manuela Robustiana de Rosas y Ezcurra, born in Buenos Aires on May 24, 1817. Manuela eventually married the son of Juan Terrero. Rosas' businesses benefited when the Supreme Director Juan Martín de Pueyrredón
Juan Martín de Pueyrredón
Juan Martín de Pueyrredón y O'Dogan was an Argentine general and politician of the early 19th century. He was appointed Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata after the Argentine Declaration of Independence.-Early life:Pueyrredón was born in Buenos Aires, the fifth of...
ordered the closing of salt-meat plants, which allowed him to buy 300,000 hectares of land.
He combined a strict discipline with the gauchos under his command by sharing their conduct and customs, and by subjecting himself to the same discipline he demanded from them. The territories of Rosas were next to those of the pampas, the Tehuelches and Ranqueles, so his gauchos were organized as a military force to resist malones
Malón
Malón or maloca was a military raiding tactic of the Mapuche peoples from the 17th to the 19th centuries.The "maloca" among the Mapuche is described as a means of obtaining justice, by Juan Ignacio Molina:...
.
Rosas joins the Civil War
In 1820, during the Brazilian invasion of the Banda OrientalBanda Oriental
The Banda Oriental del Uruguay was the South American territory east of the Uruguay River and north of the Río de la Plata, coinciding approximately with the modern nation of Uruguay, the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul and some parts of Santa Catarina...
, provincial caudillo
Caudillo
Caudillo is a Spanish word for "leader" and usually describes a political-military leader at the head of an authoritarian power. The term translates into English as leader or chief, or more pejoratively as warlord, dictator or strongman. Caudillo was the term used to refer to the charismatic...
s Estanislao López
Estanislao López
Estanislao López was a governor and caudillo of the , between 1818 and 1838, a hero of provincial federalism and an ally of Juan Manuel de Rosas during the Argentine Civil War.-Biography:...
and Francisco Ramírez
Francisco Ramírez
Francisco Ramírez, 19th-century ruler of Republic of Entre Ríos, Argentina.Francisco Ramírez may also refer to:*Francisco Ramírez , Honduran footballer...
joined forces and advanced on Buenos Aires. The Supreme Director
Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata
The Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata , was a title given to the executive officers of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, according to the form of government established in 1814 by the Asamblea del Año XIII...
José Rondeau
José Rondeau
José Casimiro Rondeau Pereyra was a general and politician in Argentina and Uruguay in the early 19th century.-Biography:...
requested José de San Martín
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
and Manuel Belgrano
Manuel Belgrano
Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano , usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano, was an Argentine economist, lawyer, politician, and military leader. He took part in the Argentine Wars of Independence and created the Flag of Argentina...
to return to Buenos Aires with the Army of the Andes
Army of the Andes
The Army of the Andes was a military force created by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and mustered by general José de San Martín in his campaign to free Chile from the Spanish Empire...
and the Army of the North
Army of the North
The Army of the North , contemporaneously called Army of Peru, was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was freeing the Argentine Northwest and the Upper Peru from the royalist troops of the Spanish...
, but San Martín stayed in Peru to keep fighting against the Royalists, and the Army of the North mutinied to avoid joining the Argentine Civil War
Argentine Civil War
The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of internecine wars that took place in Argentina from 1814 to 1876. These conflicts were separate from the Argentine War of Independence , though they first arose during this period....
. Buenos Aires had weak local defenses, which were defeated during the battle of Cepeda
Battle of Cepeda (1820)
The Battle of Cepeda of 1820 took place on February 1 in Cañada de Cepeda, Santa Fe, Argentina.It was the first major battle that saw Unitarians and Federals as two constituted sides. Federal League Provinces of Santa Fe and Entre Ríos joined forces to topple the 1819 centralist Constitution, and...
. The authority of the Supreme Directors was terminated.
Ranchers feared that the ongoing events would lead to anarchy
Anarchy
Anarchy , has more than one colloquial definition. In the United States, the term "anarchy" typically is meant to refer to a society which lacks publicly recognized government or violently enforced political authority...
, and organized a regiment of gauchos to face the situation. Rosas was trusted to lead them. He promoted the designation of Martín Rodríguez as governor of Buenos Aires, and negotiated with López his return to Santa Fe in exchange of 25,000 cattle. This started a strong relation between Rosas and López, which lasted for years.
Years later, Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino de la Trinidad Gónzalez Rivadavia y Rivadavia was the first president of Argentina, from February 8, 1826 to July 7, 1827 . He was a politician of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata, Argentina today...
resigned as president of Argentina
President of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
, incapable of securing the military victory in the Argentina-Brazil War
Argentina-Brazil War
The Cisplatine War or the Argentine–Brazilian War was an armed conflict over an area known as Banda Oriental or "Eastern Shore" in the 1820s between the United Provinces of River Plate and the Empire of Brazil in the aftermath of the United Provinces' emancipation from Spain.-Background:Led by...
, and Manuel Dorrego
Manuel Dorrego
Manuel Dorrego was an Argentine statesman and soldier. He was governor of Buenos Aires in 1820, and then again from 1827 to 1828....
was chosen as governor of Buenos Aires. Under his rule, Rosas would be promoted to commander of the militias of Buenos Aires. However, the armies returning from Brazil turned against Dorrego, and Juan Lavalle
Juan Lavalle
Juan Galo de Lavalle was an Argentine military and political figure.-Biography:Lavalle was born in Buenos Aires to María Mercedes González Bordallo and Manuel José de La Vallée y Cortés, general accountant of rents and tobacco for the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.In 1799, the family moved to...
executed him and conducted a coup against the government of Buenos Aires. The Unitarians
Unitarian Party
Unitarianists or Unitarians were the proponents of the concept of a Unitary state in Buenos Aires during the civil wars which shortly followed the Declaration of Independence of Argentina in 1816. They were opposed to the Argentine Federalists, who wanted a federation of independent provinces...
started a reign of terror, aiming to destroy all Federalists
Federales (Argentina)
Federales was the name under which the supporters of federalism in Argentina were known, opposing the Unitarios that claimed a centralised government of Buenos Aires Province, with no participation of the other provinces of the custom taxes benefits of the Buenos Aires port...
. In 1829, because of higher death rates than births the demographic growth was negative. During that time, José de San Martín
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
had returned from Europe, but disgusted with the new political situation, he refused to leave the ship and returned to Europe.
The other provinces did not recognize Lavalle as a legitimate governor, and supported the Rosist resistance instead. Lavalle was defeated a short time later at the Battle of Márquez Bridge
Battle of Márquez Bridge
The Battle of Márquez Bridge , fought on 26 April 1829, during the civil war between Unitarians and Federalists, resulting in a victory for the Federal Party forces of Juan Manuel de Rosas and the governor of Santa Fe Province, Estanislao López, over general Juan Lavalle, who had...
by the forces of Rosas and López. López returned to Santa Fe, which was menaced by José María Paz
José María Paz
Brigadier General José María Paz y Haedo was an Argentine military figure, notable in the Argentine War of Independence and the Argentine Civil War.-Childhood:...
, while Rosas kept Lavalle under siege and forced him to resign with the Cañuelas pact
Cañuelas Pact
The Cañuelas Pact was an agreement signed on 24 June 1829 between generals Juan Lavalle and Juan Manuel de Rosas, with the aim of ending the civil war in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, which was going on since the revolution of December of 1828....
. Juan José Viamonte
Juan José Viamonte
Juan José Viamonte González was an Argentine general in the early 19th century.-Biography:Viamonte was born in Buenos Aires and entered the army in his youth following in his father's footsteps...
was designated as governor, and the legislature removed during Lavalle's revolution was restored. This legislature then elected Rosas as governor.
First government
As a governor, Rosas ruled with strict authority. He considered that, given the social segregation of the Argentine Confederation at the time, it was the only way to keep it together and prevent anarchyAnarchy
Anarchy , has more than one colloquial definition. In the United States, the term "anarchy" typically is meant to refer to a society which lacks publicly recognized government or violently enforced political authority...
.
Rosas faced opposition from the unitarian provinces in the north. José María Paz
José María Paz
Brigadier General José María Paz y Haedo was an Argentine military figure, notable in the Argentine War of Independence and the Argentine Civil War.-Childhood:...
, after defeating Facundo Quiroga at the battle of Tablada, took control of Cordoba province and started a reign of terror to destroy all federals in the zone, similar to the one started by Lavalle in Buenos Aires. The newspaper "La Gaceta" numbered the victims of the unitarian terror as 2,500 victims. Paz expanded his influence by creating the Unitarian League
Unitarian League
The Unitarian League was a league of provinces of Argentina led by José María Paz, established in 1830, aiming to unite the country under unitarian principles. It was composed by the provinces of San Luis, La Rioja, Catamarca, Mendoza, San Juan, Tucumán, Córdoba, Salta and Santiago del Estero. It...
, while Rosas created the Federal Pact
Pacto Federal
The Federal Pact was a treaty first signed by the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos and Santa Fe on 4 January 1831, for which a Federal military alliance was created to confront the Unitarian Liga Unitaria...
instead. The plans of Paz would fail when his horse was taken down and he was captured. Federalist José Vicente Reinafé, close to López, replaced him as governor of Córdoba. Córdoba, Santiago del Estero, La Rioja and the provinces of Cuyo joined the Federal Pact in 1831, Catamarca, Tucumán and Salta did so the following year. As for Paz himself, he was held captive by Estanislao López, who refused to execute him. He requested Rosas to check that it was the will of all the provinces to execute Paz, but Rosas did not accept the request. He considered that the fate of Paz should be decided solely by López, who held him prisoner.
One of the keys to the economic supremacy of Buenos Aires was its monopoly over the port and customs of Buenos Aires, the only one linking the Confederation with Europe. Rosas refused to lift control over it, considering that Buenos Aires faced alone the international debt that was generated by the Argentine War of Independence
Argentine War of Independence
The Argentine War of Independence was fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli and José de San Martín against royalist forces loyal to the Spanish crown...
and the Argentina-Brazil War
Argentina-Brazil War
The Cisplatine War or the Argentine–Brazilian War was an armed conflict over an area known as Banda Oriental or "Eastern Shore" in the 1820s between the United Provinces of River Plate and the Empire of Brazil in the aftermath of the United Provinces' emancipation from Spain.-Background:Led by...
.
The defeat of Paz and the expansion of the Federal Pact further ushered in a period of economic and political stability. As a result, Federalists were divided between two political trends: those who wanted the calling of a Constituent Assembly to write a Constitution, and those who supported Rosas in delaying it. Rosas thought that the best way to organize the Argentine Confederation
Argentine Confederation
The Argentine Confederation is one of the official names of Argentina, according to the Argentine Constitution, Article 35...
was as a federation
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
of federated states, similar to the successful States of the United States; each one should write its own local constitution and organize itself, and a national constitution should be written at the end, without being rushed.
He had a successful and popular first term, but refused to run for a second even though public support was strong.
First Conquest of the Desert
After his resignation as governor, Rosas left Buenos Aires and started the first Conquest of the Desert, to expand and secure the farming territories and prevent indigenous attacks. Rosas was aware that malonesMalón
Malón or maloca was a military raiding tactic of the Mapuche peoples from the 17th to the 19th centuries.The "maloca" among the Mapuche is described as a means of obtaining justice, by Juan Ignacio Molina:...
were not done because of evil desires but because of the lacking lifestyle condition of the indigenous peoples. As a result, he had preference for a policy of doing pacts or giving gifts or bribes to the caciques before employing military force. The hostile ranquel
Ranquel
The Ranquel are an indigenous tribe from the northern part of La Pampa Province, Argentina, in South America. They are part of the Mapuche, with Puelche origins, Pehuenche and also Patagones from the Günün-a-Küna group.-Name:...
cacique Yanquetruz was replaced by Payné, who became a Rosas ally. Juan Manuel, in turn, adopted his son and raised him at his estancia. The pehuenche
Pehuenche
Pehuenches are an indigenous people that are part of the Mapuche peoples and live in the Andes in south central Chile and Argentina. Their name derives from their habit of harvesting of piñones, the seeds of the Araucaria araucana or pehuén...
Cafulcurá was made colonel and allowed to distribute large numbers of gifts among his people; in turn, he made the compromise of not making any more malones. On the other hand, caciques like the pehuenche Chocorí who defied Rosas were defeated.
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
met Rosas in 1833, and wrote about it in The Voyage of the Beagle
The Voyage of the Beagle
The Voyage of the Beagle is a title commonly given to the book written by Charles Darwin and published in 1839 as his Journal and Remarks, bringing him considerable fame and respect...
. He was at Carmen de Patagones
Carmen de Patagones
- Geography :It is located 937 km from the city of Buenos Aires, on the north bank of the Río Negro , near the Atlantic Ocean, and opposite Viedma, capital of the province of Río Negro...
and knew that Rosas was located nearby, close to the Colorado River
Colorado River (Argentina)
The Colorado River is a river in the south of Argentina.The Colorado river marks most of the political limit between the provinces of Neuquén and Mendoza, and between Rio Negro and La Pampa...
. He had heard about him from before, so he moved to meet him. He described him as a man of extraordinary character, a perfect horseman who conformed to the dress and habits of the Gauchos and "has a most predominant influence in the country, which it seems he will use to its prosperity and advancement". Darwin included a story of how Rosas had himself put in the stocks for inadvertently breaking his own rule of not wearing knives on Sundays. This appealed to his men's sense of egalitarianism and justice. Darwin also described an anecdote about a pair of buffoons.
By the end of the first Conquest of the Desert, Buenos Aires increased its lands by thousands of square kilometers, which were distributed among new and older hacendados. The natives did not make any more malones, accepted to provide military aid to Rosas in case of need, and stayed in peaceful terms for all the remainder of Rosas' government.
Even being absent, the political influence of Rosas in Buenos Aires was still strong, and his wife Encarnación Ezcurra
Encarnación Ezcurra
Encarnación Ezcurra was an Argentine politician, wife of Juan Manuel de Rosas.She was the daughter of Juan Ignacio Ezcurra and Teodora de Arguibel. She married Rosas on March 16, 1813. She became her husband's most faithful follower, helping him in many difficult circumstances...
was in charge of keeping good relations with the peoples of the city. On October 11, 1833, the city was filled with announcements of a trial against Rosas. A large number of gauchos and poor people made the Revolution of the Restorers
Revolution of the Restorers
The Revolution of the Restorers was a rebellion that took place in Buenos Aires in 1833. The governor Juan Ramón Balcarce was ousted from office and replaced by Juan José Viamonte. The rebellion was motivated by actions taken by Balcarce against former governor Juan Manuel de Rosas...
, a demonstration at the gates of the legislature, praising Rosas and demanding the resignation of governor Juan Ramón Balcarce
Juan Ramón Balcarce
Juan Ramón González de Balcarce was an Argentine military leader and politician.Juan was the older brother of Antonio González de Balcarce and of Marcos González de Balcarce. He fought against the British in 1807, and in the 1812 military campaign in Peru under General Manuel Belgrano. He was...
. The troops organized to fight the demonstration mutinied and joined it. The legislature finally gave up the trial, and a month later ousted Balcarce and replaced him with Juan José Viamonte
Juan José Viamonte
Juan José Viamonte González was an Argentine general in the early 19th century.-Biography:Viamonte was born in Buenos Aires and entered the army in his youth following in his father's footsteps...
. The Revolution also led to the creation of the Sociedad Popular Restauradora
Sociedad Popular Restauradora
The Sociedad Popular Restauradora was an Argentine security agency that worked for Juan Manuel de Rosas in the mid-nineteenth century. It is known by its armed force, known as the Mazorca....
, also known as "Mazorca".
Second government
The weak governments of Balcarce and Viamonte led the legislature to request Rosas to take the government once more. For doing so he requested the sum of public powerSum of public power
The sum of public power is a legal figure from Argentina, included in its constitution. It represents the sum of the three powers, and deems the complete delegation of them into the executive power as a crime of high treason....
, which the legislature denied four times. Rosas even resigned as commander of militias to influence the legislature. The context changed with the social commotion generated by the death of Facundo Quiroga, responsibility for which is disputed (different authors attribute it to Estanislao López
Estanislao López
Estanislao López was a governor and caudillo of the , between 1818 and 1838, a hero of provincial federalism and an ally of Juan Manuel de Rosas during the Argentine Civil War.-Biography:...
, the Reinafé brothers, or Rosas himself). The legislature accepted then to give him the sum of public power. Even so, Rosas requested confirmation on whenever the people agreed with it, so the legislature organized a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
about it. Every free man within the age of majority
Age of majority
The age of majority is the threshold of adulthood as it is conceptualized in law. It is the chronological moment when minors cease to legally be considered children and assume control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thereby terminating the legal control and legal responsibilities of...
living in the city was allowed to vote for "Yes" or "No": 9.316 votes supported the release of the sum of public power on Rosas, and only 4 rejected it. There are divided opinions on the topic: Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the seventh President of Argentina. His writing spanned a wide range of genres and topics, from journalism to autobiography, to political philosophy and history...
compared Rosas with historical dictator
Dictator
A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...
s, while José de San Martín
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
considered that the situation in the country was so chaotic that a strong authority was needed to create order.
Although slavery was not abolished during Rosas' rule, Afro Argentine
Afro Argentine
The black population resulting from the slave trade during the centuries of Spanish domination of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata had a major role in Argentine history...
s had a positive image of him. He allowed them to gather in groups related to their African origin, and financed their activities. Troop formations included many of them, because joining the army was one of the ways to become a free negro
Free Negro
A free Negro or free black is the term used prior to the abolition of slavery in the United States to describe African Americans who were not slaves. Almost all African Americans came to the United States as slaves, but from the earliest days of American slavery, slaveholders set men and women free...
, and in many cases slave owners were forced to release them to strengthen the armies. There was an army made specifically of free negros, the "Fourth Battalion of Active Militia". The liberal policy towards slaves generated controversy with neighbouring Brazil, because fugitive Brazilian slaves saw Argentina as a safe haven: they were recognized as free men at the moment they crossed the Argentine borders, and by joining the armies they were protected from persecution of their former masters.
The people who opposed Rosas formed a group called Asociacion de Mayo or May Brotherhood. It was a literary group that became politically active and aimed at exposing Rosas' actions. Some of the literature against him includes The Slaughter House, Socialist Dogma, Amalia and Facundo. Meetings which had high attendance at first soon had few members attending out of fear of prosecution. Rosas' opponents during his rule were dissidents, such as José María Paz
José María Paz
Brigadier General José María Paz y Haedo was an Argentine military figure, notable in the Argentine War of Independence and the Argentine Civil War.-Childhood:...
, Salvador M. del Carril, Juan Bautista Alberdi
Juan Bautista Alberdi
Juan Bautista Alberdi was an Argentine political theorist and diplomat. Although he lived most of his life in exile in Montevideo and Chile, he was one of the most influential Argentine liberals of his age.-Biography:...
, Esteban Echeverria
Esteban Echeverría
José Esteban Antonio Echeverría was an Argentine poet, fiction writer, cultural promoter, and political activist who played a significant role in the development of Argentine literature, not only through his own writings but also through his organizational efforts...
, Bartolomé Mitre
Bartolomé Mitre
Bartolomé Mitre Martínez was an Argentine statesman, military figure, and author. He was the President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868.-Life and times:...
and Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the seventh President of Argentina. His writing spanned a wide range of genres and topics, from journalism to autobiography, to political philosophy and history...
. Rosas political opponents were exiled to other countries, such as Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
and Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
.
First French blockade
The Peru–Bolivian Confederation declared the War of the ConfederationWar of the Confederation
The War of the Confederation , was a conflict between the Peru-Bolivian Confederation on one side and Chile, Peruvian dissidents and Argentina, on the other, fought mostly in the actual territory of Peru and which ended with a Confederate defeat and the dissolution of the...
against Argentina and Chile. Its protector Andrés de Santa Cruz
Andrés de Santa Cruz
Andrés de Santa Cruz y Calahumana was President of Peru and Bolivia...
supported European interests in South America, as well as the Unitarians, whereas Rosas and the Chilean Diego Portales
Diego Portales
Diego José Pedro Víctor Portales Palazuelos was a Chilean statesman and entrepreneur. As a minister of president José Joaquín Prieto Diego Portales played a pivotal role in shaping the state and government politics in the 19th century, delivering with the Constitution of 1833 the framework of the...
did not. As a result, France gave full support to Santa Cruz in this war. Britain also supported Santa Cruz, but only by diplomatic means. Trusting in the military power at his disposal, Santa Cruz declared war against both countries at the same time. Initially, the Peruvian-Bolivian forces had the advantage, and captured and executed Portales. The war did not develop favorably for Argentina in the north, and the French Roger moved to Buenos Aires to request the surrender of Argentina. He demanded that two French citizens be released from prison, that two more be exempted from military service, and that France receive the same commercial privileges as granted by Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino de la Trinidad Gónzalez Rivadavia y Rivadavia was the first president of Argentina, from February 8, 1826 to July 7, 1827 . He was a politician of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata, Argentina today...
to Britain. Although the demands themselves were not onerous, Rosas considered that they would set a precedent for further French interference in the internal affairs of Argentina, and refused to comply. As a result, France started a naval blockade against Buenos Aires.
Rosas took advantage of British interests in the zone: minister Manuel Moreno
Manuel Moreno
Manuel Moreno was an Argentine politician, brother of Mariano Moreno. He was one of the founders of the Federal Party in the province of Buenos Aires.-Biography:...
pointed out to the British Foreign Office that commerce between Argentina and Britain was being harmed by the French blockade, and that it would be a mistake for Britain to support it. The French judged that the people would seize the opportunity to stand against Rosas, but underestimated his popularity. With the nation being threatened by two European powers as well as two neighbouring countries allied with them, internal patriotic loyalty increased to the point that even some notable Unitarians who had fled to Montevideo returned to the country to offer their military help, such as Soler, Lamadrid and Espinosa. Things became more complicated for France as time passed: Andrés Santa Cruz was weakening, the strategy employed by Moreno was bearing fruit, and the French themselves started to have doubts about maintaining a conflict that they had expected to be quite short. Also, Britain would not allow the French to deploy troops, as they did not want a European competitor gaining territorial strength in the zone. Domingo Cullen
Domingo Cullen
Domingo Cullen was the governor of province of Santa Fe, Argentina during 1838.Cullen was born in Tenerife, Canary Islands, but moved to Argentina in the 1820s after establishing commercial activities in the area. He met Santa Fe's caudillo Estanislao López when serving as a deputy of the Cabildo...
, governor of Santa Fe replacing the ill López, considered that Rosas had nationalized a conflict that involved just Buenos Aires, and proposed to the French that they should encourage Santa Fe, Córdoba, Entre Ríos and Corrientes to secede, creating a new country that would obey them, if this new country would be spared the naval blockade. Also, Manuel Oribe
Manuel Oribe
Manuel Ceferino Oribe y Viana was the fourth president of Uruguay.-Biography:Manuel Oribe was the son of Captain Francisco Oribe and María Francisca Viana, a descendant of the first governor of Montevideo, José Joaquín de Viana...
, president of Uruguay and allied with Rosas, was ousted by Fructuoso Rivera
Fructuoso Rivera
José Fructuoso Rivera y Toscana was an Uruguayan general and patriot who assisted in the efforts to force Brazilians out of the Banda Oriental.-Founder of Colorado Party and President of Uruguay:...
with French aid. France wanted Rivera and Cullen to join forces and take Buenos Aires, while their ships kept the blockade. This alliance did not take place, as Juan Pablo López
Juan Pablo Lopez
Juan Pablo López is an undefeated Mexican professional boxer in the Light Welterweight division.-Professional career:On April 10, 2010, Lopez beat Daniel Eduardo Yocupicio by 2nd round K.O...
, brother of Estanislao López, defeated Cullen and drove him away from the province. Also, Andrés Santa Cruz was defeated by Chile in the Battle of Yungay
Battle of Yungay
The Battle of Yungay effectively destroyed the Peru-Bolivian Confederation created by Bolivian Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz in 1836...
, and the Peru–Bolivian Confederation ceased to exist. Now Rosas was free to focus all his attention on the French blockade.
His wife Encarnación died in Buenos Aires on October 20, 1838.
Rivera was urged by France to take military action against Rosas, but he was reluctant to do so, considering that the French underestimated his strength, even more after Santa Cruz's defeat. As a result, they elected Juan Lavalle
Juan Lavalle
Juan Galo de Lavalle was an Argentine military and political figure.-Biography:Lavalle was born in Buenos Aires to María Mercedes González Bordallo and Manuel José de La Vallée y Cortés, general accountant of rents and tobacco for the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.In 1799, the family moved to...
to lead the attack, who asked not to share command with Rivera. As a result, each led his own army. His imminent attack was backed up by conspiracies in Buenos Aires, which were discovered and aborted by the Mazorca. Manuel Vicente Maza
Manuel Vicente Maza
Manuel Vicente Maza was an Argentine lawyer and federal politician. He was governor of Buenos Aires, and was killed after the discovery of a failed plot to kill Juan Manuel de Rosas.-Biography:...
and his son were among the conspirators, and were executed as a result. Pedro Castelli also organized an ill-fated demonstration against Rosas, and was executed as well. Rosas did not wait to be attacked, and ordered Pascual Echagüe
Pascual Echagüe
Pascual Echagüe, was an Argentine soldier and politician. He served as Governor of Entre Ríos and Santa Fe provinces and Minister of War and Navy during the governments of Urquiza and Derqui...
to cross the Parana river and move the fight to Uruguay. The Uruguayan armies split: Rivera returned to defend Montevideo, and Lavalle moved to Entre Ríos alone. He expected that local populations would join him against Rosas and increase his forces, but he found severe resistance, so he moved to Corrientes. Ferré defeated López, and Rivera defeated Echagüe, leaving Lavalle a clear path towards Buenos Aires. However, by that point France had lost faith in the effectiveness of the blockade, as what had been thought would be an easy and short conflict was turning into a long, possibly unwinnable, war. France started to negotiate for peace with the Confederation, and removed financial support from Lavalle. He found no help from local towns either, and there was strong desertion in his ranks. Buenos Aires was ready to resist Lavalle's attack, but his lack of support forced him to withdraw.
The civil war continues
Oribe defeated the forces of Lavalle at La Rioja, but Lavalle himself managed to escape to Tucuman. Lamadrid attacked San Juan, but was completely defeated. At Tucuman Oribed defeated Lavalle, who barely escaped with a group of 200 men to the north; he was killed shortly after in a confusing episode. This ended the anti-Rosas threat in the Argentine northwest.
Rivera threatened to end their alliance if Ferré insisted in favoring Paz. Rivera wanted to annex the Riograndense Republic (part of Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...
, that had declared independence from Brazil and was fighting the War of the Farrapos) and the Argentine mesopotamia into a projected Federation of Uruguay, but Paz was against that. Paz defeated Echague, and Rivera defeated the new federal governor of Entre Ríos, Justo José de Urquiza
Justo José de Urquiza
Justo José de Urquiza y García was an Argentine general and politician. He was president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860.He was governor of Entre Ríos during the government of Juan Manuel de Rosas, governor of Buenos Aires with powers delegated from the other provinces...
. Federalist Juan Pablo López from Santa Fe changed sides to the unitarian ranks.
Rosas was again in a weak position, and would not have been able to resist an attack. But Paz, Ferré, Rivera and López had conflicting battle plans, and their armies did not move, which gave Oribe time to return from the north. The forces of Santa Fe refused to fight for the unitarians, and massive defection reduced López's armies from 2.500 men to 500. He was easily defeated at Coronda and Paso Aguirre. Ferré was finally interested in Rivera's federation, and put Paz aside. Rivera and Oribe, both considering themselves rightful presidents of Uruguay, would battle. The battle of Arroyo Grande
Battle of Arroyo Grande
-Parties to the conflict:At Arroyo Grande, the federal forces, or blancos, of Manuel Oribe defeated the colorados of Fructuoso Rivera, having been in conflict since 1838/1839.-Subsequent siege of Montevideo:...
was a decisive victory for Oribe, and Rivera barely escaped alive. The unitarian threat to Rosas had been again removed.
Anglo-French blockade
After the victory of Oribe at Arroyo Grande, Britain and France intervened in the conflict. Their ambassadors, Mandeville and De Lurde, demanded that Rosas retreat from Uruguayan territory. Rosas did not reply, and ordered Brown to support Oribe by blockading Montevideo. British commodore John Brett Purvis attacked the Argentine navy, taking over the vessels. Mandeville and De Lurde were replaced by Ousley and Deffaudis. The public purposes of the Anglo-French intervention were to protect the Uruguayan independence against Oribe, defend the recently-proclaimed independence of Paraguay, and end the civil wars in the La Plata River region. But there were also secret purposes: to turn Montevideo into a "commercial factory", to force the free navigation of the rivers, to turn the Argentine MesopotamiaMesopotamia, Argentina
La Mesopotamia, Región Mesopotámica is the humid and verdant area of north-east Argentina, comprising the provinces of Misiones, Entre Ríos and Corrientes. The region called Litoral consists of the Mesopotamia and the provinces of Chaco, Formosa and Santa Fe...
into a new country, to set the borders of Uruguay, Paraguay and the Mesopotamia (without Brazilian intervention), and to help the anti-rosists to depose the governor of Buenos Aires and install one loyal to the European powers instead.
The European powers needed a convincing argument to justify a declaration of war. To this end, Florencio Varela requested that former Federalist José Rivera Indarte
José Rivera Indarte
José Rivera Indarte was an Argentine poet and journalist. He has been both a supporter and critic of Juan Manuel de Rosas, writing first the "Anthem of the restorers" and later the "Blood tables"....
write a list of crimes that Rosas could be blamed for. The French firm Lafone & Co paid him with a penny for each death listed. The list, named Blood tables, included deaths caused by military actions of the unitarians (including Lavalle's invasion of Buenos Aires), soldiers shot during wartime because of mutiny, treason or espionage, victims of common crimes and even people who were still alive. He also listed Nomen nescio (NN)
Nomen nescio
Nomen nescio, abbreviated to N.N., is used to signify an anonymous or non-specific person. From Latin nomen, name, and nescire, not to know, be ignorant of. Together, I do not know the name....
deaths (unidentified people); some entries were listed more than once. He also blamed Rosas for the death of Facundo Quiroga. With all this, Indarte listed 480 deaths, and was paid with two pounds sterling (about £140 in 2011 based on the retail price index, or £1500 based on average earnings). He tried to add to the list 22,560 deaths, the number caused by military conflicts in Argentina from 1829 to that date, but the French refused to pay for them. Indarte wrote in his libel that "it is a holy action to kill Rosas". Lafone & Co, who paid for the Blood tables, had control of Uruguayan customs, and would have greatly benefited from a new blockade of Buenos Aires. In March 1841, Indarte was the mastermind behind a failed bid against Rosas life, which consisted in sending him a firing device concealed in a diplomatic box, known as La Máquina Infernal ("The Infernal Machine").
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...
, commanding an Italian group, started hostilities by occupying Colonia del Sacramento and Isla Martín García, and led the controversial sack of Gualeguaychú. With the Uruguay river secured, the Anglo-French navy intended to control the Paraná river as well. Worried by the gravity of the danger, Rosas instructed Lucio Mancilla to fortify a section of the Parana to prevent the foreign navy from going any further. A similar study had been made years earlier by Hipólito Vieytes
Hipólito Vieytes
Juan Hipólito Vieytes, was an Argentine merchant and soldier. He was born in San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires Province on 6 August 1762, son of Juan Vieytes and Petrona Mora Fernández de Agüero...
during the Argentine War of Independence
Argentine War of Independence
The Argentine War of Independence was fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli and José de San Martín against royalist forces loyal to the Spanish crown...
, finding that a good strategic point was in Obligado.
An Anglo-French a convoy of three steamboats, many armed sailboats, and 90 merchant ships sailed up the Parana. Mansilla fortified Obligado with artillery, and closed the river with chains. The battle of Vuelta de Obligado
Battle of Vuelta de Obligado
The naval Battle of Vuelta de Obligado took place on the waters of the Paraná River on November 20, 1845, between the Argentine Confederation, under the leadership of Juan Manuel de Rosas, and an Anglo-French fleet.- Background :...
took many hours, and the navy finally forced their way through. However, 38 merchant ships returned to Montevideo, and word of the unequal fight generated support for Rosas across most of South America. Mansilla continued the attack at San Lorenzo and Quebracho. The expedition was a commercial failure, and the second battle at Quebracho during the return of the ships finally eliminated them.
After long negotiations, Britain, and then France, surrendered and lifted the blockade. Both countries made a 21-gun salute to the flag of Argentina.
Decline and fall
General Urquiza
Justo José de Urquiza
Justo José de Urquiza y García was an Argentine general and politician. He was president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860.He was governor of Entre Ríos during the government of Juan Manuel de Rosas, governor of Buenos Aires with powers delegated from the other provinces...
, who was governor of the Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos is a northeastern province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires , Corrientes and Santa Fe , and Uruguay in the east....
and once backed Rosas, organized an army against him. Other provinces as well as Brazil and Uruguay joined the fight to take down the dictator. On February 3, 1852, Rosas was overthrown when his army was defeated at the Battle of Caseros
Battle of Caseros
The Battle of Caseros was fought near the town of Caseros, more precisely between the present-day train stations of Caseros and Palomar in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, on 3 February 1852, between the Army of Buenos Aires commanded by Juan Manuel de Rosas...
. After Caseros battle Rosas spent the rest of his life in exile, in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, as a farmer in Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
. He was initially buried in the Southampton Old Cemetery
Southampton Old Cemetery
Southampton Old Cemetery is a cemetery located in Southampton, England.The cemetery has had various titles including The Cemetery by the Common, Hill Lane Cemetery and is currently known as Southampton Old Cemetery. An Act of Parliament was required in 1843 to acquire the land from Southampton...
in Southampton Common
Southampton Common
Southampton Common is a large open space to the north of the city centre of Southampton, England. It is bounded by the districts of Shirley, Bassett, Highfield and Portswood. The area supports a large variety of wildlife, including the largest recorded population of the internationally rare great...
until his body was exhumed in 1989 and transferred to the La Recoleta Cemetery
La Recoleta Cemetery
La Recoleta Cemetery is a famous cemetery located in the exclusive Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, Raúl Alfonsín, and several presidents of Argentina.- History :...
in Argentina.
Rosas received the 'combat sable' from General San Martin, 'maximum hero' of Argentina, who judged that Rosas was the only man capable of defending Argentina against the European powers, especially the British.
Criticism and historical perspective
The figure of Juan Manuel de Rosas and his government generated strong conflicting viewpoints, both in his own time and afterwards.In the context of the Argentine Civil War
Argentine Civil War
The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of internecine wars that took place in Argentina from 1814 to 1876. These conflicts were separate from the Argentine War of Independence , though they first arose during this period....
, Rosas was the main leader of the Federalist party
Federales (Argentina)
Federales was the name under which the supporters of federalism in Argentina were known, opposing the Unitarios that claimed a centralised government of Buenos Aires Province, with no participation of the other provinces of the custom taxes benefits of the Buenos Aires port...
, and as such the most part of the controversies around him were motivated by the preexistent antagonism of Federalism with the Unitarian Party
Unitarian Party
Unitarianists or Unitarians were the proponents of the concept of a Unitary state in Buenos Aires during the civil wars which shortly followed the Declaration of Independence of Argentina in 1816. They were opposed to the Argentine Federalists, who wanted a federation of independent provinces...
. During the government of Rosas most unitarians fled to neighbour countries, mostly to Chile, Uruguay and Brazil; among them we can find Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the seventh President of Argentina. His writing spanned a wide range of genres and topics, from journalism to autobiography, to political philosophy and history...
, who wrote Facundo
Facundo
Facundo: Civilization and Barbarism is a book written in 1845 by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, a writer and journalist who became the seventh president of Argentina...
while living in Chile. Facundo is a critic biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of Facundo Quiroga, another federalist caudillo, but Sarmiento used it to pass many indirect or direct critics to Rosas himself. Some members of the 1837 generation
1837 generation
The 1837 generation was an Argentine literary group. Influenced by the new romantic ideas, they rejected the cultural Spanish heritage of the country. They considered themselves the "sons of the May Revolution", as they were born shortly after it, and wrote some of the earliest Argentine literary...
, such as Esteban Echeverría
Esteban Echeverría
José Esteban Antonio Echeverría was an Argentine poet, fiction writer, cultural promoter, and political activist who played a significant role in the development of Argentine literature, not only through his own writings but also through his organizational efforts...
or Juan Bautista Alberdi
Juan Bautista Alberdi
Juan Bautista Alberdi was an Argentine political theorist and diplomat. Although he lived most of his life in exile in Montevideo and Chile, he was one of the most influential Argentine liberals of his age.-Biography:...
, tried to generate an alternative to the unitarians-federalists antagonism, but had to flee to other countries as well.
After the defeat of Rosas in Caseros and the return of his political adversaries, it was decided to portray him in a negative light. The legislature of Buenos Aires charged him with High treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
in 1857; Nicanor Arbarellos supported his negative vote with the following speech:
The first historians of Argentina, such as Bartolomé Mitre
Bartolomé Mitre
Bartolomé Mitre Martínez was an Argentine statesman, military figure, and author. He was the President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868.-Life and times:...
, were vocal critics of Rosas, and for many years there was a clear consensus in condemning him. However, authors like Mitre or Sarmiento can't be considered exclusiely from the perspectives of historiography or the history of ideas, as they were active people and even protagonists of the political struggles of their time; and their works were used as tools to advertise their political ideas. Adolfo Saldías
Adolfo Saldías
Adolfo Saldías was an Argentine historian, lawyer, politician, soldier and diplomat.Saldías received his law degree in 1875 and published a thesis on the subject of Civil matrimony...
was the first in not condemning Rosas entirely, and in the book Historia de la Confederación Argentina he supported his international policy, while keeping the usual rejection on the treatment given by Rosas to detractors. Authors like Levene, Molinari or Ravignani, in the 1930 decade, would develop a neutral approach to Rosas, that Ravignani defined as "Nor with Rosas, nor against Rosas". Their work would be more oriented towards the positive things of the early years of Rosas, and less into the most polemic ones.
Years later, a new historiographical flow made an active and strong support of Rosas and other caudillos. Because of its great differences with the early historians the local historiography knows them as revisionists
Historical revisionism
In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of orthodox views on evidence, motivations, and decision-making processes surrounding a historical event...
, while the early one is named "official" or "academic" instead. However, despite namings, the early historiography of Argentina hasn't always followed standard academic procedures, nor developed hegemonic views at all topics. They would expand the work of Saldías and Ernesto Quesada, and developed instead negative views about Mitre, Sarmiento, Rivadavia and the unitarians.
Modern historians like Felipe Pigna
Felipe Pigna
Felipe Pigna, born in Mercedes, Buenos Aires, in 1959, is an Argentine historian and writer. He's currently among the best selling book authors from Argentina.- Biography :...
or Félix Luna
Félix Luna
Félix Luna was a prominent Argentine writer, lyricist and historian.-Life and times:Luna was born in Buenos Aires to a family originally from La Rioja Province, in 1925...
avoid joining the dispute, describing instead the existence of conflicting viewpoints towards Rosas. The historiographical dispute about Rosas is currently considered to be over.
Legacy
Battle of Vuelta de Obligado
The naval Battle of Vuelta de Obligado took place on the waters of the Paraná River on November 20, 1845, between the Argentine Confederation, under the leadership of Juan Manuel de Rosas, and an Anglo-French fleet.- Background :...
, has been declared "Day of National Sovereignty
Day of National Sovereignty
The Day of National Sovereignty is a national public holiday of Argentina, celebrated during November 20. It commemorates the Battle of Vuelta de Obligado, when a small Argentine army stood against an Anglo-French navy that broke into the Paraná River, against the will of the Argentine Confederation...
" of Argentina, following a request by revisionist
Historical revisionism
In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of orthodox views on evidence, motivations, and decision-making processes surrounding a historical event...
historian José María Rosa
José María Rosa
José María Rosa , also lnown as "Pepe Rosa", was an Argentine historian, one of the most notable of the Argentine nationalist revisionist historians.-Biography:...
. This observance day was raised in 2010 to a public holiday
Public holidays in Argentina
The following are the National public holidays and other observances of Argentina.Though holidays of many faiths are respected, public holidays usually include most Catholic holidays...
by Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner , commonly known as Cristina Fernández or Cristina Kirchner is the 55th and current President of Argentina and the widow of former President Néstor Kirchner. She is Argentina's first elected female president, and the second female president ever to serve...
. Rosas has been included in the banknotes of 20 Argentine peso
Argentine peso
The peso is the currency of Argentina, identified by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using dollar currencies. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. Its ISO 4217 code is ARS...
s, with his face and his daughter Manuela Rosas in the front and a depiction of the battle of Vuelta de Obligado in the back. A monument of Rosas, 15 meters tall and with a weight of 3 tons, has been erected in 1999 in the city of Buenos Aires, at the conjunction of the "Libertador" and "Sarmiento" avenues.
The aforementioned law that charged Rosas of high treason was abrogated in 1974.
A portrait of Rosas was included in 2010 in a gallery of Latin American patriots, held at the Casa Rosada
Casa Rosada
La Casa Rosada is the official seat of the executive branch of the government of Argentina, and of the offices of the President. The President normally lives at the Quinta de Olivos, a compound in Olivos, Buenos Aires Province. Its characteristic color is pink, and is considered one of the most...
. The gallery, which included works provided by the presidents of other Latin American countries, was held because of the 2010 Argentina Bicentennial
Argentina Bicentennial
The Argentina Bicentennial is a series of celebrations and observances celebrated on May 25, 2010, and throughout the year. They commemorated the 200th anniversary of the May Revolution, a sequence of historical events that led to the Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros' being ousted from office...
.
Silver and gold coins were struck during Rosas' tenure both with his portrait and without, but bearing his name. Portrait coins were issued in 1836 with a more youthful portrait and again in 1842 with a more mature portrait. Shown at right is a silver 8 soles (approx. 39 mm) coin from 1836.