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<a href="indexingles.html" target=_top>A Journey to the Past</a><br>
<b><font color="#333366">The </font><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">foundation</font><font color="#333366">
of the Argentine State</font></b><font color="#333366"> <br>
<b>A</b>fter the Napoleonic invasion of Spain and the consequent imprisonment
of their king, a revolutionary wave broke out in the colony still ruled by the
<b>Virreinato del Río de la Plata</b>. Perhaps under the influence of the
recent <b>independence processes</b> in other countries, finally the<i> <b>criollos</b></i>
(<b>natives</b>) became their own policy-makers on <b>May, 25, 1810</b>. <br>
<br>
On <b>July, 9, 1816</b>, the <b>Congress of Tucumán</b> proclaimed the
<b>independence of the Provincias Unidas de América del Sur</b> (<b>United
Provinces of the South</b>). But difficulties were far from having ended: they
had only just begun. <br>
<br>
The <b>first constitution</b>, enacted in <b>1819</b>, created the legal framework
for a <b>unitary country</b>, that is, the powers would center in the capital
city. As it could be expected, the provinces opposed this situation and proposed
a <b>federal regime</b> which would give them some scope for autonomy. There was
a bloody fight between <b>Unitarians and Federals</b>, which dominated the political
scene during the first long years of the young country. <br>
In <b>1825</b>, the fundamental law changed the name of Provincias Unidas de América
del Sur by <b>Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata</b>. Finally, the <b>1826
Constitution</b> made the United Provinces into the <b>Argentine Nation</b>. At
this very moment there was a dismemberment of the territories which had made up
the Virreinato del Río de la Plata; this process had become evident with
the insurrection of the <b>Banda Oriental</b> (today Uruguay) and its subsequent
surrender to Brazil. <IMG WIDTH=15 HEIGHT=10 vspace=0 hspace=0 border=0 align=BASELINE src="../iconos/b88p.gif"><b>Federalism</b>
partly achieved its goals with the <b>1853 Constitution</b>, which, while establishing
this kind of regime, could not put an end to the <b>confrontations between Buenos
Aires and the provinces</b>. The power of Buenos Aires as a <b>city-port</b> and
a "master key" to the <b>livestock exports</b> (the basis of the Argentine
economy) would condition the history of the country. <a href="indexingles.html" target=_top>A
Journey to the Past</a><br>
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