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The Argentine Constitution of 1826 was a short-lived Constitution of Argentina drafted during the
Argentine Civil Wars The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of civil conflicts of varying intensity that took place through the territories of Argentina from 1814 to 1853. Initiation concurrently with the Argentine War of Independence (1810–1820), the conflict p ...
.
Bernardino Rivadavia Bernardino de la Trinidad González Rivadavia (May 20, 1780 – September 2, 1845) was the first President of Argentina, then called the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, from February 8, 1826 to June 27, 1827. He was educated at ...
was appointed President of Argentina under this constitution. It was rejected by most Argentine provinces, and then abolished.


Context

The
Argentine War of Independence The Argentine War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de Argentina, links=no) was a secessionist civil war fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli and José de San Martín ...
, which began in 1810, was soon followed by the
Argentine Civil Wars The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of civil conflicts of varying intensity that took place through the territories of Argentina from 1814 to 1853. Initiation concurrently with the Argentine War of Independence (1810–1820), the conflict p ...
, as the provinces had conflictive views over the national organization. The federals supported the autonomy of the provinces, and the Unitarian party supported a political centralization of the country in Buenos Aires. The
Argentine Constitution of 1819 The Argentine Constitution of 1819 was a Constitution drafted by the Congress of Tucumán in 1819, shortly after the Argentine War of Independence. It was promoted by Buenos Aires but rejected by the other provinces and did not come into force. ...
, drafted by the Congress of Tucumán, was highly centralist. It was abolished in 1820 after the federal victory at the battle of Cepeda. The office of the Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, the head of state at the time, was abolished as well. The provinces stayed united as a country by the Treaty of Pilar, but without any constitution or head of state for the time being. This period is known as the "anarchy of the year XX". The
Treaty of Benegas The Treaty of Benegas was a peace treaty signed by the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe on 24 November 1820. History After the Batlle of Cepeda, on 1 February 1820, where the ''caudillo'' of Santa Fe Province, Estanislao Lópe ...
between Buenos Aires and Santa Fe included an agreement to call for a new Constituent Assembly, which would work at the city of Córdoba. The treaty did not mention the political system, which would be discussed at the assembly, nor the reaction to the
Luso-Brazilian invasion of the Banda Oriental The Portuguese conquest of the Banda Oriental was the armed-conflict that took place between 1816 and 1820 in the Banda Oriental, for control of what today comprises the whole of the Republic of Uruguay, the northern part of the Argentine Mes ...
. The assembly was attended by representatives of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Mendoza, San Juan, La Rioja, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and San Luis. However, the legal complaints of the representatives of Buenos Aires did not allow the Assembly to begin its work. The assembly was closed shortly afterwards. Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Corrientes signed the
Quadrilateral Treaty The Quadrilateral Treaty was a pact between the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Corrientes, signed on 25 January 1822. The treaty was intended to be an offensive-defensive pact between the signatories, in front of ...
, to call a new Constituent Assembly, this time in Buenos Aires. Again, it did not specify the political system. The new assembly was convened in Buenos Aires on February 27. As the number of representatives was proportional to the population, Buenos Aires had the highest number. Twelve of the thirteen provinces accepted to hold the Congress in Buenos Aires; San Luis proposed Tucumán.


Deliberations

The Assembly began the deliberations on December 1824.
Manuel Antonio Castro Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manu ...
and Narciso Laprida were the president and vicepresident of it. The assembly first drafted a "Fundamental law", that confirmed it as a
constituent assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
and temporarily appointed the governor of Buenos Aires Province as the
head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...
of the country, until the formal creation of one. The provinces ratified that they would be part of a same country, and would retain their local institutions until the sanction of new ones. To avoid the resistances caused by the 1819 constitution, the 7º article clarified that the new constitution would not come into force until it was accepted by the provinces. The Assembly approved a treaty of friendship with Britain in 1825, with the British recognition to the 1816 Argentine declaration of independence. It also allowed British subjects to keep their religion, and to build their own churches and cemeteries. The treaty also ended the commerce of slaves. The Congress accepted as well the declaration of independence of the provinces of the Upper Peru, which became a new country, named
Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
after the liberator Simón Bolívar. The Luso-Brazilian invasion was resisted by the local population of the Banda Oriental, and the Thirty-Three Orientals began a rebellion against the Brazilian forces. They called the
Congress of La Florida A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
, rejecting the Brazilian annexation and requesting the reincorporation into the United Provinces. The request was accepted in the Assembly with the unanimous votes of the Argentine provinces. The government of Buenos Aires informed the Brazilian emperor Pedro I of this resolution, and that the national armies would only react in self-defense. The emperor then
declared war A declaration of war is a formal act by which one state announces existing or impending war activity against another. The declaration is a performative speech act (or the signing of a document) by an authorized party of a national government, ...
on the United Provinces. As a result of the war, the Assembly took several related resolutions, aiming to strength the military and centralize the power. It began with the legal organization of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, the national wealth and a national bank. The assembly changed as well the number of people represented by the representatives, from 15,000 to 7,500. This allowed each province to duplicate their number of representatives. However, several representatives were not from the provinces that they represented: Manuel Dorrego and Manuel Moreno, both from Buenos Aires, represented Santiago del Estero and the Banda Oriental, thanks to the increased numbers. Juan Gregorio de las Heras resigned as governor of Buenos Aires, so
Elías Bedoya Elias is the Greek equivalent of Elijah ( he, אֵלִיָּהוּ‎ ''ʾĒlīyyāhū''; Syriac: ܐܠܝܐ ''Eliyā''; Arabic: الیاس Ilyās/Elyās), a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several holy ...
, representative of Córdoba, proposed a law to create a stable head of state figure, the President of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. This proposal was opposed by Manuel Moreno, who considered that the definitive head of state should only be appointed once the constitution was finished and clearly outlined duration, attributions and system of election; in the meantime the head of state should still be provisory. However, his opinion was in the minority. The new law was sanctioned on February 6, 1826. The president was elected immediately:
Bernardino Rivadavia Bernardino de la Trinidad González Rivadavia (May 20, 1780 – September 2, 1845) was the first President of Argentina, then called the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, from February 8, 1826 to June 27, 1827. He was educated at ...
, with 35 votes. Carlos María de Alvear, Juan Antonio Lavalleja and
Juan Antonio Álvarez de Arenales Juan Antonio Álvarez de Arenales ( Reinoso, Spain, June 13, 1770 – Moraya, Bolivia, December 4, 1831) was an Argentine general of Spanish origin (considered also a Bolivian for his activities in Bolivia) that fought in the war for the United ...
got a single vote each one.
Juan Bautista Bustos Juan Bautista Bustos (August 29, 1779 - September 18, 1830) was an Argentine politician and military leader who participated in the British invasions of the River Plate and the Argentine Civil Wars. In 1820, he became the first constitutional Gov ...
, governor of Córdoba, rejected the appointment of Rivadavia, and his province retired from the Assembly. Rivadavia proposed a bill to declare Buenos Aires the
capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...
of the country. This proposal was widely rejected, both by the other provinces and by the representatives of Buenos Aires. With this proposal, the
Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...
would cease to exist. The city, all things inside it (such as the port) and a territory around it would belong to the national government. The institutions of the Buenos Aires province would be abolished, and the remaining territory would be divided into two provinces. The law was approved, despite of the high resistance to it. Las heras resigned as governor, and the Buenos Aires legislature was closed. The Assembly asked the provinces to select the type of government. The support to
republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. ...
was absolute, nobody desired a monarchy; but the dispute of centralism or federalism was still divisive. Some provinces selected the federal organization and others the centralist organization; most members of the Assembly were centralists.Lorenzo, pp. 59-62


References


Bibliography

* * {{cite book , last= Lorenzo , first= Celso Ramón , title= Manual de Historia Constitucional Argentina 2 , url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1U3bsmyZHmEC , accessdate= 10 June 2013 , year= 2000 , publisher= Editorial Juris , location= Argentina , isbn= 950-817-064-6 Constitutions of Argentina Argentine Civil War Cisplatine War Defunct constitutions 1826 establishments in Argentina 1826 in law 1826 documents February 1826 events