Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Created in 1776, the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was the last and most shortlived viceroyalty created by Spain. (The Spanish name, Virreinato del Río de la Plata, translates literally to Viceroyalty of the River of Silver, although some sources conventionally call the viceroyalty Viceroyalty of the River Plate; see the Encyclopædia Britannica entry.)
Its limits roughly contained the territories of present Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay. The Captaincy General of Chile was part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. It was mainly created because of security concerns on the increasing interest of other world powers on the area, mainly Portugal and, Great Britain.
Contents |
[edit] Origin and creation
- See also Viceroyalty of Peru.
In 1680, Portuguese governor of Rio de Janeiro Manuel Lobo created the Department of Colonia and founded Colonia, a fort located in present Uruguay's coast and the department's capital. The main objective was to secure the region from Spanish expansionism. José de Garro quickly attacked and seized the fort for Spain, but on May 7, 1681 it was handed back to Portugal due to the Provisional Treaty of Lisbon.
On the other hand, the Viceroyalty of Peru required all commerce to be performed through Lima's port, which restrained the Buenos Aires natural port potential economy, a problem that also caused large contraband activities in the region, especially in Asunción, Buenos Aires and Montevideo.
Under these conditions, King Charles III of Spain requested former Governor of the Río de la Plata Cevallos to think a way of developing and securing the area, in April 1776.
This meant a way of conquering Colonia and the islands of Santa Catarina from the Portuguese, in the Banda Oriental (the "East Bank" of the Río de la Plata, i.e., Uruguay), and modernizing the underdeveloped Buenos Aires.
[edit] The early viceroyalty
- See also: Government of the Río de la Plata.
Portuguese prime minister Pombal continued to encourage the occupation of territory which had already been awarded to the Spanish in the Treaty of Paris (1763). King Charles III quickly reacted to the advantageous conditions: France was bound to be an ally as a guarantor of the treaty, and England due to its own colony problems couldn't help being neutral.
Cevallos sent a warning and started aggressions against Santa Catalina, from where the Portuguese had already fled, and it was conquered in less than a month with no casualties. Then Cevallos sailed towards Montevideo and with the aid of Buenos Aires governor Vértiz reclaimed Colonia, also without resistance. Cevallos advanced to Maldonado city, where he stopped his advance towards the Rio Grande, as he was informed of the Treaty of San Ildefonso which ended hostilities in the area.
Cevallos was then free of other matters and started significant transformations in the area, including free commerce (established on September 6, 1777) with the aid of the Potosí minerals which were meant to be the viceroyalty's main source of revenue. The Bourbonic reforms in 1778 also helped greatly with the region's development, and between 1792-1796 there was an unprecedented boom.
[edit] The viceroyalty's decline
- See also May Revolution, History of Argentina, History of Paraguay.
Buenos Aires produced about 600,000 cattle a year, of which about one quarter was consumed locally, which considerably helped the development of the area.
But wars with Great Britain meant a great setback for the region's economy as maritime communications were practically paralyzed. The Alto Peru region started to show contempt as the expenses of administration and defense of the Río de la Plata estuary were mainly supported by the declining Potosí production. For instance, in the first years of the viceroyalty, around 75% of the expenses were covered with revenues that came from the north. The Alto Plata (mostly present Paraguay) also had problems with the Buenos Aires administration, particularly because of the monopoly of its port on embarcations.
By 1805, Spain had to help France because of their 1795 alliance, and had lost its navy in the Battle of Trafalgar, but the Spanish prime minister had warned the viceroyalty of the likelihood of a British invasion, and that in such an event the city of Buenos Aires would be on its own.
In June 27, 1806 a small British force of around 1,500 men under Col. William Carr Beresford successfully invaded Buenos Aires after a failed attempt to stop him from viceroy Rafael de Sobremonte, who fled to Córdoba. The British forces were thrown back by the criollos on December 1806, by a militia force under the leadership of Santiago de Liniers. In February 1807, British reinforcements of about 8,000 men under Gen. Sir Samuel Auchmuty captured Montevideo after a fierce fight, and in May Lt. Gen. John Whitelock arrived to take overall command and attacked Buenos Aires on July 5, 1807. After losing more than half his force killed and captured, Whitelock signed a cease-fire and left for Great Britain.
Thus, without the support of Spain and with newly gained confidence after prevailing in skirmishes over a world power, the region's independence feelings were certainly boosted. As of 1811, Argentina had been self-governed for about a year, Paraguay had already declared its independence and the viceroyalty was bound to be finished. It concluded with the independence of Argentina (1816), Uruguay (1822), and Bolivia (1825).
By the end, it was clear that the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was just several unrelated regions bound together in an attempt by the Spanish crown to maintain its power over the region. Lack of internal cohesion and support from Spain, among other reasons, led to the independence of a region which was initially loyal to the crown.
[edit] The viceroyalty's dependencies
- Intendency¹ of Buenos Aires: cities of Buenos Aires, Corrientes, Santa Fe and Carmen de Patagones.
- Government² of Montevideo: cities of Montevideo and Colonia.
- Government of Misiones: city of San Ignacio
- Intendency of Paraguay: city of Asunción
- Intendency of Córdoba: cities of Rio Cuarto, Córdoba, La Rioja, San Juan, Mendoza, and San Luis
- Intendency of Salta: cities of Catamarca, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán, Salta, and Jujuy
- Government of Chiquitos
- Intendency of Potosí: city of Potosí
- Intendency of La Paz: city of La Paz
- Intendency of Cochabamba: cities of Cochabamba and Santa Cruz de la Sierra
- Intendency of Charcas: city of Charcas (modern Sucre)
- Government of Moxos
- ¹ Intendencia in Spanish.
- ² Gobernación in Spanish.
[edit] List of viceroys
- Pedro Antonio de Cevallos (1776-1778) (the Ceballos spelling is also commonly found)
- Juan José de Vértiz y Salcedo (1778-1784)
- Cristóbal del Campo, Marquess of Loreto (1784-1789)
- Nicolás Antonio de Arredondo (1789-1795)
- Pedro Melo de Portugal y Villena (1795-1798)
- Antonio Olaguer Feliú y Heredia (Interim) (1798-1799)
- Gabriel de Avilés y del Fierro, marqués de Avilés (March 14, 1799-May 20, 1801)
- Joaquín del Pino y Rozas (1801-1804)
- José Fernando Abascal y Sousa, Marquess of Concordia (1804)
- Rafael de Sobremonte, Marquess of Sobremonte (1804-1807)
- Santiago de Liniers y Bremond (1807-1809) (a. k. a. Jacques de Liniers)
- Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros (1809-1810)
- Francisco Javier Elio (1810-1811)
| Spanish America | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
Viceroyalties: New Spain · Peru · Nueva Granada · Río de la Plata | |
| Real Audiencias: Mexico · Guadalajara · Guatemala · Manila · Santo Domingo | ||
| Lima · Cusco · Chile · Bogota · Panama · Caracas · Quito · Buenos Aires · Charcas | ||
| Captancies General: Philippines · Cuba · Yucatan · Guatemala · Venezuela · Chile | ||
