The Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata
The creation of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata rested largely on Spain's desire to assert political authority in the South Atlantic, where Buenos Aires had become an important center of contraband trade, thus effectively bypassing the economic domination of Lima. Spain feared a continuous British advance in the area after the Treaty of Paris, which had already destroyed French colonial influence in the New World. Its fears were also directed toward the Portuguese at Colonia do Sacramento and toward a possible British invasion of Patagonia. Concerns about the latter were heightened by two colonization attempts on the Falkland/Malvinas Islands— the French had established a colony at Port Louis in 1764, and the British had settled Port Egmont in 1766.
The Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata was formally established on October 27, 1777, with the appointment of Juan José Vértiz y Calcedo as its first viceroy. By 1778 its territory included the areas of present-day Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and part of Bolivia. Institutional arrangements included the creation of a royal treasury in 1778, an intendance of the army and provincial subdivisions in 1782, an audiencia — a royal administrative council that combined executive, legislative, and judicial powers — in 1785, and a consulado (trade tribunal) in 1794.
The consulado was given extensive powers to protect and develop commerce, increase agricultural production through technical innovations, stimulate trade, improve commercial and technical education, build roads and improve harbors, plan settlements, and even take care of the cleaning and lighting of the streets of Buenos Aires. This period was characterized by the rise of Buenos Aires as the major port and marketplace for a large area that also encompassed the mining areas of Upper Peru.
The end of 200 years of economic isolation unleashed peninsular (Spanish-born white) mercantile interests in Buenos Aires that were now allowed to trade directly with Spanish ports around the world. The combination of the loose hold of colonial institutions and the mixed racial character of the Argentine criollo upper class led to the development of a unique and relatively egalitarian society in Buenos Aires.
The Buenos Aires merchant community depended on the expansion and maintenance of trade, whereas the interior towns were self-sufficient. Conflicts of interest also existed between the peninsulares and criollo merchants within Buenos Aires. The former group was protected against criollo competition that would result from free trade, while the latter longed to break away from the peninsular trade monopoly and participate in commerce with all nations.
The establishment in 1776 of viceregal authority on the Atlantic coast was part of a broader plan of reforms adopted by the Bourbon kings of Spain. The eighteenth-century reforms promoted the growth of colonial intellectual life, an increase in economic activity, and greater awareness of regional potential.
Even before the advent of viceregal rule, the pastoral economy had already developed its main features. The estancias (cattle ranches) employed gauchos as salaried workers; they maintained a great degree of independence from their employers, owing mostly to their skills in dealing with the herds and the Indians.
The cattle industry gained momentum with the opening of trade, which encouraged more intensive cattle raising and, in the early nineteenth century, led to the development of saladeros (salted meat plants) geared toward an export market based on a rational division of labor and wage workers. This combination of factors eventually prompted a more critical assessment of Spain's institutional role as an obstacle to the region's social and economic development. Increasing discontent and the example of revolutionary movements in France, Haiti, and the United States finally led to the breakdown of Spanish colonial rule in the New World.
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