Consolidation and Europeanization, 1852-80
After the fall of Rosas, Urquiza established his headquarters at Palermo and began to use the same control mechanisms as his predecessor: coercion, violence, and terror. The victory at Caseros did not bring about a substantial change in the political structure of the country. Initially, it appeared only that one caudillo had replaced another.
One of Urquiza's first acts was to appoint Vicente Lopez y Planes provisional governor of Buenos Aires. A commission of governors from the provinces of Santa Fe, Entre Rios, Corrientes, and Buenos Aires later designated Urquiza provisional director. He was committed to a process of national reorganization. In May 1852 he met with all provincial governors at San Nicolás de los Arroyos and drew up an agreement providing for the renewal of the Federal Pact of 1831 and the convocation of Congress. Mitre and other deputies from the Buenos Aires legislature rejected the agreement, thus prompting a rebellion under the leadership of Valentmn Alsina.
The main reason for Buenos Aires' adamant refusal to participate in the union was still related to the status of the port of Buenos Aires, the most important custom house in the Rio de la Plata basin. Loss of political control of the province would represent the loss of customs revenues.
In November 1852 congressional delegates from all the other provinces met in Santa Fe to begin work on a new constitution. The main documents studied during the debates were The Federalist Papers by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay and the Bases and Points of Departure for the Political Organization of the Argentine Republic by Juan Bautista Alberdi. Alberdi sought a reassessment of the concept of provincial autonomy, whose advocates had historically been polarized between those who favored either centralism or federalism.
Alberdi's recommendations for a charter that integrated both sides of the provincial political debate were taken into account, and Congress adopted a constitution modeled upon his Bases. The Constitution was sanctioned on May 1 and proclaimed on May 25, 1853. By the 21st Century the 1853 Constitution remained one of the most liberal national charters in the world. It established the government as representative, republican, and federal; Catholicism was declared the official religion of the country.
The overthrow of Rosas and the promulgation of the Constitution also instituted free trade and foreign investments in the country and the development of a stable Argentine market for British manufactures, which were exchanged for inexpensive foodstuffs shipped to European consumers.
Argentina's heritage from three centuries of colonial rule as a tradition of privilege, mercantilism and patrimonialism. Argentina ended the colonial era as a poor, divided country with a comparatively small population. Everything changed, however, in the middle of the 19th century. Alberdi and the other liberal thinkers of the mid-19th century set Argentina on a strong path towards political and economic development that equaled what was happening in the United States at the time. Argentina tried to break with its colonial past, encouraged immigration, and instituted private property and individual rights, such as the freedom of religion.
In accordance with the constitutional provisions of 1853, elections took place on November 20, 1853, and Urquiza became the first constitutional president of the Argentine Republic. He undertook the difficult task of reestablishing friendly international relations through a series of treaties with Britain, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Belgium, Prussia, Naples, and Sardinia. He also began to organize public instruction by providing subsidies to education at the provincial level, and he nationalized the University of Cordoba and the Academy of Montserrat.
The administration also promoted immigration through the establishment of agricultural colonies in Santa Fe and Entre Rios. Each family was given land, oxen, implements, seeds, and wood for a house. The first Swiss settlers arrived in 1856, and they founded the colonies of Esperanza and San José. In 1854 the problem of land transportation began to attract the government's attention in the form of a projected railroad between Rosario and Cordoba. In 1855 Argentina reached an agreement with Chile for the construction of a trans-Andean railroad, and other arrangements were made for the establishment of stagecoach lines. A central bank was established to negotiate a loan for the consolidation of the government's foreign debt.
While the rest of the country was being organized according to the 1853 Constitution, Buenos Aires maintained its independent position and constituted itself as a separate state under a Unitarian political charter passed in April 1854. The Buenos Aires charter provided for a bicameral legislature, freedom of worship, and abolition of the slave trade. In the month following the adoption of the charter, the legislature designated Pastor Obligado Buenos Aires' first governor.
Mitre and Alsina became the most important aides in the new Buenos Aires government. A number of schools were founded in the countryside, a provincial bank was established, water and gas plants were built, and towns were developed in the locations of old military fortresses: Fuerte Esperanza, San Martin, Santos Lugares del Moron, Las Flores, Lomas, Chivilcoy, and Bragado.
Whereas Buenos Aires, a busy port that generated money for the state administration, thrived, the rest of the country languished. To neutralize Buenos Aires' predominant position, it was necessary for Argentina to federalize the port city. Between 1852 and 1880 there was a climate of continuous struggle, when five short civil wars were fought over the province's incorporation into the federation.
Despite the formal separation between the federalized provinces and the state of Buenos Aires, an agreement of cooperation for peace and commerce was signed in late 1854. At about the same time, the granting of "differential duties" to the port at Rosario, a protective measure that sought to compensate it for the loss of customs revenues from Buenos Aires, increased porteno opposition against joining the federation. In 1857 Alsina was elected governor of Buenos Aires, and old rivalries with Urquiza prompted an invasion of the state.
The army of Buenos Aires under Mitre was routed at Cepeda, in the northern part of the state of Buenos Aires, and Urquiza proceeded to San José de Flores, where a pact was signed in November 1859 that provided for the incorporation of Buenos Aires into the union if some amendments were introduced into the 1853 Constitution. In October Buenos Aires had accepted the Constitution of the Argentin Republic and agreed to turn over most of its custom revenues to the nation after a period of five years.
Intervention in provincial life had been a trademark of Urquiza, who exercised the legal power to interfere in provincial affairs whenever the constitutional rights of the people were in danger. Santiago Derqui succeeded Urquiza as president in 1860 and followed his predecessor's policies of involvement in local disturbances in the province of Buenos Aires. In September 1861 opposing armies under Urquiza and the governor of Buenos Aires, Mitre, clashed again at Pavón. Mitre's losses were higher than Urquiza's, but Urquiza withdrew with his troops. Mitre proceeded to Rosario, whereas President Derqui felt the lack of support for his government and fled to Montevideo.
After his victory at Pavón, Mitre continued to hold the governorship of Buenos Aires and took over the nation's administration. This step was taken on a temporary basis until provincial representatives could be assembled to elect a new national leader. Congress decided to federalize the city of Buenos Aires as the national capital for five years, and it elected Mitre as constitutional president. The new administration promoted communications, immigration, and the settlement of the interior, and it passed a customs law giving preferential treatment to trade with European nations. It also organized a supreme court, promoted secondary education, and founded academies in Catamarca, Salta, Tucumán, San Juan, Mendoza, and Buenos Aires.
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