United Provinces of the Río de la Plata

United Provinces of South America
*Provincias Unidas de Sud América*
United Provinces of South America Provincias Unidas de Sud América
1816–1830
	Flag
	In blue, the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in 1821.
Status	Unrecognized state
Capital	Buenos Aires
Common languages	Spanish
History
• Independence from Spain	1816
• Pacto Federal	1830
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
Pacto Federal
Uruguay
Bolivar's Republic

The United Provinces of South America (Spanish: Provincias Unidas de Sud América) was the original name of a state that would become the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata which would then become Argentina. Formed in 1810 from provinces of the former Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and had Buenos Aires as its capital. The name was used in the 1819 Argentine constitution^[1]. This was the official name of the country until the 1826 Argentine constitution, when the name República Argentina was first time used.

Description

The United Provinces of South America was neighboured to the South by sparsely populated indigenous territories of Pampa and Patagonia which were the home of settled Amerindian nations such as the Mapuche, Ranquel and Puelche. To the North it was in contact with the indigenous territories of Gran Chaco populated by the Guaycuru nations. In the west was the Spanish controlled province of Chile and to the East was the Empire of Portugal.

History

Ever since the foundation of the United Provinces, porteños (residents of Buenos Aires) attempted to assert control over the Union, trying to establish a unitary, centralist state, something which was opposed by the Federales, who created their own state, the Liga Federal, governed by federalist laws.

Liga Federal

The Liga Federal (1815-1820) or Liga de los Pueblos Libres (League of the Free Peoples in English) was a small nation in what is now Argentina and Uruguay that was created after the break up of the Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. The idea of a federalist country originated from its leader, José Gervasio Artigas, a former officer in the Spanish army.

The United Provinces of South America were threatened by the Liga Federal and joined forces with the Portuguese forces, led by Carlos Frederico Lecor. Thanks to their numerical and material superiority the combined forces, defeated Artigas and his army and occupied Montevideo on January 20, 1817, but the struggle continued for three long years in the countryside. In 1820 the Liga Federal was dissolved and its provinces of absorbed into the United Provinces of South America with the exception of the Provincia Oriental (modern day Uruguay) which was annexed by Portugal to its Brazilian dependences in 1821.

Break up of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata

The result of the wars was the independence of the provinces

Bolivia

Four provinces would go on to become Bolivia

Charcas (now part of Bolivia)
Cochabamba (now part of Bolivia)
Mizque (now part of Bolivia)
Chichas (now part of Bolivia)

Uruguay

The independence of the Eastern Province or Provincia Oriental to become Uruguay

Brazil

The award of an extensive section of Misiones to Brazil to become the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and parts of Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul.

Argentina

After much infighting, the following joined together to become what is now Argentina:

Buenos Aires
Entre Ríos
Corrientes
Santa Fe
Mendoza
San Juan
Catamarca
Tucumán
Santiago del Estero
Salta
Jujuy
Misiones Orientales (now part of Brazil)
Misiones
Córdoba
Carmen de Patagones in Patagonia.

Falkland Islands

The United Provinces had intermittent control over the Falkland Islands, establishing a colony under Luis Vernet in 1829. The British took control of the islands in the 1833 and has held them ever since, except for two months' Argentine control during the 1982 Falklands War.

References

^ 1819 Constitution

Sources

"Símbolos Nacionales de la República Argentina" ISBN 9506910367

[1] 1819 Constitution

[1]