May Revolution

May Revolution

The open cabildo on May 22, 1810, by Pedro Subercaseaux, depiction of the May 22 open cabildo
Date	May 25, 1810
Location	Buenos Aires
Also known as	Revolución de Mayo
Outcome	Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros is deposed and the Primera Junta assumes government. Other cities in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata are torn between joining the revolution or standing against it.
Website	Education Ministry commemorative website Template:Es

The May Revolution (Spanish: Revolución de Mayo) was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to May 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a colony of the Spanish Empire which included the present-day nations of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The result was the ousting of Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros and the establishment of a local government, the Primera Junta (First Junta), on May 25. These events are commemorated in Argentina as "May Week" (Spanish: Semana de Mayo).

The May Revolution was a direct reaction to Spain's Peninsular War during the previous two years. In 1808 the Spanish king, Ferdinand VII, abdicated in favor of Napoleon, who granted the throne to his brother, Joseph Bonaparte. A Supreme Central Junta led resistance to Joseph's government and the French occupation of Spain, but eventually suffered a series of reversals that resulted in the loss of the northern half of the country. On February 1, 1810, French troops took Seville and gained control of most of Andalusia. The Supreme Junta retreated to Cádiz and dissolved in favor of a Regency Council of Spain and the Indies. News of these events arrived in Buenos Aires on May 18 via British ships bringing newspapers from Spain and the rest of Europe.

Viceroy Cisneros tried to conceal the news in order to maintain the political status quo, but a group of criollo lawyers and military officials organized an open cabildo (an extraordinary meeting of notables of the city) on May 22 to decide the future of the Viceroyalty. Delegates denied recognition to the Council of Regency in Spain and established a junta to govern in place of Cisneros, since the government that appointed him Viceroy no longer existed. To maintain a sense of continuity, Cisneros was initially appointed as the President of the Junta. However, this caused a great deal of popular unrest, so Cisneros resigned under pressure on May 25. The newly formed Primera Junta invited other cities of the Viceroyalty to send delegates to join the Buenos Aires Junta. This resulted in the outbreak of war between the regions that accepted the outcome of the events at Buenos Aires, and those that did not.

The May Revolution is considered the starting point of the Argentine War of Independence, although no formal declaration of independence was issued at the time, and the Primera Junta continued to govern in the name of the deposed king Ferdinand VII. As similar events occurred in many other cities of Spanish South America when news of the dissolution of the Spanish Supreme Junta arrived, the May Revolution is also considered one of the starting points for the Spanish American wars of independence. Historians today debate whether the revolutionaries were truly loyal to the Spanish crown, or whether the declaration of fidelity to the king was a necessary ruse to conceal the true objective of achieving independence from a population that was not yet ready to accept such a radical change. A formal declaration of independence was finally issued at the Congress of Tucumán on July 9, 1816.

Causes

Main article: Causes of the May Revolution

International causes

The crowning of Joseph Bonaparte generated doubts about the legitimacy of the Spanish viceroys.

The United States declared their independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1776, which led criollos to believe that revolution and independence from Spain could be realistic aims. Between 1775 and 1783, the Thirteen Colonies started the American Revolution and waged the American Revolutionary War against their former rulers. The fact that Spain aided the colonies in their struggle against Britain weakened the argument that ending one's allegiance to the mother country could be considered a crime.

The ideals of the French Revolution of 1789 were spreading as well. During the Revolution, centuries of monarchy ended with the overthrow and execution of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, and the removal of the privileges of the nobility. The French Revolution boosted liberal ideals in the political and economic fields. Liberal ideas expanded through the Atlantic Revolutions, and the concept of the divine right of kings was questioned by the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the American All men are created equal declaration, and even the Spanish church. The end of the notion of the divine right of kings gave a basis for republics in France and the United States to replace monarchies. It also gave rise to constitutional monarchies, such as in Great Britain.

However, the spread of such ideas was forbidden in the Spanish territories, as was the sale of related books or their unauthorized possession. These bans were first instituted when Spain declared war on France after the execution of Louis XVI, and were retained after the peace treaty of 1796. News of the events of 1789 and copies of the publications of the French Revolution spread around Spain despite efforts to keep them at bay. Many enlightened criollos came into contact with liberal authors and their works during their university studies, either at Europe or the University of Chuquisaca. Books from the United States found their way into the Spanish colonies through Caracas, due to the proximity of Venezuela to the United States and the West Indies.

The Declaration of Independence of the United States inspired similar movements in the Spanish colonies in South America.

The Industrial Revolution started in Britain, with the use of plateways, canals and steam power. This led to dramatic increases in the productive capabilities of Britain, and created a need for new markets to sell their products. The Napoleonic Wars, where Britain was at war with France, made this a difficult task, after Napoleon imposed the Continental System, which did not allow Britain to trade with any other European country. Thus, Britain needed to be able to trade with the Spanish colonies, but could not do so because the colonies were restricted to trade only with their own metropolis. To achieve their economic objectives, Britain initially launched the British invasions of the Río de la Plata to conquer key cities in Spanish America. When that failed, they chose to promote the Spanish-American aspirations of emancipation from Spain.

The mutiny of Aranjuez (1808) led to the Spanish King Charles IV abdicating in favor of his son, Ferdinand VII. Charles IV requested that Napoleon restore him to the throne; instead, Napoleon crowned his own brother, Joseph Bonaparte, as the new Spanish King. This event is known as the Abdications of Bayonne. Joseph's crowning was met with severe resistance in Spain, starting the Peninsular War, and the Junta of Seville took power in the name of the absent king. Until then, Spain had been a staunch ally of France against Britain, but at this point Spain allied with Britain against France instead. The Junta of Seville was eventually defeated, and was replaced by a Regency Council based in Cádiz.

National causes

William Carr Beresford surrenders to Santiago de Liniers during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata.

Spain forbade its American colonies from trading with other nations or foreign colonies, and imposed itself as the only buyer and vendor for international trade. This situation damaged the viceroyalty, as Spain's economy was not powerful enough to accommodate the supply of goods coming from the colonies, causing economic shortages and recession. The Spanish trade routes favored the ports of Mexico and Lima, to the detriment of Buenos Aires. As a result, the city smuggled the products that could not be obtained legitimately. This smuggling, even though it was illegal, was allowed by most local authorities as a lesser evil, and it occasionally equalled in volume the legal commerce with Spain. Two antagonistic factions emerged: the hacendados (owners of haciendas) wanted free trade so they could sell their products abroad; and the merchants, who benefited from the high prices of smuggled imports, opposed free trade because prices would come down.

The Spanish monarchy appointed their own candidates to most of the political offices in the viceroyalty, usually favoring Spaniards from Europe. In most cases, the appointees had little knowledge or interest in local issues. Consequently, there was a growing rivalry between criollos—people born in America—and peninsulars—European-born people. Most criollos thought that peninsulars had undeserved advantages and received preferential treatment in politics and society. The lower clergy had a similar sentiment about the higher echelons of the religious hierarchy. Events developed at a slower pace than in the United States independence movement. This was in part because the entire educational system in Spanish America was controlled by the clergy; this led the population to hold the same conservative ideas and follow the same customs as Spain.

The coronation of Infanta Carlota Joaquina was considered an alternative to revolution.

Buenos Aires and Montevideo successfully resisted two British invasions. In 1806, a small British army led by William Carr Beresford seized Buenos Aires for a brief time; the city was liberated by a Montevidean army led by Santiago de Liniers. The following year, a bigger army seized Montevideo, but was overwhelmed by the forces of Buenos Aires; they capitulated and returned Montevideo to the viceroyalty. There was no aid from Spain during either invasion. Preparations for the second invasion included the formation of criollo militias, in spite of the prohibition against them. The biggest criollo army was the Patricios Regiment, led by Cornelio Saavedra. These events gave criollos military power and political influence that they did not have before. And since the victory was achieved without any help from Spain, it boosted criollo confidence in their independent capabilities.

The Portuguese royal family left Europe and settled in colonial Brazil in 1808, after escaping the Napoleonic invasion of Portugal. Carlota Joaquina, sister of Ferdinand VII, was the wife of a Portuguese prince. As she avoided the later capture of the Spanish royal family, she attempted to take charge of the Spanish Viceroyalties as regent. This political project, known as Carlotism, was begun in hopes of preventing a French invasion of the Americas. A small secret society of criollos, composed of politicians as Manuel Belgrano and Juan José Castelli, and military as Antonio Beruti or Hipólito Vieytes, supported this project. They considered it an opportunity to get a local government instead of a European one, or a step towards a potential declaration of independence. The project was resisted by Viceroy Liniers, most peninsulars, and criollos such as Mariano Moreno, Juan José Paso, and Cornelio Saavedra. They suspected that it concealed Portuguese expansionist ambitions over the region. Carlota Joaquina finally declined the project, as her supporters intended her to head a constitutional monarchy, whereas she wanted to govern an absolute monarchy. Britain, which had a strong stance in the Portuguese Empire, opposed the project as well: they wanted to prevent Spain from splitting into many kingdoms, and considered Carlota Joaquina unable to prevent potential separatism.

Prelude

Liniers government

Santiago de Liniers ruled as viceroy in the 1807-1809 period.

After the British invasions (1806), Buenos Aires was successfully reconquered. The population did not allow Rafael de Sobremonte to continue as Viceroy. He had escaped to Córdoba with the public treasury while the battle was still in progress. There was a law enacted by Pedro de Cevallos that required that the treasury be moved to a safe place in the case of foreign attack, but Sobremonte was still seen as a coward by the population. The Royal Audiencia of Buenos Aires did not allow his return to Buenos Aires and elected Santiago de Liniers, acclaimed as a popular hero, as an interim Viceroy. This was an unprecedented action, the first time that a Spanish viceroy was deposed by local government institutions, and not by the Spanish king himself. But the appointment was ratified later by King Charles IV of Spain. Liniers armed all the population of Buenos Aires, including criollos and slaves, and defeated a second British invasion attempt in 1807.

The Liniers administration was popular among criollos, but not among peninsulars such as the merchant Martín de Álzaga or the governor of Montevideo, Francisco Javier de Elío. They requested the Spanish authorities designate a new viceroy. In the wake of the outbreak of the Peninsular War, De Elío created a Junta in Montevideo, which would scrutinise all the orders coming from Buenos Aires and reserved the right to ignore them, without openly denying the authority of the Viceroy or declaring Montevideo independent.

Martín de Álzaga began a mutiny to remove Liniers. On January 1, 1809, an open cabildo (an extraordinary meeting of neighbours at the local cabildo) chaired by Álzaga demanded the resignation of Liniers and appointed a Junta on behalf of Ferdinand VII; the Spanish militia and a group of people summoned by the council gathered to support the rebellion. A small number of criollos (notably Mariano Moreno) supported the mutiny as a means to gain independence, but most of them did not. They felt that Álzaga wanted to remove the Viceroy to avoid his political authority, but intended to keep the social differences between criollos and peninsulars unchanged. The riot was quickly routed when criollo militias led by Cornelio Saavedra surrounded the plaza and dispersed the insurgents. As a result of the failed mutiny, the rebel militias were disarmed. This included all peninsular militias, and the power of the criollos increased as a result. The rivalry between criollos and peninsulars deepened. The leaders of the plot, with the exception of Moreno, were exiled to Carmen de Patagones. Javier de Elío freed them from that location, and gave them political asylum at Montevideo.

Cisneros government

Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, the last viceroy ruling in Buenos Aires

The Junta of Seville replaced Liniers with the naval officer Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, a veteran of the battle of Trafalgar, to end the political turmoil in the Río de la Plata. He arrived to Montevideo in June 1809 for the handover. Manuel Belgrano proposed that Liniers should resist on the grounds that he had been confirmed as Viceroy by the authority of a Spanish king, whereas Cisneros lacked such legitimacy. The criollo militias were willing to support Liniers against Cisneros, but Liniers handed over the government to him without resistance. Javier de Elío accepted the authority of the new Viceroy, and dissolved the Junta of Montevideo. Cisneros rearmed the disbanded peninsular militias, and pardoned the responsible parties of the mutiny. Álzaga was not freed, but his sentence was changed to house arrest.

There was concern about events in Spain and about the legitimacy of local authorities in Upper Peru as well. On May 25, 1809, a revolution in Chuquisaca deposed the governor Ramón García de León y Pizarro, replaced by Juan Antonio Alvarez de Arenales. On July 16, in the city of La Paz, a second revolutionary movement led by Colonel Pedro Domingo Murillo deposed the governor and elected a Junta, the Junta Tuitiva de los Derechos del Pueblo ("Junta, keeper of the rights of the people"). A swift reaction from the Spanish authorities defeated those rebellions. An army of 1,000 men sent from Buenos Aires found no resistance at Chuquisaca, took control of the city, and deposed the Junta. Murillo tried to defend La Paz, but his 800 men were completely outnumbered by the more than 5,000 men sent from Lima. He was beheaded later, along with other leaders, and their heads exhibited as a deterrent. These measures contrasted sharply with the pardon that Martín de Álzaga and others had received after serving a short time in prison, and the resentment of criollos against the peninsulars deepened. Juan José Castelli was present at the deliberations of the University of Saint Francis Xavier, where Bernardo Monteagudo developed the Syllogism of Chuquisaca, a legal explanation to justify self-governance. This influenced his ideas during the "May week".

On November 25, 1809, Cisneros created the Political Surveillance Court with the aim of pursuing afrancesados and independentists. However, he rejected economist José María Romero's proposal to banish a number of people considered dangerous to the Spanish regime, such as Saavedra, Paso, Chiclana, Vieytes, Balcarce, Castelli, Larrea, Guido, Viamonte, Moreno and Sáenz. He warned against spreading news that might be considered subversive. Criollos felt that soon any pretext would be enough to lead to the outbreak of revolution. On April 1810, Cornelio Saavedra expressed his famous quote to his friends: "It's not time yet, let the figs ripen and then we'll eat them". He meant that he would not support rushed actions against the viceroy, but would do so at some moment that was strategically favourable, such as when Napoleon's forces gained a decisive advantage in their war against Spain.

May week

Claude Victor-Perrin led the French troops that took Seville during the Peninsular War.

Academics define "May Week" as the period of time in Buenos Aires beginning with the confirmation of the fall of the Junta of Seville, and ending with the dismissal of Cisneros and the establishment of the Primera Junta.

On May 14, 1810, the British war schooner HMS Mistletoe arrived at Buenos Ares from Gibraltar with European newspapers reporting the dissolution of the Junta of Seville the previous January. The city of Seville had been invaded by French armies, who were already dominating most of the Iberian Peninsula. The newspapers reported that some of the former members of the Junta took refuge on the island of León in Cadiz. This was confirmed in Buenos Aires on the 17th, with the arrival in Montevideo of the British frigate HMS John Paris; the most recent news reported that members of the Junta of Seville had been refused. The Regency Council of Cádiz was not seen as a successor of the Spanish resistance, but as an attempt to restore absolutism in Spain. The Junta of Seville was seen as akin to the new ideas. South American patriots feared both a complete French victory in the peninsula and an absolutist restoration. Cisneros tried to conceal the news by monitoring British warships and seizing every newspaper that arrived, but one of them came into the hands of Manuel Belgrano and his cousin Juan José Castelli. They spread the news among other patriots and challenged the legitimacy of the Viceroy, who had been appointed by the fallen Junta. When Cornelio Saavedra, head of the regiment of Patricians, was informed of these news, he decided that it was finally the ideal time to take action against Cisneros. Martín Rodríguez proposed to overthrow the viceroy by force, but Castelli and Saavedra rejected this idea and proposed the convening of an open cabildo.

Friday, May 18 and Saturday, May 19

Secret meeting of the revolutionaries at the house of Nicolás Rodríguez Peña

Though Viceroy Cisneros had attempted to conceal the news of the Spanish defeat, the rumor had already spread throughout Buenos Aires. Most of the population was concerned; there was high activity at the barracks and in the Plaza, and most shops were closed. The "Coffeehouse of Catalans" and the "Fonda of Nations", usual meeting places of criollos, became venues for political discussions and radical proclamations; Francisco José Planes shouted that Cisneros should be hanged in the Plaza in response to the execution of the leaders of the ill-fated La Paz revolution. People who sympathized with the absolutist government were harassed, but the fights were of little consequence, because nobody was allowed to take muskets or swords out of the barracks.

The Viceroy, trying to calm down the criollos, gave his own version of events through a proclamation. He asked for allegiance to King Ferdinand VII, but popular unrest continued to intensify. Despite being aware of the news, he only said that the situation in the Iberian Peninsula was delicate; he did not confirm the fall of the Junta. His proposal was to make a government body that would rule on behalf of Ferdinand VII, together with viceroy of Peru José Fernando de Abascal y Sousa, governor of Potosí Francisco de Paula Sanz, and president of the royal audiencia of Charcas Vicente Nieto.

Not fooled by the Viceroy's communiqué, some criollos met at the houses of Nicolás Rodríguez Peña and Hipólito Vieytes. During these secret meetings they named a representative commission, composed of Juan José Castelli and Martín Rodríguez, to request that Cisneros convene of an open cabildo to decide the future of the Viceroyalty.

During the night of May 19, there were further discussions at Rodríguez Peña's house. Saavedra, called by Viamonte, joined the meeting. There were military leaders, such as Rodríguez, Ocampo, Balcarce, and Díaz Vélez; and civilian ones, such as Castelli, Vieytes, Alberti, and Paso. They arranged that Belgrano and Saavedra would meet with senior alcalde Juan José de Lezica, and Castelli with the procurator Julián de Leiva, and ask for their support. They requested that the Viceroy allowed an open cabildo, and said that if it was not freely granted, the people and the criollo troops would march to the Plaza, force the viceroy to resign by any means necessary, and replace him with a patriot government. Saavedra commented Lezica that he was suspected of being a potential traitor because of his constant requests for cautious and measured steps. This comment was designed to pressure Lezica into speeding up the legal system to allow the people express themselves, or otherwise risk a major rebellion. Lezica asked for patience and time to persuade the viceroy, leaving a massive demonstration as a last resourse. He argued that if the viceroy was deposed that way, it would constitute a rebellion, turning the revolutionaries into outlaws. Manuel Belgrano gave the following Monday as the deadline to confirm the open cabildo before taking direct action. Later, during the Revolution, Leiva would act as a mediator, being both a confidante for Cisneros and a trusted negotiator for the more moderate revolutionaries.

Sunday, May 20

Juan José Castelli requests an open cabildo to Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros.

Lezica informed Cisneros of the request, so the Viceroy consulted Leyva, who favored convening an open cabildo. Before deciding, the Viceroy summoned military commanders to come to the fort at 7:00 pm. There were rumors that it could be a trap to capture them and take control of the barracks. To avoid the risk, they took command of the grenadiers that guarded the Fort and secured the keys of all entrances while meeting with the viceroy. Cisneros demanded military support, so Colonel Cornelio Saavedra, head of the Regiment of Patricios, responded on behalf of all the criollo regiments. He compared the current international situation with that extant at the time of the mutiny of Álzaga over a year earlier, pointing out that Spain was now almost entirely under Napoleonic control. He complained that the undefeated Spanish provinces were very small in comparison with the Americas and rejected their claims of sovereignty over it. He concluded that the local armies did not want to follow the fate of Spain, but to look after themselves instead. Finally, he pointed out that the Junta of Seville that appointed Cisneros as viceroy no longer existed, so he rejected Cisneros' legitimacy as viceroy, and denied him the protection of the troops under his command.

A meeting took place at Rodríguez Peña's house at midnight, where the commanders discussed the day's events. Castelli and Martín Rodríguez were sent to the Fort for an interview with Cisneros. Terrada, commander of the Infantry Grenadiers, joined them because the barracks of his military bodies were located under Cisneros' window, and his presence would prevent the viceroy from requesting military aid to take them prisoners. The guards let them pass unannounced, and they found Cisneros playing cards with brigadier Quintana, prosecutor Caspe, and aide Coicolea. Castelli and Rodríguez demanded once again the convening of an open cabildo, and Cisneros reacted angrily, considering their request an outrage. Rodríguez interrupted him and forced him to give a definitive answer. After a short private discussion with Caspe, Cisneros reluctantly gave his consent. It would be done on May 22.

There was a theatre production on the theme of tyranny that night, called Rome Saved, which was attended by many of the revolutionaries. The lead actor was Morante, playing Cicero. The police chief requested Morante to feign illness and not appear, so the play could be replaced with Misanthropy and Repentance by the German poet August von Kotzebue. Rumors of police censorship spread quickly; Morante ignored the request and performed the play as planned. In the fourth act, Morante made a patriotic speech, talking about Rome being menaced by the Gauls and the need for strong leadership to resist the danger. This scene flared the revolutionary spirits, which led to frenzied applause. Juan José Paso stood up and shouted ¡Viva Buenos Aires libre! ("Long live free Buenos Aires!"), and a small fight ensued.

After the play, the revolutionaries returned to Peña's house. They learned the result of the last meeting, and were unsure whether Cisneros intended to keep his word. They organized a demonstration for the following day to ensure that the open cabildo was held as decided.

Monday, May 21

Invitation to the open cabildo of May 22

At 3:00 pm, preparations were started for the cabildo. This was interrupted by 600 armed men grouped under the name "Infernal Legion" (Spanish: Legión Infernal). They occupied the Plaza de la Victoria and loudly demanded the convening of an open cabildo and the resignation of Viceroy Cisneros. They carried a portrait of Ferdinand VII and the lapels of their jackets bore a white ribbon symbolizing criollo-Spanish unity. The rioters were led by Domingo French, the mail carrier of the city, and Antonio Beruti, an employee of the treasury. Rumors circulated saying that Cisneros had been killed, and that Saavedra would take control of the government. Saavedra was at the barracks at that moment, concerned about the demonstration. He thought the violence should be stopped and that radical measures such as the death of Cisneros should be prevented, but he also thought that the troops would mutiny if the demonstrations were repressed. In the Plaza, the people did not believe Cisneros was going to allow the open cabildo the next day. Leiva left the Cabildo and Belgrano, representing the crowd, requested a definitive answer. Leiva explained that everything would go on as planned, but the Cabildo needed time to prepare. Leiva requested Belgrano help the Cabildo with the work, as his intervention would be seen by the crowd as a guarantee that their demands would not be ignored. The crowd left the main hall, but stayed in the Plaza. Belgrano protested the guest list, which consisted of the wealthiest citizens, and thought that if the poor people were left outside there would be further social unrest. The members of the Cabildo tried to convince him to give his support, but he left.

Belgrano's departure enraged the crowd, as he did not explain what had happened, and the people feared a betrayal. The demands for an open cabildo were replaced by demands for Cisneros' immediate resignation. The people finally settled down and dispersed through the intervention of Cornelio Saavedra, who said that the claims of the Infernal Legion had their military support.

The invitations were distributed among 450 leading citizens and officials in the capital. The guest list was compiled by the Cabildo, and they tried to guarantee the result by selecting people that would be likely to support the Viceroy. The revolutionaries countered this move by making one of their own: Agustín Donado, in charge of printing the invitations, printed nearly 600 of them instead of just the 450 requested, and distributed the surplus among the criollos. By the night, Castelli, Rodríguez, French and Beruti visited all the barracks to harangue the troops and prepare them for the following day.

Tuesday, May 22

An open cabildo discussed the legitimacy of the viceroy and the new local government that replaced him.

According to the official records, only about 251 out of 450 invited guests attended the open cabildo. French and Beruti, commanding 600 men armed with knives, shotguns, and rifles, controlled access to the square, to ensure that the open cabildo had a majority of criollos. All the noteworthy religious and civilian people were present, as well as militia commanders and many prominent residents. The only notable absence was that of Martín de Álzaga, still under house arrest. The troops were garrisoned and on alert, ready to take action in case of commotion. The merchant José Ignacio Rezábal attended, but explained his doubts about doing so in a letter to the priest Julián S. de Agüero; he said his doubts were shared by other people close to him. He feared that no matter which party prevailed in the cabildo it would take revenge against the other, with the Mutiny of Álzaga a close antecedent. He felt that the open cabildo would lack legitimacy if the criollos were allowed to take part in it in great numbers, because of the aforementioned manipulation of the guest list.

The meeting lasted from morning to midnight, including stages such as the reading of the proclamation, the debate, and the vote. The system of vote did not use secret ballots: votes were heard one at a time and recorded in the minutes. The main theme of the debate was the government's legitimacy and the authority of the Viceroy. The principle of retroversion of the sovereignty to the people stated that, with the legitimate monarch missing, power returned to the people; they were entitled to form a new government. This principle was commonplace in Spanish scholasticism and rationalist philosophy, but had no precedent of being applied in case law. The validity of this principle divided the assembly in two main groups: one group rejected it and argued that the situation should remain unchanged; they supported Cisneros in his office of Viceroy; the other group supported change, and considered that they should establish a Junta, like the ones established in Spain, to replace the Viceroy. There was also a third position in the middle ground. The promoters of change did not recognize the authority of the Regency Council, and argued that the colonies in America were not consulted in its formation. The debate tangentially discussed the rivalry between criollos and peninsulars; proponents of keeping the Viceroy felt that the will of peninsulars should prevail over that of criollos.

One of the speakers for the first position was the bishop of Buenos Aires, Benito Lue y Riega, leader of the local church. Lue y Riega argued that:

Not only there is no reason to get rid of the Viceroy, but even if there was no part of Spain that was not subdued, the Spaniards in America ought to retake it and resume command over it. America should only be ruled by the natives of the country when there is no longer a Spaniard there. If even a single member of the Central Junta of Seville were to land on our shores, we should receive him as the Sovereign.

Juan José Castelli was the main orator for the revolutionaries. He based his speech on two main ideas: the expiration of the legitimate government—he stated that the Junta of Seville was dissolved and had no rights to designate a Regency—and the principle of retroversion of sovereignty. He spoke after Riega, arguing that the American people should assume control of their government until Ferdinand VII could return to the throne.

Nobody could call the whole nation a criminal, nor the individuals that have aired their political views. If the right of conquest belongs, by right, to the conqueror country, it would be fair if Spain quit resisting the French and submitted to them, by the same principles for which it is expected that the Americans submit themselves to the peoples of Pontevedra. The reason and the rule must be equal for everybody. There are no conquerors or conquered here; there is no one here but Spanish people. The Spaniards of Spain have lost their land. The Spanish Americans try to save theirs. Let the ones from Spain deal with themselves as they can; do not worry, we Americans know what we want and where we go. Thus, I suggest we vote: that we enact an authority other than the Viceroy, that will be subject to the metropole if it gets saved from the French, and that will be independent if Spain is finally subjugated.

Pascual Ruiz Huidobro stated that since the authority that had appointed Cisneros expired, he should no longer have a place in the government. He felt that the Cabildo should be in government, as it was the representative of the people. His vote was supported by Melchor Fernández, Juan León Ferragut, Joaquín Grigera, and others.

The proposal of Cornelio Saavedra got the majority of votes.

Attorney Manuel Genaro Villota, representative of the conservative Spanish, said that the city of Buenos Aires had no right to make unilateral decisions about the legitimacy of the Viceroy or the Regency Council without the participation of other cities of the Viceroyalty. He argued that such an action would break the unity of the country, establishing as many sovereignties as there were cities. His intention was to keep Cisneros in power by delaying any possible action. Juan José Paso accepted him being right at the first point, but argued that the situation in Europe and the possibility that Napoleon's forces could conquer the American colonies demanded an urgent resolution. He then expostulated the "argument of the elder sister", reasoning that Buenos Aires should take the initiative and make the changes deemed necessary and appropriate, upon the express condition that the other cities would be invited to comment on it as soon as possible. The rhetorical figure of the "elder sister", comparable to negotiorum gestio, is a concept that makes an analogy between the relationship of Buenos Aires and other cities of the viceroyalty with a filial relationship.

The priest Juan Nepomuceno Solá then proposed that provisional command should be given to the Cabildo, until the formation of a governing Junta made up of representatives from all populations of the Viceroyalty. His motion was supported by Manuel Alberti, Azcuénaga, Escalada, Argerich or Aguirre, and others.

Cornelio Saavedra suggested that control should be delegated instead to the Cabildo until the formation of a governing junta in the manner and form that the Cabildo would deem as appropriate. He used the phrase "(...) and there is no doubt that it is the people that make the authority or command." At the time of the vote, Castelli's position coincided with that of Saavedra.

Manuel Belgrano was standing near a window, so that in case of a problematic development he could give a signal by waiving a white cloth. Then the people gathered in the Plaza would have forced their way into the Cabildo. However, there were no problems at all, and this emergency plan was not implemented. The historian Vicente Fidel López, son of Vicente López y Planes, revealed that his father, present in the event, saw that Mariano Moreno was worried near the end, despite of the majority achieved. Moreno told Planes that the Cabildo was about to betray them.

Wednesday, May 23

The debate took all day, and the votes were counted very late that night. After the presentations, people voted for the continuation of the Viceroy, alone or associated, or his dismissal. The ideas explained were divided into a small number of proposals, designated with the names of their main supporters, and the people then voted for one of those proposals. The voting lasted for a long time, and the result was to dismiss the Viceroy by a large majority: 155 votes to 69.

Manuel José Reyes stated that he found no reason to depose the viceroy, and that it would be enough to designate a Junta headed by Cisneros. His proposal had nearly thirty votes. Another thirty votes supported Cisneros as well, but without making any changes to the political system. A small group supported the proposal of Martín José de Choteco, who also supported Cisneros.

The votes against Cisneros were divided into many different proposals as well. Many of them supported that the new authorities replacing the viceroy should be elected by the Cabildo. Pascual Ruiz Huidobro voted that the Cabildo should rule in the interim and designate a new government, but this proposal made no reference to popular sovereignty or the creation of a Junta. The proposal had thirty-five votes, and many of them saw Huidobro as the better candidate for the new government that would be created if the proposal prevailed. Juan Nepomuceno Solá voted that the Cabildo should govern in the interim, while making a Junta composed of deputees from all the provinces of the viceroyalty. This proposal had nearly twenty votes. Cornelio Saavedra got the largest portion of votes, and the remaining votes were distributed among proposals with few votes.

At dawn on May 23, the Cabildo released a document stating that the Viceroy would end his mandate. The maximum authority would be temporarily transferred to the Cabildo, until the designation of a governing Junta. Notices were placed at various points throughout the city announcing the imminent creation of a Junta and the summoning of representatives from the provinces. The notices also called for the public to refrain from attempting actions contrary to public policy.

Thursday, May 24

Domingo French was one of the leaders of the popular revolutionary groups.

The Cabildo interpreted the results of the open cabildo and formed the new Junta, which would be in office until the arrival of representatives from the other cities. Leyva arranged that former viceroy Cisneros was designated president of the Junta and commander of the armed forces. He was chosen along with other four members: the criollos Cornelio Saavedra and Juan José Castelli, and the peninsulars Juan Nepomuceno Solá and José Santos Inchaurregui. There are many interpretations of the motives for this action. A constitutional code of thirteen articles was written by Leyva to regulate the actions of the Junta. The Junta could not exercise judicial power, which was reserved for the Royal Audiencia. Cisneros could not act without the support of the other members of the Junta, and the Cabildo would be able to depose those who neglected their duty. The Cabildo's consent would be required to create new taxes. Finally, the Junta would sanction a general amnesty on those who had aired opinions at the open cabildo, and call the other cities for deputees. The armed forces's commanders, including Saavedra and Pedro Andrés García, agreed to this code. The Junta swore the oath of office that afternoon.

The news took the revolutionaries by surprise. They were unsure of what to do next, and feared that they would be punished like the revolutionaries of Chuquisaca and La Paz. Moreno abjured relations with the others and shut himself in his home. There was a meeting at Rodríguez Peña's house. They felt that the Cabildo wouldn't go on with such a plot without the blessing of Saavedra, and that Castelli should resign from the Junta. Tagle rejected the proposal: he thought that Saavedra may had accepted out of weakness or naivety, and that Castelli should stay near to counter the other's influence over him. Meanwhile, the Plaza was invaded by a mob led by French and Beruti. Cisneros staying in power, albeit in a different office than Viceroy, was seen as an insult to the will of the open cabildo. Colonel Martín Rodriguez explained that if their soldiers were ordered to support Cisneros, they would be ordered to open fire on the population; most of the soldiers would revolt, as they shared the desire to remove the Viceroy from power.

That night, Castelli and Saavedra informed Cisneros of their resignation from the newly formed Junta. They explained that the population was on the verge of violent revolution and would remove Cisneros by force if he didn't resign as well. They pointed out that they did not had the power to stop that: neither Castelli to stop his friends, nor Saavedra to prevent the Regiment of Patricians from mutiny. Cisneros wanted to wait for the following day, but they said that there wasn't time for further delays, so he finally accepted to resign. He wrote his resignation and sent it to the Cabildo, which would consider it on the following day. Chiclana felt encouraged when Saavedra resigned, and started to request signatures for a manifesto of the will of the people. Moreno refused any further involvement, but Castelli and Peña trusted that he would eventually join them if events unfolded as they expected.

Friday, May 25

The people gathered in front of the Buenos Aires Cabildo

On the morning of May 25, despite the bad weather, a crowd gathered at Plaza de la Victoria, as did the militia led by Domingo French and Antonio Beruti. They all demanded the recall of the junta elected the previous day, the final resignation of Cisneros, and the composition of a new junta that did not include him. Historian Bartolomé Mitre stated that French and Beruti distributed blue and white ribbons, similar to the modern cockade of Argentina, among those present. Later historians doubt it, but consider it possible that the revolutionaries used distinctive marks of some kind for identification. It was rumored that the Cabildo might reject Cisneros' resignation. Due to delays in issuing an official resolution, people began to stir, clamoring "The people want to know what is being discussed!".

The Cabildo met at 9:00 am and rejected Cisneros' resignation. They considered that the crowd had no legitimate right to influence something that the Cabildo had already decided and performed. They considered that, as the junta was in command, the popular agitation should be suppressed by force, and made the members responsible for any changes. To enforce those orders, they summoned the chief commanders, but they did not obey. Many of them, including Saavedra, did not appear. Those that did stated that they could not support the government order, and said the commanders would be disobeyed if they ordered the troops to repress the demonstrators.

The crowd's agitation increased, and they overran the chapter house. Leiva and Lezica requested that someone who could act as spokesman for the people should join them inside the hall and explain the people's desires. Beruti, Chiclana, French, and Grela were allowed to pass. Leiva attempted to discourage Pancho Planes from joining them, but he entered the hall as well. The Cabildo argued that Buenos Aires had no right to break the political system of the viceroyalty without discussing it with the other provinces; French and Chiclana replied that the call for a Congress had already been considered. The Cabildo called the commanders to deliberate with them. As had happened several times in the last few days, Romero explained that the soldiers would mutiny if forced to fight against the rioters on behalf of Cisneros. The Cabildo still refused to give up, until the noise of the demonstration was heard in the hall. They feared that the demonstrators could overrun the building and reach them. Martín Rodríguez pointed out that the only way to calm the demonstrators was to accept Cisneros' resignation. Leiva agreed, convinced the other members, and the people returned to the Plaza. Rodríguez headed to Azcuenaga's house to meet the other revolutionaries to plan the final stages of the revolution. The demonstration overran the Cabildo again, this time reaching the hall of deliberations. Beruti spoke on behalf of the people, and said that the new Junta should be elected by the people and not by the Cabildo. He threatened that, besides the nearly 400 people already gathered, the barracks were full of people loyal to them, and who would take control by force if needed. The Cabildo replied by requesting their demands in writing. After a long interval, a document containing 411 signatures was delivered to the Cabildo. This paper proposed a new composition for the governing Junta, and a 500-man expedition to assist the provinces. The document — still preserved — listed most army commanders and many well-known residents, and contained many illegible signatures. French and Beruti signed the document, stating "for me and for six hundred more". However, there is no unanimous view among historians about the authorship of the content of the document.

In the meantime, the bad weather improved, and the sun broke through the clouds, shining the sky. The people in the plaza saw it as a favorable omen for the revolution. The Sun of May was created in reference to this event a few years later.

The Cabildo accepted the document and moved to the balcony to submit it directly to the people for ratification. But given the lateness of the hour and the weather, the number of people in the plaza had declined. Leiva ridiculed the claim of the remaining representatives to speak on behalf of the people. This wore the patience of the few who were still in the plaza, in the rain. Beruti did not accept any further delays, and threaten to call people to arms. Facing the prospect of further violence, the popular request was read aloud and immediately ratified by the attendees. The rules governing the Junta were roughly the same as that issued the day before, with the additional provisions that the Cabildo would control the activity of the members of the Junta, and that the Junta itself would appoint replacements in case of vacancies. Saavedra spoke to the crowd, and then moved on to the Fort, among salvos of artillery and the ringing of bells. Meanwhile, Cisneros dispatched José Melchor Lavin to Córdoba to warn Santiago de Liniers about what had happened in Buenos Aires, and requested military action against the Junta.

Members

Members of the Primera Junta

The Primera Junta was composed as follows:

President

• Cornelio Saavedra

Voting members

• Dr. Manuel Alberti
• Col. Miguel de Azcuénaga
• Dr. Manuel Belgrano
• Dr. Juan José Castelli
• Domingo Matheu
• Juan Larrea

Secretaries

• Dr. Juan José Paso
• Dr. Mariano Moreno

Aftermath

Main article: Primera Junta

Further information: [[:Argentine War of Independence]]

The Primera Junta ruled after the revolution.

The Council of Regency, the members of the Royal Audiencia of Buenos Aires, and the peninsular population did not accept that the declaration of loyalty to the captive King Ferdinand VII was genuine, and resisted accepting the new situation. The Royal Audiencia secretly swore allegiance to the Council of Regency and sent communiqués to the rest of the cities of the Viceroyalty, calling on them to deny recognition of the new government. To end these actions, the Junta convened all the members of the Audience and the former Viceroy Cisneros, with the pretext that their lives were in danger, and shipped them into exile aboard the British ship Dart. Captain Mark Brigut Larrea was instructed to avoid American ports and deliver all of them directly to the Canary Islands. Following this, they appointed a new group of members for the Audiencia, composed entirely of criollos loyal to the revolution.

With the exception of the city of Córdoba, every city in the territory of modern Argentina endorsed the Primera Junta. The cities of the Upper Peru, however, did not take a position, due to the recent outcomes of the Chuquisaca and La Paz Revolutions. Asunción del Paraguay rejected the Junta and swore loyalty to the Regency Council. The Banda Oriental, under Francisco Javier de Elío, remained a royalist stronghold.

Former Viceroy Santiago de Liniers organized a counter-revolution in Córdoba, and this became the first military campaign of the independent government. Despite the importance of Liniers himself, and his prestige as a popular hero for his role when the British invaded, the population of Córdoba preferred to support the revolution. This reduced the power of the counter-revolutionary army by means of desertions and sabotage. Liniers' troops were quickly defeated by the forces led by Francisco Ortiz de Ocampo. Ocampo refused to shoot the captive Liniers, who had fought alongside him against the British, so the execution ordered by the Junta was carried out by Juan José Castelli. After quelling this rebellion, the Junta sent military expeditions to many other cities, demanding support for the Primera Junta and the election of representatives to it.

Mariano Moreno was an influential member of the Primera Junta.

Montevideo, which had a historical rivalry with the city of Buenos Aires, opposed the Primera Junta and was declared the new capital of the Viceroyalty by the Regency Council, which appointed Francisco Javier de Elío as the new Viceroy. The city was well defended, so it could easily resist an invasion. Peripheral cities over the Banda Oriental acted contrary to Montevideo's will and supported the Buenos Aires Junta. They were led by José Gervasio Artigas, who kept Montevideo under siege. The final defeat of the Montevidean royalists was carried out by Carlos María de Alvear.

The Captaincy General of Chile followed a process analogous to that of the May Revolution, electing a Government Junta that inaugurated the brief period known as Patria Vieja. The Junta was defeated in 1814 at the battle of Rancagua, and the subsequent Reconquista of Chile would made it a royalist stronghold once more. The Andes mountain range provided an effective natural barrier between the Argentine revolutionaries and Chile, so there was no military confrontation between them until the Crossing of the Andes, led by José de San Martín in 1817. This campaign would signify the defeat of the Chilean royalists.

The Primera Junta increased in size when it incorporated the representatives sent by the provinces. From then on, the Junta was renamed the Junta Grande. It was dissolved shortly after the June 1811 Patriot defeat at the Battle of Huaqui, and two successive triumvirates exercised executive power over the United Provinces of South America. In 1814, the second triumvirate was replaced by the authority of the Supreme Director. Meanwhile, Martín Miguel de Güemes contained the royalist armies sent from Peru at Salta, while San Martín advanced towards the royalist stronghold of Lima by sea, on a Chilean-Argentine campaign. The independence war gradually displaced towards northern South America. Argentina would eventually fall into a Civil War.

Consequences

According to historian Félix Luna's Breve historia de los Argentinos, one of the most important societal consequences of the May Revolution was the paradigm shift in the way the people and its rulers related. Until then, the conception of the common good prevailed: while royal authority was fully respected, if an instruction from the crown of Spain was considered detrimental to the common good of the local population, it was half-met or simply ignored. With revolution, the concept of common good gave way to that of popular sovereignty, as theorized by Moreno, Castelli, and Monteagudo, among others. This idea held that, in the absence of a legitimate authority, the people had the right to appoint their own leaders. Over time, popular sovereignty would give way to the majority rule doctrine. This maturation of ideas was slow-paced and gradual, and it took many decades to crystallize into stable electoral and political systems, but it was what ultimately led to the adoption of the republican system as the form of government for Argentina. Domingo Faustino Sarmiento stated similar views in his Facundo, noting that cities were more pervious to republican ideas, while rural areas were more resistant to them, which led to the surge of caudillo leaders.

Another consequence, also according to Luna, was the disintegration of the territories that once belonged to the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata into several different units. Most of the cities and provinces had distinctive populations, economies, attitudes, contexts, and interests. Until then, all of these peoples were held together by the authority of the Spanish government, but with its disappearance, people from Montevideo, Paraguay, and Upper Peru began to distance themselves from Buenos Aires. The period of existence of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata, barely 38 years, impeded the consolidation of a patriotic feeling and failed to bring a sense of community to all of the population. The new country lacked an established concept of national identity capable of uniting the population under a common idea of statehood. Juan Bautista Alberdi sees the May Revolution as one of the early manifestations of the power struggles between the city of Buenos Aires and the provinces—one of the axial conflicts at play in the Argentine civil wars. Alberdi wrote in his book "Escritos póstumos":

The revolution of May 1810 in Buenos Aires, intended to win the independence of Argentina from Spain, also had the consequence of emancipating the province of Buenos Aires from Argentina or, rather, to impose the authority of this province to the whole nation emancipated from Spain. That day, Spanish power ended over the Argentine provinces, and that of Buenos Aires was established.

Historical perspectives

Main article: Historiography of the May Revolution

Historiographical studies of the May Revolution do not face many doubts or unknown details. Most of the information was properly recorded at the time, and was made available to the public by the Primera Junta as patriotic propaganda. Because of this, the different historical views on the topic differ in their interpretations of the meanings, causes, and consequences of the events rather than the accuracy of the depiction of the events themselves. The modern version of events does not differ significantly from the contemporary one.

Bartolomé Mitre wrote one of the first historical interpretations of the May Revolution.

The first people to write about the Revolution were participants who wrote memoirs, biographies, and diaries. However, their works were motivated by purposes other than historiographic ones, such as to explain the reasons for their actions, clean their public images, or to manifest their support or rejection of the public figures and ideas of the time. For example, Manuel Moreno wrote the biography of his brother Mariano to use it as propaganda for the revolutions in Europe, and Cornelio Saavedra wrote his autobiography at a moment when his image was highly questioned, to justify himself to his sons.

The first remarkable historiographical school of interpretation of the history of Argentina was founded by romantic authors of the 1830s, like Bartolomé Mitre. Mitre regarded the May Revolution as an iconic expression of political egalitarianism: a conflict between modern freedoms and oppression represented by the Spanish monarchy, and the attempt to establish a national organization on constitutional principles as opposed to the charismatic authority of the caudillos. Their views were treated as canonical until the end of the 19th century, when the proximity of the centennial encouraged authors to seek new perspectives. Such authors would differ about the weight of the causes of the May Revolution or whose intervention in the events was more decisive, but the main points made by Mitre were kept, such as considering the revolution the birth of modern Argentina, and considering it an unavoidable event. They introduced the idea of popular intervention as another key element. By the time of the World Wars, liberal authors attempted to impose an ultimate and unquestionable historical perspective; Ricardo Levene and the Academia Nacional de la Historia were exponents of this tendency. which kept most perspectives of Mitre. Left-wings authors took a revisionist view based on nationalism and anti-imperialism; they minimized the dispute between criollos and peninsulars and explained events as a dispute between enlightenment and absolutism. However, most of their work was focused on other historical periods.

The May Revolution was not the product of the actions of a single political party with a clear and defined agenda, but a convergence of sectors with varying interests. Thus, there are a number of conflicting perspectives about it because different authors choose to highlight different aspects. Mitre used The Representation of the Hacendados and the merchant party to state that the May Revolution intended to obtain free trade and economic integration with Europe; right-wing revisionists center around Saavedra and the social customs of the time to describe the revolution under conservative principles; and left-wing revisionists use the example of Moreno, Castelli, and the rioters led by French and Beruti to describe it as a radical revolution.

Revolutionary purposes

The May Revolution declared loyalty to Ferdinand VII of Spain.

The government created on May 25 pronounced itself loyal to the deposed Spanish king Ferdinand VII, but historians do not agree on whether such loyalty was genuine or not. Since Mitre, many historians feel that this professed loyalty was merely a political deception to gain autonomy. The Primera Junta did not pledge allegiance to the Regency Council of Spain and the Indies, an agency of the Spanish monarchy still in operation, and in 1810 the possibility that Napoleon would defeated and Ferdinand returned to the throne (which would finally happened on December 11, 1813, with the signing of the Treaty of Valençay) still seemed remote and unlikely. The purpose of the deception would have been to gain time to strengthen the position of the patriotic cause and avoid reactions that may have led to a revolution, on the grounds that monarchical authority was still being respected and that no revolution had taken place. The ruse is known as the "Mask of Ferdinand VII", and it was upheld by the Primera Junta, the Junta Grande, and the First and Second Triumvirates. The Assembly of Year XIII was intended to declare independence, but failed to do so because of other political conflicts between its members. However, it suppressed mention of Ferdinand VII in official documents. The supreme directors considered other options, such as negotiating with Spain or becoming a British protectorate, until the declaration of independence of 1816.

The change was potentially favorable for Britain, as trade was facilitated with the cities of the area without being hampered by the monopoly that Spain had maintained over their colonies for centuries. However, Britain's first priority was the war in Europe against France, and they could not appear to support American independence movements or allow the military attention of Spain to be divided onto two different fronts. Consequently, they pushed for independence demonstrations not being made explicit. This pressure was exerted by Lord Strangford, the British ambassador at the court of Rio de Janeiro; he expressed support for the Junta, but under the condition that "...the behavior is consistent, and that [the] Capital [is] retained on behalf of Mr. Dn. Ferdinand VII and his legitimate successors." Later conflicts between Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Artigas led to internal conflicts on the British front, between Strangford and the Portuguese regent John VI of Portugal.

Since Juan Bautista Alberdi, later historians such as Norberto Galasso, Luis Romero, and José Carlos Chiaramonte doubted Mitre's interpretation, and had a different one. Alberdi thought that "The Argentine revolution is a chapter of the Hispanoamerican revolution, which is such of the Spanish one, and this, as well, of the European revolution." They did not consider it a dispute between independentism and colonialism, but instead a dispute between new libertarian ideas and absolutism. The intention was not to cut ties with Spain, but to reformulate the relationship. Thus, it would have the characteristics of a civil war instead. Some points that would justify the idea would be the inclusion of Larrea, Matheu, and Belgrano in the Junta and the later appearance of José de San Martín: Larrea and Matheu were Spanish, Belgrano studied for many years in Spain, and San Martín had spent most of his adult life waging war in Spain against the French. When San Martín talked about enemies, he called them "royalists" or "Goths", but never "Spanish".

According to those historians, the Spanish revolution against absolutism got mixed up with the Peninsular War. Charles IV was seen as an absolutist king, and when he stood against his father, many Spaniards got the mistaken impression that Ferdinand VII sympathized with the new enlightened ideas. Thus, the revolutions made in the Americas in the name of Ferdinand VII (such as the May Revolution, the Chuquisaca Revolution, or the one in Chile) would have been seeking to replace absolutist power with power formulated under the new ideas. Even if Spain was at war with France, the ideals of the French Revolution (liberty, equality and fraternity) were still respected. Those revolutions pronounced themselves enemies of Napoleon, but did not face any active French military attack; they promoted instead fights between Spanish armies for keeping the old order or maintaining the new one. This situation would change with the final defeat of Napoleon and the return of Ferdinand VII to the throne, as he began the Absolutist Restauration and persecuted those holding the new libertarian ideas within Spain. For people in South America, the idea of remaining part of the Spanish Empire, but with a new relationship with the mother country, was no longer a feasible option: the only remaining options at this point were a return to absolutism, or independentism.

Legacy

Main article: Legacy of the May Revolution

Pirámide de Mayo, commemorative monument at Plaza de Mayo

May 25 is a patriotic date in Argentina, known as First Patriotic Government, with the character of a national Day. The public holiday is set by law 21.329 and it is immovable, meaning it is celebrated exactly on May 25 regardless of day of the week. The Argentina Centennial and the Argentina Bicentennial were celebrated in 1910 and 2010.

May 25 was designated as a patriotic date in 1813, but the Argentine Declaration of Independence provides an alternative national day. In the beginning, this added to the conflicts between Buenos Aires and the provinces during the Argentine Civil War, because the date in May related to Buenos Aires and the date of July 9 related to the whole country. As a result, the unitarian Bernardino Rivadavia canceled the celebration of July 9, and the federalist Juan Manuel de Rosas re-allowed it, but without giving up celebrations in May. By 1880, with the federalization of Buenos Aires, the local connotations were removed and the May Revolution was considered the birth of the nation.

The date, as well as a generic image of the Buenos Aires Cabildo, are used in different variants to honor the May Revolution. Two of the most notable are the Avenida de Mayo and the Plaza de Mayo at Buenos Aires, near the location of the Cabildo. The Pirámide de Mayo was erected in the Plaza a year after the revolution, and was rebuilt to its present form in 1856. "May 25" (in Spanish, "Veinticinco de Mayo") is the name of several administrative divisions, cities, public spaces, and landforms of Argentina. There are departments of this name in the provinces of Chaco, Misiones, San Juan, Rio Negro, and Buenos Aires, the latter one holding the Veinticinco de Mayo city. The cities of Rosario (Santa Fe), Junín (Buenos Aires), and Resistencia (Chaco) have eponymous squares. The King George Island is under sovereignty claims of Argentina, Britain, and Chile, as part of the Argentine Antarctica, British Antarctic Territory, and Chilean Antarctic Territory, with Argentina naming it "Isla 25 de Mayo".

A commemorative Cabildo is used on coins of 25 cents, and an image of the Sun of May appears on the 5-cent coin of the current Argentine Peso. An image of the Cabildo during the Revolution appeared on the back of the 5-peso banknote of the former Peso Moneda Nacional.

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External links

• La Revolucion de Mayo Template:Es