Argentina in the viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata

The current territory of Argentina was part of the viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata during the period immediately prior to its independence. During this period, which spans from the formation of the viceroyalty in 1776 until the May Revolution of 1810 and the definitive dissolution of the viceroyalty the following year, the until then autonomous colonial provinces of Tucumán and Río de la Plata were united for the first time in a single administrative unit, with capital and center in the city of Buenos Aires, which has continued to be, to the present, the capital and most important city of the Argentine Republic.

South America according to a map from Joachim Heinrich Campe's book Kolumbus oder die Entdeckung von Westindien (1782). The limits, however, predate the formation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.

The viceroyalty also included the territories of the current republics of Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, which during the independence process were separated from the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata – initial name of the current Argentine State – due to the evolution of the war of independence. and serious disagreements about the organization of the State.

Background

The viceroyalty of Peru and the Bourbon reforms

Since the creation of the viceroyalty of New Granada in 1739, the viceroyalty of Peru had been limited to the territories effectively dominated by the Spanish south of the equator; Its southernmost provinces were the captain general of Chile, the governorate of Tucumán and the governorate of the Río de la Plata. The last two depended judicially on the Royal Court of Charcas, located further north, in the district of Chuquisaca, which together with that of La Paz formed the so-called Alto Perú. Economically, Tucumán and the Río de la Plata – as well as the governorate of Paraguay – were economically and politically marginal territories, with very low population density and whose contribution to the economy of the Spanish empire was practically nil.

During the first half of the 18th century, the Spanish Crown had centralized political power in peninsular Spain, eliminating regional differences. In the middle of the century they decided to undertake the same reforms in their overseas possessions, professionalizing the government, removing it from the influence of local elites and making the "overseas kingdoms" effectively function as colonies; that is, dependencies oriented exclusively to satisfy the needs of the metropolis.

The reformist impulse accelerated with the Spanish defeats in the Seven Years' War, which convinced King Charles III to modify the defensive system of the colonies; For this purpose, the Havana Navy Administration was founded in 1764, with authority over the entire island of Cuba. Successive ordinances created intendencies throughout Spanish America and in the Philippines. For the administration of the colonies, the most solid and loyal source of human resources to the Crown was used: the officers of the Army and Navy.

Regarding the economic reforms, the central concern of the rulers was the increase in tax collection through the increase in taxes and efficiency in collection; However, the massive increase in defense expenses meant that the American colonies did not contribute much to the support of the State. But much more important was the insistence on the development of trade with America, as a captive market that should be the basis of the kingdom's economic growth; In this sense, the economic reforms initiated by the Count of Campomanes were successful in achieving economic recovery on both sides of the Atlantic. As a complement, measures were also established to prohibit local productions that could compete with peninsular exports. The military reinforcement was, in addition, relatively effective in combating smuggling, which – protected by venal rulers – undermined any attempt to increase tax revenue and trade between the peninsula and America.

In January 1771, the prosecutor of the Royal Court of Charcas, Tomás Álvarez de Acevedo, submitted to that court an extensive report, in which he detailed the detrimental situation in which the inhabitants of the provinces of Paraguay, the Río de la Plata and including from Tucumán, due to the great distance from the viceregal headquarters – almost a thousand leagues from Buenos Aires – and judicial headquarters – more than five hundred leagues – to which they had to resort to any procedure that exceeded the merely local. He added that, for this reason, the neighbors found it much more practical to resort directly to the authority of the Council of the Indies or the king, whose response was always quicker and more executive. As a solution, he proposed the creation of a new viceroyalty, which would include those three southern provinces and also the township of Cuyo, and which would be administered, judicially, by its own Royal Court.

Cevallos and the creation of the viceroyalty

Appointment

Viceroy Pedro de Cevallos

King Carlos III asked Cevallos – governor of Madrid at that time – for a response plan to the Portuguese aggression; Cevallos organized a very careful campaign plan to invade and completely annex Portugal, taking advantage of the distraction of England engaged in the American War of Independence. The plan was judged very dangerous, but it inspired the Count of Ricla to develop the part of it dedicated to operations against Portugal in Brazil; The king consulted Cevallos for his opinion, and he approved Ricla's plan, although modifying some data, such as the number of troops and ships necessary, the need to have absolute political support that would grant great freedom to his commander to act as desired. present the facts. In his report, Cevallos requested that these troops not be placed in the hands of the governor of Buenos Aires, Juan José de Vértiz, whom he considered excessively veteran; By Royal Order of July 25, 1776, an even older general, Cevallos himself, was then appointed to command the troops.