The Republic of Tucumán (''República de Tucumán'') was a short-lived state centered on the town of
San Miguel de Tucumán
San Miguel de Tucumán (; usually called simply Tucumán) is the capital and largest city of Tucumán Province, located in northern Argentina from Buenos Aires. It is the fifth-largest city of Argentina after Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Rosario an ...
in today's
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
that was formed after the collapse of central authority in 1820, and that broke up the next year. The "Republic" remained a political unit within the
United Provinces of the Río de la Plata
The United Provinces of the Río de la Plata ( es, link=no, Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata), earlier known as the United Provinces of South America ( es, link=no, Provincias Unidas de Sudamérica), was a name adopted in 1816 by the Cong ...
.
Background
![Casa de Tucumán](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Casa_de_Tucum%C3%A1n.jpg)
In 1810 news arrived of the
May Revolution
The May Revolution ( es, Revolución de Mayo) was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the terri ...
in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, capital of the
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata ( es, Virreinato del Río de la Plata or es, Virreinato de las Provincias del Río de la Plata) meaning "River of the Silver", also called "Viceroyalty of the River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in ...
. The council of
Santiago del Estero
Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surf ...
reacted cautiously at first, but when it was clear that the nearby
Salta Province
Salta () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy. To the north it borders Boliv ...
was supporting the revolution, Santiago del Estero also joined. On 8 October 1814 the Supreme Director
Gervasio Antonio de Posadas
Gervasio Antonio de Posadas y Dávila (18 June 1757, in Buenos Aires – 2 July 1833, in Buenos Aires) was a member of Argentina's Second Triumvirate from 19 August 1813 to 31 January 1814, after which he served as Supreme Director until 9 Janua ...
issued a decree saying the jurisdictions of
Salta
Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...
,
Jujuy
San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in Argentine Northwest, northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Depa ...
,
Oran
Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...
,
Tarija
Tarija or San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarixa is a city in southern Bolivia. Founded in 1574, Tarija is the largest city and capital and municipality within the Tarija Department, with an airport (Capitán Oriel Lea Plaza Airport, (TJA)) offe ...
and Santa Maria should be combined into the Salta Province with capital in the town of Salta.
The remainder of the former
Intendencia de Salta del Tucumán would become the new
Tucumán Province
Tucumán () is the most densely populated, and the second-smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina.
Located in the northwest of the country, the province has the capital of San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neigh ...
, consisting of Tucumán,
Santiago del Estero
Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surf ...
and
Catamarca.
This decree stirred up the traditional rivalry between Tucumán and Santiago del Estero.
On 4 September 1815, separatists in Santiago led by
Francisco Borges launched the first bid for independence, but it was suppressed by governor
Bernabé Aráoz
Bernabé Aráoz (1776 – 24 March 1824) was a governor of Tucumán Province in what is now Argentina during the early nineteenth century, and President of the short-lived Republic of Tucumán.
Aráoz came from a wealthy and influential family in ...
.
On 20 April 1816 the Santiago del Estero deputies
Pedro León Gallo
Pedro León Díaz Gallo (29 June 1782 – 7 February 1852) was an Argentine statesman and Catholic priest. He was a representative to the Congress of Tucumán which on 9 July 1816 declared the Independence of Argentina.
Gallo was born in ...
and
Pedro Francisco de Uriarte
Pedro Francisco Uriarte (June 29, 1758 – August 30, 1839) was an Argentine statesman and priest. He was a representative to the Congress of Tucumán which on 9 July 1816 declared the Independence of Argentina.
Uriarte was born in Santiago ...
joined the
Congress of Tucumán
The Congress of Tucumán was the representative assembly, initially meeting in San Miguel de Tucumán, that declared the independence of the United Provinces of South America (modern-day Argentina, Uruguay, part of Bolivia) on July 9, 1816, fro ...
, where the independence of the
United Provinces of the Río de la Plata
The United Provinces of the Río de la Plata ( es, link=no, Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata), earlier known as the United Provinces of South America ( es, link=no, Provincias Unidas de Sudamérica), was a name adopted in 1816 by the Cong ...
was declared.
In November 1816 the Congress authorized the first version of the provisional regulations, changing the method of electing governors and deputy governors and making the appointments subject to the approval of the Supreme Director. On 10 December 1816, a second revolutionary movement was launched in Santiago del Estero, again led by Borges.
Manuel Belgrano
Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano y González (3 June 1770 – 20 June 1820), usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano (), was an Argentine public servant, economist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and military leader. He ...
suppressed the uprising and Borges was shot on 1 January 1817.
Towns at that time were small. As late as 1841, the towns of Catamarca and Santiago del Estero each had about 4,000 inhabitants, while Tucumán had 8,000 inhabitants.
Creation of the republic
After the
Battle of Cepeda on 1 February 1820 the central government was dissolved.
Governor Aráoz declared the Republic of Tucumán, made up of the provinces of Tucumán, Catamarca and Santiago del Estero.
This republic, and others formed at the time such as the
Republic of Entre Ríos
The Republic of Entre Ríos was a short-lived republic in South America in the early nineteenth century. Comprising approximately of what are today the Argentine provinces of Entre Ríos and Corrientes, the country was founded in 1820 by the c ...
, were set up in the expectation that they would soon be united into a larger political grouping, perhaps even a confederacy uniting the provinces of the former Spanish Viceroyalties of Río de la Plata, Chile, and Peru.
A constitution was needed for the republic, and a council of leaders of the former provinces was called to define how it would be organized.
On 6 September 1820, the council sanctioned the Republic's constitution, which abolished the council and made its members ministers.
A First Court of Justice was established. Aráoz was named Supreme President.
The constitution set up a
unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one.
Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...
legislature and an executive branch headed by the President.
It was influenced by the national constitution of 1819 and was unitarian and centralized in nature.
This alienated the province of Catamarca as well as Santiago del Estero, both of which moved towards separation.
Secession of Santiago del Estero
The people of Santiago del Estero were inclined to autonomy.
Aráoz sent
Juan Bautista Paz
Juan Bautista Paz (1772–1844) was an Argentinian jurist and lawyer, a member of the National Congress of 1819 and the General Conference of 1824,
and several times cabinet minister and deputy governor of Tucumán Province during the first ...
to arrange the election of deputies, with a military force led by
Juan Francisco Echauri.
One of Echauri's first actions was to change the members of the municipality to people in favor of Tucumán.
Next he tried to control the election of deputies for the Congress that would meet on 20 March 1820 in Tucumán.
The people of Santiago del Estero rebelled, supported by armed forces from the
Fuerte de Abipones led by
Juan Felipe Ibarra
Juan Felipe Ibarra (1 May 1787 - 15 July 1851) was an Argentine soldier and politician.
He was one of the ''caudillos'' who dominated the Argentine interior during the formation of the national state,
and ruled the province of his birth for deca ...
, who defeated Echauri in an engagement on 31 March 1820 and forced him to retreat to Tucumán. Ibarra was appointed the first governor of the province of Santiago del Estero, and on 27 April 1820 issued a manifesto that declared the province's autonomy.
Eventually peace was settled between Tucumán and Santiago with a treaty of 5 June 1821.
The government of the province of Tucumán was unstable, and in 1822 descended into chaos.
A new legislature chaired by the Dominican friar Manuel Perez took control in 1823.
General
Bernabé Araoz Bernabé may refer to:
People
As a given name
* Bernabé Ballester (born 1982), Spanish footballer
* Bernabé Barragán (born 1993), Spanish footballer
* Bernabé Cobo, (1582–1657), Spanish Jesuit missionary and writer
* Bernabé Ferreyra (1909 ...
was executed in 1824. His remains lie in the San Miguel de Tucumán church.
References
Citations
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Republic of Tucuman
Former political divisions related to Argentina
Argentine Civil War
Tucuman
States and territories established in 1820
Tucumán Province