Salvador María del Carril (August 5, 1798January 10, 1883) was a prominent Argentine jurist and policy-maker, as well as his country's first
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
.
Life and times
Early life
Born in the
Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
-range city of
San Juan, Argentina
San Juan () is the capital and largest city of the Argentine province of San Juan in the Cuyo region, located in the Tulúm Valley, west of the San Juan River, at above mean sea level, with a population of around 112,000 as per the (over ...
, del Carril was a precocious student, and enrolled in the
University of Córdoba Law School while still in his teens. Mentored by the school's prestigious ecclesiastical Dean,
Gregorio Funes
Gregorio Funes (May 25, 1749 – January 10, 1829), also known as ''Deán Funes'', was an Argentine clergyman, educator, historian, journalist and lawmaker who played a significant role in his nation's early, post-independence history.
Biography
...
, del Carril received a ''
juris doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
'' in 1816, at age 18. He relocated to
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 ...
, the capital of the newly declared
United Provinces of South America, and following a stint as a journalist, he was appointed as an official in the Finance Ministry.
General
José María Pérez de Urdininea
José María Pérez de Urdininea (31 October 1784 – 4 November 1865) was a Bolivian military officer and statesman who served as the third president of Bolivia in 1828. He was the first Bolivian president to be born in Bolivia itself. He fo ...
, Governor of his native
San Juan Province (which had recently seceded from
Mendoza Province), called on del Carril to replace
Francisco Narciso de Laprida as his Minister of Government in 1822, the highest-ranking advisory position. Amid the turmoil surrounding the
Argentine War of Independence
The Argentine War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de Argentina, links=no) was a secessionist civil war fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli and José de San Martín a ...
, however, Pérez de Urdininea was returned to active duty in
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
by General
José de San Martín, leaving del Carril as Governor of San Juan.
[''Historical Dictionary of Argentina.'' London: Scarecrow Press, 1978.]
Governor of San Juan
Taking office in January 1823, the 24-year-old Governor undertook an ambitious modernization program, commissioning the construction of roads, bridges, water works, public buildings and parks, purchasing the province's first
printing press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in wh ...
, and establishing San Juan's first newspaper. Inheriting a province devastated by the wars, he ordered the first Agricultural Census and created a charitable association. The first lawyer to occupy the governor's post, he established San Juan's
judicial system and in 1825, promulgated the "May Charter," the province's first
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
.
The liberal May Charter, the first in Argentina to guarantee
freedom of worship and mandate the
separation of church and state
The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...
, also forced the closure of monasteries, and ran into arduous opposition from the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. Facing a firestorm of protest, the governor was overthrown on July 26, and the May Charter was publicly burned.
[
]
National policy-maker
Del Carril's efforts, however, had gained him the respect of the influential Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino de la Trinidad González Rivadavia (May 20, 1780 – September 2, 1845) was the first President of Argentina, then called the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, from February 8, 1826 to June 27, 1827.
He was educated at th ...
, a Buenos Aires lawmaker who, in 1826, was elected the first President of Argentina
The president of Argentina ( es, Presidente de Argentina), officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation ( es, Presidente de la Nación Argentina), is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under Constitution of Ar ...
, and who appointed del Carril Argentina's first Finance Minister. Saddled by the Cisplatine War, the nation's finances became dependent on credit from Baring Brothers
Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London, and one of England's oldest merchant banks after Berenberg Bank, Barings' close collaborator and German representative. It was founded in 1762 by Francis Baring, a British-born member ...
in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, and del Carril offered the nation's exports as collateral. His introduction of the Argentine peso fuerte - the first local currency convertible into gold, and the first in Argentina with that name - concentrated wealth into exporters and others with access to hard currency, making peso circulation scarce for the public in general and the war more difficult to finance. Rivadavia's National Bank was mismanaged under del Carril, additionally, and unrest resulted in President Rivadavia's resignation in 1827.
The dissolution of national government ensued within months, in favor of an Argentine Confederation
The Argentine Confederation (Spanish: ''Confederación Argentina'') was the last predecessor state of modern Argentina; its name is still one of the official names of the country according to the Argentine Constitution, Article 35. It was the name ...
. The advent of the populist Governor of Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...
, Manuel Dorrego
Manuel Dorrego (11 June 1787 – 13 December 1828) was an Argentine statesman and soldier. He was governor of Buenos Aires in 1820, and then again from 1827 to 1828.
Life and politics
Dorrego was born in Buenos Aires on 11 June 1787 to José An ...
, was opposed by del Carril, who became an adviser to a conservative insurrection led by General Juan Lavalle. Lavalle's violent 1828 overthrow of Dorrego returned del Carril to the cabinet as Finance and Foreign Minister
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
. A countercoup led by General Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rosas (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confederation. Althoug ...
, a supporter of Dorrego's, forced Lavalle to call elections, though del Carril's manipulation of the results triggered Rosas' overthrow and del Carril's subsequent exile in Montevideo
Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
.[Levene, Ricardo. ''A History of Argentina''. University of North Carolina Press, 1978.]
Exile and return
Del Carril remained an active opponent of Rosas' while in exile, supporting a failed 1830 invasion of Entre Ríos Province and negotiating an entente with the Governor of Corrientes Province. He struggled financially, however, though these difficulties were mitigated by his meeting Tiburcia Domínguez y López Camelo, whom he married and had seven children with. Rosas' grasp on power began to slip after the 1838 blockade imposed by France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
following the death of a French journalist in Buenos Aires, and del Carril was named Supply Commissioner to the French Navy
The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
fleet stationed in the Río de la Plata. His tenure in the post attracted controversy, however, when he became conspicuously wealthy in the process.
The 1843 overthrow of his ally, President Fructuoso Rivera of Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
, forced del Carril yet again into exile, and he fled to Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. He cultivated a friendship via correspondence with the powerful Governor of Entre Ríos, Justo José de Urquiza, in subsequent years, and following the latter's defeat of Rosas' forces in the 1852 Battle of Caseros
The Battle of Caseros ( es, Batalla de Caseros) was fought near the town of El Palomar, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, on 3 February 1852, between the Army of Buenos Aires commanded by Juan Manuel de Rosas and the Grand Army (''Ejército ...
, del Carril returned to Argentina.[López, Vicente Fidel. ''Historia de la República Argentina''. Buenos Aires: Sopena, 1960.]
Vice Presidency
Del Carril was elected to the assembly that approved the 1853 Argentine Constitution
The Constitution of the Argentine Nation ( es, Constitución de la Nación Argentina) is the basic governing document of Argentina, and the primary source of existing law in Argentina. Its first version was written in 1853 by a constitutional ...
. Enmities remaining from the Rosas era thwarted an opportunity to return to the Governor's post in San Juan, however, and despite his personal efforts, Buenos Aires lawmakers rejected the new constitution. His belonging to the Buenos Aires-centric Unitarian Party and rapport with Urquiza (whom Buenos Aires distrusted) made del Carril an easy choice for the latter's running-mate in the elections that November, however, and their national unity ticket was elected handily in the electoral college.
President Urquiza took care to preserve balance in his government between the two camps, placing the Vice President as a counterweight to the Federalist
The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''.
History Europe federation
In Europe, proponents of de ...
Interior Minister (Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
), Santiago Derqui
Santiago Rafael Luis Manuel José María Derqui Rodríguez ( Córdoba June 21, 1809 – Corrientes November 5, 1867) was president of Argentina from March 5, 1860 to November 5, 1861. He was featured on the 10 australes note, which is now ...
. Del Carril became the most prominent voice for Buenos Aires interests in the administration, and compounded with a falling-out with erstwhile allies in his native San Juan Province, this ultimately frustrated his hopes that Urquiza might support his 1860 presidential candidacy (support which was tantamount to victory).[
Nominating Derqui instead, Urquiza's choice led to renewed conflict with Buenos Aires, and to Derqui's resignation and exile in 1861. National unity on the brink, del Carril negotiated a settlement between Urquiza and the leader of the Buenos Aires insurrection, General ]Bartolomé Mitre
Bartolomé Mitre Martínez (26 June 1821 – 19 January 1906) was an Argentine statesman, soldier and author. He was President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868 and the first president of unified Argentina.
Mitre is known as the most versatile ...
, and when the latter was elected President the following September, del Carril was appointed to the Argentine Supreme Court.[
]
Del Carril was a conservative justice, and reliably voted in favor of the executive's frequent use of state of siege declarations and capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
. This record helped him secure an appointment as Chief Justice in 1870 by Mitre's supporter and successor, President Domingo Sarmiento
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (; born Domingo Faustino Fidel Valentín Sarmiento y Albarracín; 15 February 1811 – 11 September 1888) was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the second President of Argentina. His writing sp ...
, and an uneventful tenure ended with his retirement in 1877. He was again in the spotlight, however, after the 1881 publication by historian Ángel Carranza of correspondence between del Carril and Lavalle during the 1828 coup. The letters revealed that del Carril pressed for the duly-elected Governor Dorrego's execution, advising Lavalle that claims of a fair trial should be concocted, adding that ''"if we should need to lie to posterity, we lie."'' The former Vice President lived afterwards in seclusion, and died in his Buenos Aires home in 1883, at age 84.[
]
Epilogue
Del Carril became a wealthy man, and in later life owned over 130,000 hectares (330,000 acres) of land in the agriculturally productive La Pampa Province
La Pampa () is a sparsely populated province of Argentina, located in the Pampas in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise San Luis, Córdoba, Buenos Aires, Río Negro, Neuquén and Mendoza.
History
In ...
(worth around a million dollars, at the time).[ Debts incurred by his wife's spending habits strained the marriage, however, and the seasoned lawyer obtained a discharge of his responsibility for their repayment (leaving the debts in her name, solely). The couple subsequently separated, and after the judge's 1883 burial in an ornate La Recoleta Cemetery crypt, Mrs. del Carril commissioned the grave's sculptor, Camilo Romairone, to create a bust of her likeness - with its back turned towards that of her husband's; she died in 1898.
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carril, Salvador Maria del
1798 births
1883 deaths
People from San Juan, Argentina
Argentine people of Spanish descent
National University of Córdoba alumni
19th-century Argentine judges
Argentine businesspeople
Governors of San Juan Province, Argentina
Argentine diplomats
Argentine newspaper founders
Argentine Ministers of Finance
Vice presidents of Argentina
Supreme Court of Argentina justices
Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery
Patrician families of Buenos Aires