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, Argentin ...

in today's

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

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 (), earlier known as the United Provinces of South America (), was a name adopted in 1816 by the Congress of Tucumán for the region of South America that declared independence in 1816, with the Sove ...

Background

In 1810 news arrived of the

May Revolution The May Revolution () was a week-long series of events that took place from 18 to 25 May 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, capital of the

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata or Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires ( or Virreinato de Buenos Aires or ) meaning "River of the Silver", also called the "Viceroyalty of River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in southern South America, was ...

. 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 sur ...

reacted cautiously at first, but when it was clear that the nearby

Salta Province Salta () is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa Province, Formosa, Chaco Province, Chaco, Santiago del Estero Province, Santiago del Es ...

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 Janu ...

issued a decree saying the jurisdictions of

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Salta Province, the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the List of cities in Argentina, 7th most-populous ...

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 northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

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)) of ...

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 An intendant (; ; ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Success ...

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. Neighb ...

, consisting of Tucumán,

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 Francisco Isidro Borges Lafinur: (born November 16, 1835, in Montevideo – died November 26, 1874, in La Verde) was an Argentine military officer of Uruguayan birth, the son of Argentine political exiles. He served in frontier campaigns again ...

launched the first bid for independence, but it was suppressed by governor Bernabé Aráoz. On 20 April 1816 the Santiago del Estero deputies Pedro León Gallo and Pedro Francisco de Uriarte 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, ...

, where the independence of the

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 (3 June 1770 – 20 June 1820), usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano (), was an Argentina, Argentine public servant, economist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and military leader. He to ...

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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

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 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 dec ...

, 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 was executed in 1824. His remains lie in the San Miguel de Tucumán church.

References

Citations Sources * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Republic of Tucuman Former political divisions related to Argentina Argentine Civil War Tucuman States and territories established in 1820 Tucumán Province States and territories disestablished in 1821