JULY 9TH, INDEPENDENCE DAY

It wasn’t until March of 1816, folllowing Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, that representatives of the various provinces met in Tucumán to discuss the future of their country. On July 9 the delegates met in the Bazán family home, now the Casa Histórica de la Independencia museum, to proclaim their independence from Spanish rule and the formation of the United Provinces of South America later the Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata.

The Acta de la Declaración de la Independencia Argentina signed, the newly formed congress couldn’t reach agreement on a form of government. They appointed a supreme director, but many delegates preferred a constitutional monarchy. Others wanted a centralized republican system, still others a federal system. Unable to reach consensus, the opposing beliefs eventually led to a civil war in 1819.

Taking power, Juan Manuel de Rosas, ruled from 1829 to 1852 while acting as a caretaker of the external relations of the whole country, who lacked any other form of federal government. Acknowledged as a tyrant, Rosas was overthrown by a revolution led by General Justo José de Urquiza under whom Argentine national unity was established, and a constitution promulgated in 1853.