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Congress of Tucuman


The Congress of Tucuman was the representative assembly of the United Provinces of the River Plate formed in 1816, initially meeting in Tucuman. The Congress declared the independence of Argentina on July 9, 1816.

Following the May Revolution of 1810, the Viceroyalty of the River Plate had been replaced by the Primera Junta. The provinces had been moving towards full independence but royalist forces had had success in battle in what was the Viceroyalty of Peru and were threatening Jose de San Martin and Buenos Aires.

On April 15, 1815, a revolution ended the mandate of Carlos Maria de Alvear and called a General Congress. Delegate deputies, each representing 15,000 inhabitants, were sent from all the provinces to the sessions that started on March 24, 1816. Nevertheless, several territories that until then belonged to the Viceroyalty of the River Plate did not send any delegates: the Banda Oriental that was faithful to Artigas; Paraguay, which had already proclaimed its independence; and the provinces of the Gran Chaco and Mesopotamia, still fighting the aboriginal resistance. Representatives of what is now Bolivia were however present.

The congress was inaugurated in the Tucuman home of Francisca Bazan de Laguna, with 33 deputies, and as had been decided, the presidency of the congress was rotated monthly. Because the congress had freedom to choose the topics to discuss, there were endless discussions.

Voting finally ended on July 9, with the declaration of independence of the country. At the time the president of the Congress was Francisco Narciso de Laprida, delegate from San Juan Province. Subsequent discussions centred on the form of government that the young state should have.

The congress continued its work in Buenos Aires in 1817, but it dissolved in 1820 after the Battle of Cepeda that deepened the differences between Unitarians and Federals.

The house where the declaration was made was rebuilt and is now a museum and monument, the House of Tucuman.

Signatories of the declaration

Francisco Narciso de Laprida, Deputy for San Juan, President

Mariano Boedo, Deputy for Salta, Vice-president

Jose Mariano Serrano, Deputy for Charcas (present Bolivia), Secretary

Juan Jose Paso, Deputy for Buenos Aires, Secretary

Dr. Antonio Saenz, Deputy for Buenos Aires

Dr. Jose Darragueira, Deputy for Buenos Aires

Friar Cayetano Jose Rodriguez, Deputy for Buenos Aires

Dr. Pedro Medrano, Deputy for Buenos Aires

Dr. Manuel Antonio Acevedo, Deputy for Catamarca

Dr. Jose Ignacio de Gorriti, Deputy for Salta

Dr. Jose Andres Pacheco de Melo, Deputy for Chichas (present Bolivia)

Dr. Teodoro Sanchez de Bustamante, Deputy for Jujuy

Eduardo Perez Bulnes, Deputy for Cordoba

Tomas Godoy Cruz, Deputy for Mendoza

Dr. Pedro Miguel Araoz, Deputy for Tucuman

Dr. Esteban Agustin Gazcon, Deputy for Buenos Aires

Pedro Francisco de Uriarte, Deputy for Santiago del Estero

Pedro Leon Gallo, Deputy for Santiago del Estero

Pedro Ignacio Rivera, Deputy for Mizque (present Bolivia)

Dr. Mariano Sanchez de Loria, Deputy for Charcas (present Bolivia)

Dr. Jose Severo Malabia, Deputy for Charcas (present Bolivia)

Dr. Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Deputy for La Rioja

Lic. Geronimo Salguero de Cabrera y Cabrera, Deputy for Cordoba

Dr. Jose Colombres, Deputy for Catamarca

Dr. Jose Ignacio Thames, Deputy for Tucuman

Friar Justo de Santa Maria de Oro, Deputy for San Juan

Jose Antonio Cabrera, Deputy for Cordoba

Dr. Juan Agustin Maza, Deputy for Mendoza

Tomas Manuel de Anchorena, Deputy for Buenos Aires

Reference

Ministry of Education: Congress of Tucuman

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Congress of Tucuman


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