Colonial In the middle of the 18th century Spain was engaged in war with Portugal, which, allied with England, sent a fleet to the Rio de la Plata and took possession of a small port on the left bank of Buenos Aires. The government sent forces which repelled the invasion and, in view of the fact that the river la Plata required more safe guards, reorganized the colonial administra tion, constituting the viceroyalty of Buenos Aires with its jurisdiction in the territories now occupied by the republics of Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina, and opening in 1776 the ports of the river Plata to impor tation.
The first viceroy, Zeballos, explored part of the coast of Patagonia. His successor, Juan Jose de Vertiz, a Mexican of excellent ante cedents, dedicated himself to the advancement of the city of Buenos Aires, using for this ob ject the property confiscated from the Jesuits by Carlos III. Buenos Aires at that time 1778, contained 22,000 white inhabitants, of whom 15,000 were European Spaniards. The total population of the country was 300,000, of whom 10 per cent were negroes or mulattoes. The buildings were almost exclusively of unbaked bricks, roofed with straw. The increase of the horses, abandoned by Mendoza, that had scat tered themselves through the pampas, had modified the traits of the Indians of the region, who, becoming horsemen, fled from the harsh treatment of their conquerors.
The facility with which a colonist could make himself a large landed proprietor, and the impossibility of inducing the natives to work, promoted the importation of negroes as slaves, and in 1715 the government had con ceded to an English company the monopoly of importing 1,200 negroes a year, which conces sion, however, was abolished in 1728, although the importation continued in a very light pro portion till the beginning of the 19th century.
At this time it was the custom of the wealthy class in these colonies to send their studious young men to complete their educa tion in the schools and colleges of Europe. The unliberal spirit which ruled in the University of Cordoba in the centre of the country did not attract the young men of Buenos Aires.
In 1806 an English expedition, returning from the conquest of the Boer colonies at Cape Town, South Africa, crossed the Atlantic and invaded Buenos Aires. The viceroy, Sobre monte, fled to the interior of the country, leav ing the defense of the city to the Spanish residents and natives. The English assault
was repelled, all being made prisoners, although taking advantage of the confusion, the invad ers seized $1,500,000, which was in the fiscal treasury and which they sent to England. This produced an extraordinary effect in London in regard to the riches of the Rio de la Plata region and induced the English government to send another and better equipped expedition, consisting of 60 boats and 12,000 men, to take possession of Buenos Aires. This second at tempt, however, had no better success than the first and many English prisoners remained in the country where they eventually intermar ried with the natives. The authorities and the Spanish residents accused the masses of sym pathy with the invaders; nevertheless the Eng lish were freed and received by the first fam ilies, thus helping to constitute the liberal ele ment which was later to have the direction of the revolution of independence.
The Republic.— The government of Spain, alarmed at the projects of Napoleon, could not extricate itself from warring elements and had refused to send aid for the defense of the river Plata. The citizens of Buenos Aires, proud of their triumphs and dissatisfied with the viceroy, Sobremonte, deposed him and named as his successor Liniers, a French cap tain who had helped them in the first defense against the English; but the Spanish govern ment denounced this act and appointed as viceroy a Spanish marshal, Cisneros. At this time, because of Napoleon's domination over Spain, the authority of the Spanish viceroy was not recognized and fresh germs of inde pendence were sown. With this impetus some of the patriots met and announced a govern ment Junta. This assembly took place 25 May 1810, the date which the Argentine Republic celebrates as its birthday. This congress in vited all the authorities of the viceroyalty to join the movement, and founded a periodical of revolutionary tendencies called The Buenos Aires Gazette; for it was evident that the power of Spain could only be broken by united effort of the patriots who were scattered throughout the southern portion of the con tinent, and that Buenos Aires was the natural leader in such an enterprise. The colonial au thorities, however, refused the invitation and, supported by the loyal colonists, repelled the revolutionary expeditions which were later sent from Buenos Aires to overthrow the Spanish authorities.