The Argentine history of the 19th century is
marked by a series of conflicts and political tensions that have often been
interpreted as the clash between unitarios and federales. However, a deeper,
more structural look could reveal that the true fundamental contradiction
underlying that time could be found in the dichotomy between "Civilization
and Barbarism", a concept expressed by Sarmiento. In this context,
Bernardino Rivadavia and Justo José de Urquiza, two key figures in Argentine
history, emerge as characters who, despite their apparent, superficial political
differences, shared a common vision to build a modern and progressive Argentina
under the protection of a republican and liberal Constitution.
To understand the similarities between
Rivadavia and Urquiza, it is essential to situate their actions in the
historical context of 19th century Argentina. The nation was divided into
opposing political factions, but the central conflict was not between unitaries
and federals, but rather could be centered on the challenge of carrying out
"Civilization" in a territory characterized by "Barbarism."
Civilization represented the idea of an organized State, with democratic
institutions, promotion of public education and the establishment of a modern
capitalist economy that left behind the colonial bases of monopoly and
protectionism, while barbarism was associated with chaos, disorder, latifundia
and backwardness, typical of feudal and authoritarian structures that have
often been confused with the genuine flags of federalism. Rosas and Quiroga,
federal impostors, embody the barbarism of the caudillo, authoritarian and
fundamentalist reaction against the liberal and progressive dimension of the
May Revolution. Artigas and Ramírez, with their shadows and their lights,
beyond their errors, embody genuine popular and republican federalism.
In 1826, Bernardino Rivadavia promoted the
creation of a national Constitution that sought to establish a representative
and republican but centralized government, "in regime unity";
although it granted the provinces their own powers and certain autonomy.
Although his proposal was rejected and his presidency brief, Rivadavia shared a
clear vision of Argentina as a nation that yearned for progress and
improvement. These policies sought to transform Argentina into a modern and
progressive country.
On the other hand, Justo José de Urquiza played
a fundamental role in the sanction of the national Constitution of 1853, which
still governs Argentina today, beyond successive reforms, which did little to
improve it. With federal roots, Urquiza was a pragmatic leader with great
strategic vision, who understood the need for a united, organized and
integrated nation, within and towards the world. The Constitution of 1853
reflected this balance by establishing a federal system with a strong central
government and guaranteeing individual rights and broad civil and political
liberties. Urquiza shared with Rivadavia the vision of promoting public
education, secularism, immigration, colonization, agriculture, industry and
free trade, all under the rule of law and the institutions of the Republic.
Someone as closely linked to Urquiza as Nicanor
Molinas will say, regarding the fundamental coincidences between both
constitutional texts, that “everything that our Constitution has innovated on
the American model must be found in that Constitution of 1826. Everything that
refers to declarations, rights and guarantees, to individual rights and
collective rights, to civil rights and political rights, to the constitutional
guarantees that protect them, everything that refers to the relations of the
Legislature and the Executive,..., everything is taken, copied or traced from
that executed Rivadavian Constitution of 1826.”
The little-understood Rivadavian emphyteusis,
which we have referred to in “The validity of Rivadavia's economic program,”
partly pursued the same goal as the colonization policy promoted, in the midst
of great difficulties, by Justo José de Urquiza; make the land available to
those who want to work it to exploit natural resources at the service of
individual and social progress. The colonies founded by Urquiza, Alberdi's
motto "to govern is to populate", and Sarmiento's "one hundred
Chivilcoy" do not arise from nowhere. They have a history in pioneering
projects that provided broad rights to immigrants. “Foreigners who dedicate
themselves to the cultivation of the fields will be given sufficient land and
will be assisted for their first rural establishments, and in the trade of
their productions,” signed Rivadavia in 1812 as Secretary of the First
Triumvirate. Then as Minister of Martín Rodríguez and as President he will
promote his innovative and original emphyteusis system. The results, we know,
did not live up to those noble aspirations, but the failures are due to other
causes and not to the wise principles that inspired the initiative.
Despite the apparent political differences
between the “unitary” Rivadavia and the “federal” Urquiza, both shared a common
vision to build a modern and progressive Argentina. The key to interpreting his
legacy lies in understanding that the fundamental contradiction in 19th century
Argentina was not in the conflict between unitary and federal, but in the
challenge of transforming a territory marked by barbarism and caudillism into
an organized and prosperous nation, integrated into the world, and where
freedom and equality prevail.-
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