at war both with Peru and Bolivia. According to the latest accounts,
some difficulty now exists between this country and Buenos Ayres; the
hope is expressed that it may not issue in war. The too great
readiness of the infant republics of South America to engage in
contentions with one another, and to indulge in internal feuds, must
be acknowledged to be a bad omen in respect to their preparation for
the blessings of liberty and independence.
[Illustration]
VII. BUENOS AYRES, OR PROVINCES OF LA PLATA.
[Illustration: BUENOS AYRES.]
NAME, &c.--Inhabitants, or Classes of People--Discovery and
Settlement--First Insurrection against the Government of
Spain--Progress and Changes of the New Government--Present
Condition of the Government.
_Name, &c._--This country received its name, at first, from the name
of its great river La Plata. The river was so denominated from the
fact that, among the spoils of a few Indians, inhumanly put to death,
some ornaments of gold and silver had been found. In 1778, it was
erected into a Spanish vice-royalty by the name of the vice-royalty of
Rio de la Plata. On its declaration of independence, in 1816, it
assumed the name of the United Provinces of La Plata, and, in 1826,
that of the Argentine Republic; and it has, also, long been known by
the name of Buenos Ayres, from the name of its chief city.
_Inhabitants, or Classes of People._--These are the same as are found
in Chili, viz: European Spaniards, Creoles, Negroes, Indians, and the
mixed races. The Chiquintos are a numerous and civilized nation of
independent Indians. There are also many other tribes. There is a
striking sameness in the character of all the South American states.
Among the Creoles, the strictest equality obtains. No white would do
service for any one of his own nation. Education, perhaps, in all the
classes, is rather neglected.
_Discovery and Settlement._--Sebastian Cabot, in the early part of the
sixteenth century, sailed up the river, to which he gave the name of La
Plata. In attempting to build a fortress in the country, or otherwise to
commence a settlement, he met with so much opposition from the
inhabitants, that, in 1530, he returned to Spain, in order to obtain
recruits. The few men whom he left in the colony, were either massacred,
or abandoned the country. Some more considerable forces, led by Mendoza,
came and settled on the river in 1535, and laid the foundation of Buenos
Ayres. Their condition, however, was precarious, whether there, or
wherever else they located themselves in the country. They were in
danger of being cut off, either by famine or Indian hostilities. Buenos
Ayres was at length abandoned, and settlements made farther up the
river. To propitiate the natives, they finally resorted to the policy of
marrying their women. From a union of this kind, sprung the race of
Mestizoes, which, in the course of time, became so common in South
America. Buenos Ayres was rebuilt in 1580, and from that time some of
the petty nations in that vicinity submitted to the Spanish yoke. A
degree of civilization and order was effected among this savage people,
by the Jesuits, through a long course of years.
_First Insurrection against the Government of Spain._--The desire of
throwing off the government of the mother-country was manifested at an
early period among the inhabitants of the city of Buenos Ayres. The
development of this feeling was somewhat earlier there, than in other
parts of Spanish America. It owed its origin to the war which existed
between Spain and Great Britain, in 1806. As the consequence of this
war, the province of La Plata was neglected, and thus presented a
strong temptation for invasion on the part of the British. That which
might have been attempted at some subsequent period by public
authority, was commenced by private aggressions, or certainly without
orders from the government. A fleet and army, under Commodore Topham
and General Beresford, after effecting the conquest of the Cape of
Good Hope, proceeded to Buenos Ayres, on the 8th of June, 1806, and,
after a slight resistance, took possession of the place on the 28th of
June. The Spaniards, however, under Liniers, a French officer,
collecting a large force in the country, rëtook it within sixteen
days, with a good deal of loss to the British. The latter having
received rëinforcements, made two several attempts to recover
possession of the city, but failed in both.
In the embarrassments occasioned by Napoleon's invasion of Spain,
parties sprang up in Buenos Ayres, some supporting Liniers, who had
been appointed viceroy of the province, and others the Spanish
authority. The latter appeared, for a time, to be the prevailing
power; but the ebulition of royalty which had proclaimed Ferdinand,
was of short duration. The Spanish Americans began to feel that they
had power in their hands, as was manifested in their defeat of the
British. Their discontents increased at the tyranny exercised over
them. Commotion followed commotion, till in May, 1810, the viceroy,
Cisneros, finding his embarrassments and perplexities greatly
increased by the disasters of the Spaniards at home, was compelled to
announce his inability to manage the government. By the request of the
municipality of the city, he called a congress, which established a
provisional junta for the government of the country. The 25th of May,
the date of this government, has ever since been observed as the
anniversary of independence in Buenos Ayres.
_Progress and Changes of the New Government._--On the part of Spain,
attempts were made to recover her lost power, and the difficulties and
dissensions, so universally experienced by the American colonies on
such occasions, were felt in a considerable degree in Buenos Ayres. In
1811, a congress assembled in the city of Buenos Ayres, and placed the
executive power in the hands of a triumvirate. In 1812, Posadas was
appointed supreme director of the republic, with a council of seven.
In 1816, a congress assembled at Tucuman, declared the countries on
the La Plata independent, and named Pueyredon director; having
transferred its sessions to Buenos Ayres, it assumed the title of the
United Provinces of South America.
In 1819, a congress assembled at Buenos Ayres, formed a constitution,
modeled on that of the United States, and Rondeau was elected supreme
director, and Rivadavia was placed at the head of foreign affairs. For
some time, the principal functions of the government were discharged
by a constituent congress, the executive power being intrusted to the
provincial government of Buenos Ayres.
In February, 1826, Rivadavia was elected president. The republic
became involved in war with Brazil, on account of Banda Oriental,
which was first added to Brazil, and afterwards declared (August,
1828) independent. Rivadavia having resigned, the congress was
dissolved, each of the provinces became again independent, and Dorego
was chosen governor of the province of Buenos Ayres. General Lavalle,
at the head of the Unitarios, caused Dorego to be shot, and himself to
be proclaimed president, December 1st, 1828. A bloody civil war
ensued, and in August, 1829, Lavalle was compelled to resign, and his
successor was General Juan Jose Viamont, who was succeeded, December
8th, 1829, by General Juan Manuel de Rosas, who was declared dictator
August 9th, 1830; but before the end of the year, General Queroga made
himself dictator or governor. In 1835, De Rosas was made governor of
Buenos Ayres for five years; and, in addition to his other duties, he
was charged with the foreign relations of the Argentine Republic.[87]
As early as the year 1822, the independence of the United Provinces of
La Plata was acknowledged by the congress of the United States, and a
treaty of commerce was concluded with Great Britain in 1825. Domestic
troubles, however, were again renewed, the union of the provinces was
dissolved, and separate governments were established. But the
difficulties did not soon come to a close, as two fiercely-contending
parties, of opposite views respecting the forms of government, created
no small amount of turbulence and misrule.
On December 29th, 1839, a battle was fought at Cagancha, between
General Echagne, governor of the Buenos Ayrean province of Entre Rios,
and General Fructuoso Rivera, president of the Oriental Republic of
Uruguay. The former had an army of five thousand men, and was defeated
with a loss stated at eight hundred killed, and a considerable number
of prisoners, together with the loss of their baggage and horses. The
loss of General Rivera, in killed and wounded, was stated at about two
hundred.
_Present Condition of the Government._--The government of this
country, for many years past, has been in the hands of Don Juan M. de
Rosas. According to the latest advices, Rosas is in trouble with the
new British minister, Mr. Southern. It is stated that the former
refused to receive Mr. Southern, unless he was authorized to treat
with Rosas on the basis laid down by Mr. Hood, the first special
minister that was sent out by England. Mr. Southern refuses to submit
to that condition, and thus the affair remains at present.
FOOTNOTE:
[87] American Almanac for 1849.
VIII. ORIENTAL REPUBLIC, OR URUGUAY.
[Illustration: URUGUAY.]
LOCALITY, Extent, &c.--Name and History--The Constitution.
_Locality, Extent, &c._--This country lies north of the Rio de la
Plata, east of the river Uruguay, and south of Brazil. It has an area
of eighty thousand miles. Monte Video is the capital of the republic,
and is a town of some importance. Uruguay comprises nine departments.
_Name and History._--This country constituted a part of the
vice-royalty, afterwards the republic of La Plata, and was known by
the name of Banda Oriental (Eastern Frontier, from its geographical
position). After the declaration of the independence of the United
Provinces, it became the subject of an obstinate war between the new
republic and the empire of Brazil.
Elio, who was appointed by the regency of Spain captain-general of the
province of Rio de la Plata, in that capacity, also, governed the
province of Monte Video, or the Banda Oriental. He was now the most
dangerous and powerful enemy with which the government of Buenos Ayres
were at war. That government having received an ally, by the desertion
of Artigas, a captain in the royal service, employed him, in conjunction
with General Rondeau, in an expedition against Banda Oriental. In May,
1811, they obtained a signal victory at Las Piedras over the royalists,
and laid siege to Monte Video. In this extremity, Elio, finding himself
unable to hold out long without assistance, applied to the Portuguese of
Brazil, who sent him an army of four thousand men, and a subsidy of
moneys. Before any important operations could be engaged in, however, a
treaty was concluded between Monte Video and Buenos Ayres, in November,
1811, by virtue of which the siege of Monte Video was to be raised, and
the Portuguese forces were to return home. In pursuance of the treaty,
the siege was raised, but the Portuguese proved faithless, and began to
ravage the territory of La Plata.
Danger now encompassed the Buenos Ayreans, not only from the
Portuguese, but from the royalists of Peru. They, however, induced the
latter to withdraw their troops, and the royalists they defeated in
battle; but nothing could restore quiet to the country, and
hostilities were again commenced with Monte Video. The war was carried
on with various success, and what, with this calamity and rival
factions which infested the city, little tranquillity was enjoyed,
till articles of agreement between the Brazilians and Buenos Ayreans
were signed at Rio Janeiro, August 27, 1828. Then was effected the
independence of the country, which took the title of the Republic of
Monte Video, so named from its capital, but it has since assumed the
title of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay.
A constitution was adopted in 1830, according to which the legislative
power is vested in two bodies; a senate of nine members, and a house
of representatives of twenty-nine members, and the code Napoleon was
established as the law of the country.
IX. BRAZIL.
[Illustration: Tropical Vegetation--Animals, &c.--Landing
Slaves--Washing for Diamonds.]
SITUATION, Extent, &c.--Discovery and Settlement--Policy of the
Portuguese Government--Removal of the Portuguese Court to
Brazil--Constitution and Government.
_Situation, Extent, &c._--Brazil is an extensive country, occupying
the eastern and central portion of South America, from four degrees
north to thirty-three degrees south, and from thirty-five degrees to
seventy-three degrees west longitude. It has an area of three millions
square miles.
This region is traversed by several distinct chains of mountains,
chiefly in the eastern and northern provinces, but they do not any of
them reach to any great elevation. "The mighty Orellana," or the
Amazon, gives a character to the country, as it is the largest river
in the world, both in regard to the length of its course and its
volume of water; draining an area of more than two millions of square
miles, and furnishing the country with the amplest means of
intercommunication. The greater part of Brazil is constituted of an
immense immeasurable plain, through which flow innumerable streams, on
which stand boundless and impenetrable forests, and the whole of which
swarms "with animal life in all its forms; ferocious beasts of prey,
huge serpents, alligators, troops of monkeys, flocks of
gaudily-colored and loquacious birds, and clouds of insects, are yet
undisturbed by the arts of man."
A great variety exists as to the climate. Intense heat prevails under
the equator, but rendered supportable by the excessive humidity of the
atmosphere and the copious dews. Mild and temperate, with occasionally
cold weather, is experienced in the southern portions.
The soil is very fertile in a large portion of the country, and
produces an immense variety of rich and valuable plants and
vegetables, many of them being peculiar to this region. The forests
are admirable for their beauty and grandeur; the growth of trees being
gigantic, and the number of ornamental ones surpassing calculation. An
important article of export, are several kinds of what is called
_Brazil-wood_, not to speak of timber for ship-building, mahogany, and
an infinity of dyeing woods.
The golds and diamonds of Brazil are far-famed; the quantity of gold
annually obtained being estimated at five millions of dollars. Brazil
has more foreign commerce than any other country in America, except
the United States. Its principal ports are Rio Janeiro, Bahia or St.
Salvador, Pernambuco, Para, San Luis de Maranham, and San Pedro.
_Discovery and Settlement._--The discovery of Brazil, by the
Portuguese, was a matter of accident. It occurred in the year 1500, as
Pedro Alvarez Cabral was sailing from Lisbon with a fleet for the East
Indies. Standing out a great distance to the west, in order to avoid
the calms on the coast of Africa, he saw land, on the 24th of April,
in latitude seventeen south, and on the 3d of May landed at a harbor
which was named Porto Seguro. The country was named Brazil,
eventually, from the circumstance that the forests abounded with trees
producing a beautiful dye-wood of a fiery red, to which the Portuguese
gave the name of _brazil_, from _braza_, a live coal. Cabral having
taken possession of the country in the name of his sovereign, the king
of Portugal, dispatched a vessel to Lisbon, to announce his important
discovery, while he himself proceeded on his voyage to India.
The king, gratified with the foregoing announcement, immediately
fitted out an expedition, under Amerigo Vespucci, consisting of three
ships, which sailed in 1501. Vespucci explored the country as far
south as the fifty-second degree of latitude, but formed no
settlement. After a voyage of sixteen months, he returned to Lisbon.
Two years after, 1503, he made a second voyage, in which he had the
misfortune to lose all his fleet, with the exception of his own ship.
During this visit, he established a settlement on the coast, and
carried home a cargo of brazil-wood, the value of which was so great,
as to induce many adventurers to embark for that country. These
volunteer colonists, composed of various grades and conditions in the
social scale, but all imbued with the spirit of enterprise, formed a
settlement at St. Salvador.
The settlement which had been made on the coast in 1503, under Vespucci,
received but little attention, until certain French adventurers, about
half a century afterwards, attempted to settle a colony at Rio Janeiro.
A Portuguese force finally expelled the French from their position,
after a struggle of two years, in 1567--the French having continued in
different parts of the country, from 1558 till that time. Owing to
various circumstances, the Portuguese court, from making this region a
place of exile and confinement for convicts and the unhappy victims of
the Inquisition, was led to regard it, at length, as a place of some
importance. The sugar-cane began to be cultivated, and the new luxury of
sugar was sought with avidity. In connection with this, a governor was
sent out to manage the affairs of the settlers, and he built a city at
St. Salvador, which became the centre of the colony. The Jesuits,
however, were the most efficient class in building up the colony, and
conciliating the affections of the natives.
As misfortunes, during the latter part of the sixteenth century, befel
the Portuguese in Europe, advantage was taken of their weakness, and
their Brazilian possessions were invaded and taken by the Dutch. But
they were not suffered to hold their conquest without molestation. In
1626, St. Salvador was rëtaken by the Portuguese; the Dutch, however,
retained their power for a number of years in the country, and added
to their conquests, till they were expelled, in 1654, by a superior
Portuguese force sent against them. In 1661, the sole possession of
Brazil was secured to Portugal by treaty, in consideration of the sum
of one million seven hundred thousand dollars, which that crown
engaged to pay to the United Colonies.
_Policy of the Portuguese Government in the latter part of the
Eighteenth Century._--The measures adopted by the government in respect
to Brazil, were narrow and illiberal. Their effect was to discourage
industry, and to fetter commerce. On the latter, restrictions and
monopolies were imposed. The search for gold and diamonds engrossed the
attention of the government. Foreigners could either gain no admission
into the country, or were jealously watched. Trade was carried on only
at the fortified posts. This disastrous state of things continued till
the beginning of the present century, when an event took place which
changed the whole aspect of affairs in this country.
_Removal of the Portuguese Court to Brazil._--The event above referred
to, was the removal of the court in the mother-country to this, its
American colony. The design of effecting such a change was entertained
many years before it took place; as early as 1761, the measure had
been determined on, and preparations were made; but it was not until
1808, that the project was put into execution. The occasion was the
declaration of war by Buonaparte against Portugal. The regent (who,
after the death of his mother, in 1816, became king of Portugal, by
the title of John VI.), with the royal family, left Europe for Brazil,
where they arrived January 22d, 1808. This event resulted in great
advantage to the Brazilians. Soon, the old exclusive system of trade
was abolished, and all the ports of the country were opened to the
commerce of the world; the free exercise of industry was permitted to
all classes of people; and the press, which for three centuries had
been prohibited, was immediately established.
After the fall of Napoleon, John raised Brazil to the rank of a
kingdom, in 1815, thenceforth to be called the kingdom of Brazil,
which, with the European territories, should constitute the United
Kingdoms of Portugal, Algarves, and Brazil. In 1821, John returned to
Portugal, leaving his son, Pedro, in Brazil, as prince-regent. On the
12th of October, 1822, Brazil was declared independent, as there had
been, for some time, a manifest and growing desire, on the part of the
people, for this change. At the same time, the Prince Pedro was
crowned emperor of Brazil. On the death of John VI., in 1826, Pedro
declared his daughter Maria Queen of Portugal; and, on the 6th of
April, 1831, he abdicated the throne of Brazil in favor of his son,
Pedro II., born October 2d, 1825, and who is now emperor.
_Constitution of Government._--According to the constitution, which
was formed in 1823, and adopted in 1824, Brazil is a hereditary
monarchy, with a legislative assembly, consisting of two houses; a
senate, appointed by the emperor, and a house of representatives,
elected by the people. The Catholic faith is the religion of the
state, but all other Christians are tolerated, though not allowed to
build churches, or perform divine service in public.
X. PARAGUAY.
[Illustration: PARAGUAY.]
SITUATION, Extent, &c.--Insurrection and attempt at Revolution in
the latter part of the Eighteenth Century--Establishment of
Independence, and a Despotic Government.
_Situation, Extent, &c._--This republic is situated between the rivers
Paraguay and Parana, having the empire of Brazil on the east, and the
Argentine Republic on the west. It has an area of ninety thousand
square miles. Its divisions consist of eight departments.
This country is considered the fairest portion of what was once the
United Provinces. Its climate is mild and balmy; the surface is not
mountainous, neither is it a dead level; it is well supplied with a
great variety of streams of pure water; its soil is every where found
to be exceedingly productive, and was originally covered with immense
forests of stately timber. Among its more ample productions are grain,
cotton, sugar, and excellent fruits--oranges, figs, the olive, and the
grape--as well as the singular vegetable called _matte_, so
extensively used in South America as a tea or beverage.
_Insurrections and attempts at Revolution in the early part of the
Eighteenth Century._--Paraguay is rendered remarkable by several
projects, more than a century ago, having in view its independence,
and, what is more wonderful, by the open and public assertion, at that
time, of the principle, that the authority of the people was greater
than that of the king himself. Thus was anticipated, in a colony of
the most bigoted and despotic court of Europe, more than a hundred
years ago, the modern liberal doctrine of the sovereignty of the
people. The attempts referred to were made by individuals, who had,
perhaps, their private causes of grievance, as Antequera, Mompo, and
Mena, though one of them, certainly, Mompo, was the preacher of the
doctrine above stated. No real independence, however, was effected,
except for a short period. The revolutionary leaders were soon
overcome in battle, put to death, or banished, and the authority of
the king of Spain was rëestablished, and continued for the greater
part of a century.