Justo José de Urquiza y García (; October 18, 1801 – April 11, 1870) was an Argentine general and politician who served as president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860.
Life Justo José de Urquiza y García was born in Entre Ríos, the son of José Narciso de Urquiza Álzaga, born in Castro Urdiales, Spain, and María Cándida García González, a Creole of Buenos Aires.
Like many other nineteenth-century Argentine patriots,Including Juan Bautista Alberdi, Manuel Alberti, Carlos María de Alvear, Miguel de Azcuénaga, Antonio González de Balcarce, Manuel Belgrano, Antonio Luis Beruti, Juan José Castelli, Domingo French, Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid, Francisco Narciso de Laprida, Juan Larrea, Juan Lavalle, Vicente López y Planes, Bartolomé Mitre, Mariano Moreno, Juan José Paso, Carlos Pellegrini, Gervasio Antonio de Posadas, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento; José de San Martín is known to have been a member of the Lautaro Lodge, but whether that lodge was truly masonic has been debated: Urquiza was a freemason.; ; His imposing Palacio San José has been interpreted as containing many masonic symbols, created "to symbolize and reflect the construction of his other work: the Argentine State".
Presidency
Overview Urquiza was governor of Entre Ríos during the government of Juan Manuel de Rosas, governor of Buenos Aires with powers delegated from the other provinces. Rosas presented a resignation to his charge frequently, but only as a political gesture, counting that the other governments would reject it. However, in 1851, resentful of the economic and political dominance of Buenos Aires, Urquiza accepted Rosas' resignation and resumed for Entre Rios the powers delegated in Buenos Aires. Along with the resuming of international commerce without passing through the port of Buenos Aires, Urquiza replaced the "Death to the savage unitarians!" slogan with "Death to the enemies of national organization!", requesting the making of a national constitution that Rosas had long rejected. Supported by Brazil and the Uruguayan liberals, he created the Grand Army and forced Manuel Oribe to capitulate, ending the long siege of Montevideo in October 1851, and finally defeating Rosas on 3 February 1852 at the Battle of Caseros. The other provinces that supported Rosas against Urquiza's pronunciation changed sides and supported his project of creating a National Constitution.
Urquiza immediately began the task of national organization. He became provisional director of the Argentine Confederation in May 1852. In 1853, a constituent assembly adopted a constitution based primarily on the ideas of Juan Bautista Alberdi. Urquiza was elected president, with the Unitarian politician from San Juan, Salvador María del Carril, as vice president.Urquiza received the votes of 94 electors; Mariano Fragueiro received seven; and Benjamín Virasoro, José María Paz, Pedro Ferré, and Vicente López y Planes each received one. For vice president, the vote was more fragmented and no candidate obtained a majority. The Congress of the Confederation therefore had to choose between the two candidates with the most votes, Del Carril and Facundo Zuviría. See Bosch (1991), p. 199. The capital was established provisionally in the capital of Entre Ríos Province; for this purpose, the entire territory of the province was federalized and came to be governed directly by the president. In this way, Urquiza continued to govern his province, although the municipalities retained a certain degree of autonomy.Bosch (1991), p. 200. Urquiza was inaugurated president in March 1854.
During his administration, foreign relations were improved, public education was encouraged, colonization was promoted, and plans for railroad construction was initiated. His work of national organization was, however, hindered by the opposition of Buenos Aires, which seceded from the Confederation. Open war broke out in 1859. Urquiza defeated the provincial army led by Bartolomé Mitre in October 1859, at the Battle of Cepeda, and Buenos Aires agreed to re-enter the Confederation.
Constitutional amendments proposed by Buenos Aires were adopted in 1860 but the settlement was short-lived, and further difficulties culminated in civil war. Urquiza met the army of Buenos Aires, again led by Mitre, in September 1861. The battle was indecisive, but Urquiza withdrew from the field, leaving the victory with Mitre. He retired to San José Palace, his residence in Entre Ríos, where he ruled until he was assassinated at age 69 (along with his sons Justo and Waldino) by followers of dissident and political rival Ricardo López Jordán.
Domestic policy Urquiza assumed the presidency on 5 March 1854. A few days later he travelled to Córdoba to preside over a meeting of the governors of the neighbouring provinces, by which he sought to demonstrate their firm unity in the face of threats both from the policy of Buenos Aires and from the recent history of divisions among them.
Once established in Paraná, Urquiza called elections for deputies and senators, inaugurating the first sessions of the National Congress on 22 October 1854.Masramón (1982), p. 147. The organization of the judiciary presented greater difficulties because of the shortage of qualified personnel: although the president appointed the members of the Supreme Court and enacted the law organizing the federal chambers, the federal judiciary never actually came into operation.
The Confederation lacked the political and economic resources to undertake major public initiatives. One of the areas in which it achieved the greatest success was the formation of a national army. Provincial forces remained autonomous, but the government succeeded in organizing military regions that could later function as military units.
A first attempt was made to create a railway linking Rosario—the fastest-growing city in that period, which would soon become the most populous in the interior—with Chile, benefiting desert areas along the route. The first studies in this regard gave discouraging results, so the government considered combining this plan with a railway to Córdoba, which would in itself finance construction of the first section of the railway to Chile.The route planned by the project deviated several dozen kilometres to the south, toward present-day Villa María, since the idea was to create a junction there with the railway to Mendoza and Chile. That branch line—to Mendoza—would not be built until 1885. See Cuccorese (1969), pp. 50–56. The plan developed by engineer William Wheelwright could not be carried out by the government of the Confederation because of a lack of financial resources.
To make up for the absence of railways, communications were modernized through the establishment of mensajerías, private companies that transported passengers, mail, and high-value cargo in stagecoaches, linking most of the country's cities, and which also operated in the interior of Buenos Aires Province.Cuccorese (1969), pp. 3–5.
In the provinces of the Confederation, landowners lacked access to credit,An exceptional case was that of General Urquiza, a large-scale landowner in his province who enjoyed easy access to financial resources. See Sáenz Quesada (1980), pp. 173–178. since they had neither the economic nor the financial resources to expand.Gorostegui de Torres (1987), p. 47. For this reason, the growth of agricultural and livestock production in the littoral provinces was driven by the creation of agricultural colonies in their territory, which attracted European immigrants. The first successful agricultural colony was Esperanza, founded by Aarón Castellanos in 1855 with Swiss immigrants. Many other colonies were founded in Santa Fe and Entre Ríos in those years; a well-known case is Colonia San José, founded by General Urquiza in 1857.Gorostegui de Torres (1987), pp. 48–49. Nevertheless, for the system to become widespread it would require the support of the railway network, which would only expand in later years.
Foreign relations
The division between the Confederation and Buenos Aires posed a problem for foreign diplomats accredited to Argentina: although they recognized Urquiza's authority over the entire country, the overwhelming majority of their commercial interests and resident citizens were located in Buenos Aires. They therefore maintained plenipotentiary ministers in Paraná and consuls in Buenos Aires, while attempting to mediate in favour of national unity.Cisneros and Escudé (1998), Las relaciones con actores externos en el período 1852-1861.
Despite the importance the national government attached to relations with the main foreign powers, its first priority was securing recognition of Argentine independence by Spain. Juan Bautista Alberdi represented the Confederation before the Spanish Crown,Cisneros and Escudé (1998), La reanudación de los contactos entre Paraná y Madrid. obtaining the signing of a treaty with Spain on 9 July 1859, by which the former metropole recognized Argentine independence;Cisneros and Escudé (1998), Las nuevas gestiones de Alberdi y la firma del tratado entre la Confederación Argentina y España (9 de julio de 1859). it was rejected by Buenos Aires because it recognized the Spanish citizenship of the children of Spaniards born in Argentina, that is, jus sanguinis, which meant turning much-needed immigration into a threat to Argentine nationality.Cisneros and Escudé (1998), La oposición de Buenos Aires a los tratados con España firmados por la Confederación.
Great Britain obtained the annulment of the 1849 treaty by which Rosas had compelled that country to recognize Argentine sovereignty over its inland rivers.Cisneros and Escudé (1998), La mediación de los representantes británico, francés y norteamericano ante la inminencia de guerra entre la Confederación y el Estado de Buenos Aires. Los tratados de libre navegación de julio de 1853.
Diplomatic relations were also resumed with the Holy See, with which Argentina had had no relations since the disputes over royal patronage in the 1830s.Cisneros and Escudé (1998), Las vinculaciones con la Santa Sede.
Relations with Brazil were oriented mainly toward the question of navigation on the rivers and the relations of both countries with Paraguay. Relations with the latter country—jealous defender of all the attributes of its sovereignty—were clouded by the firm stance of the Paraguayan government toward foreign powers, especially the United States, which nearly attacked that country over a minor incident.Cisneros and Escudé (1998), La mediación del gobierno de la Confederación en el conflicto entre Estados Unidos y Paraguay. The favourable resolution of that issue facilitated Paraguayan mediation in resolving the conflicts between Buenos Aires and the Confederation in 1859.Scobie (1964), pp. 256–260.
Financial situation
The Confederation began its constitutional period with serious economic and financial problems: lack of resources, dependence on the port of Buenos Aires for foreign trade, internal barriers arising from provincial customs houses and transit duties, difficulties in communications and in the transport of goods, limited agricultural development, and stagnation of artisanal industry. The organization of the national treasury was hampered by the poor revenues of the Confederation's external customs houses and the lack of an efficient tax system; hence the economic penury of the confederal administration.Cisneros and Escudé (1998), La búsqueda de alternativas económicas para el gobierno de la Confederación ante la falta de los recursos de la aduana porteña. Nor did it succeed in creating a reliable banking system, so credit was very costly, and successive attempts to issue paper money ended in failure.Scobie (1964), pp. 45–46.