Differences between Unitary and Federal

Miscellanea   /   by admin   /   January 31, 2022

In South American history, it is known as unitary Y feds, respectively, to those who were part of the two main political parties of the 19th century in the newly independent United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (territory equivalent today to that of Argentina and Uruguay): the Unitarian Party and the Federal. Both groups clashed on several occasions during the civil wars in the region, between 1814 and 1880, given that they defended different political models for the formation and management of the nascent republic.

Broadly speaking, the Unitarian Party sought to preserve the system of centralized administration that the country had inherited from the colony, while the Federal Party sought to reorganize the country and found a federative republic, in which each of the provinces would have a voice and vote. This bloody conflict involved foreign and neighboring powers on different occasions, and culminated in 1880 when an agreement was reached to establish a liberal and open economy, together with a model of federal organization, in accordance with the provisions of the Argentine Constitution of 1853.

instagram story viewer

The struggle between the Unitarians and the Federals constitutes an important, albeit violent, chapter in the history of Argentina (and also, although to a lesser extent, Uruguay), and was portrayed in important works of literature regional as The slaughterhouse (1871) by Esteban Echeverría (1805-1851) or Facundo or civilization and barbarism in the Argentine pampas (1845) by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (1811-1888).

Differences between unitary and federal

The fundamental differences between what is defended by the Unitarian Party and what is defended by the Federal Party can be summarized as follows:

unitary Federal
They defended the need for the Province of Buenos Aires, due to its economic, historical and strategic importance, to have administrative control over the rest of the Provinces. This model was called Centralist or Unitarian. They defended the need for a federative government, in which the provinces retained their administrative autonomy and the national government functioned according to the different internal positions.
They were mostly located in the province of Buenos Aires, capital of the colonial viceroyalty, although they had followers in the other provinces. They were scattered throughout the different provinces that made up the national territory and had their own agendas and political considerations.
They considered that the nation pre-existed the provinces, that is, that the latter were just divisions of the national territory and not proper states. His country model was inspired by Napoleonic France. They understood the country as the voluntary union of a set of provinces, which had much more to gain by being together. Their positions could be very different from each other, but in general their country model was inspired by the United States.
Its militancy was mostly from the capital and was made up of members of the middle and upper social classes, as well as intellectuals and the military. It was an urban, liberal and cosmopolitan party. His militancy came mainly from rural and peasant areas, as well as the popular "gauchaje". Also the great regional caudillos and some intellectuals. It was a traditionalist, conservative and nationalist party.
They defended free trade economically and proposed the creation of a central bank to issue its own currency. In addition, the central government had to manage the entire national budget and then allocate the corresponding ones to each province. His position towards the economy was varied, but broadly speaking it was divided into two: the Argentine coast defended the free trade and free navigation of interior rivers, while the provinces of the interior defended protectionism economic. Both sides opposed Buenos Aires dominance over their local economies.
Its maximum leaders were Bernardino Rivadavia, Juan Lavalle, José María Paz, Gregorio Aráoz Lamadrid and Martín Rodríguez. Its maximum leaders were José Artigas (founder of the Federal League), Juan Manuel de Rosas and Justo José de Urquiza.
The party was dissolved in 1862 and its successors were the Nationalist Party and the Autonomist Party. The party was dissolved in 1876, years after the failure of the Argentine Confederation (1831-1861), which put its federative model into practice.
Militarily they lost the fight against the federals, but their economic, cultural and social interests prevailed in the long run. They won the civil war and formed a federal system, but over time unitary interests imposed a highly centralized country in the city of Buenos Aires.

References:

  • "Unity Party" in Wikipedia.
  • “Federal Party (Argentina)”in Wikipedia.
  • "Differences between unitary and federal" (video) in The Proclamation of the South.
  • "Unitary and federal" in the Plan Ceibal Library (Uruguay).

Follow with:

Tags cloud
Rating
0
Views
0
Comments
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE