Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The issue was political. Now that Napoléon's brother Joseph Bonaparte
claimed the crown of Spain, did the colonials owe the same loyalty to
him as to the Bourbons? In the absence of the Bourbon king, many
Creoles asked where political sovereignty resided. In King Joseph? Did
sovereignty reside in those incompetent and grasping viceroys who,
like the one in Buenos Aires in 1806, had fled at the first sign of danger?
Did sovereignty now reside in the
cabildos
that always had more Creole
representation?
One might even say that the Spanish American revolts began with this
essential breakdown of elite consensus between Spaniards and Creoles.
For example, an influential Spanish merchant, Félix Alzaga, led a reac-
tionary conspiracy in 1809 against the French-born viceroy Liniers in
Buenos Aires. Even though Liniers had the backing of the local Creole-led
militias, he was replaced. By 1810, however, the
cabildo
of Buenos Aires
emerged as the most powerful local political entity, precisely because
militia backing gave the Creoles a majority in the town council.
In Buenos Aires, Marcó del Pont also was soon to experience wartime
unpleasantness. This Spanish merchant lost control of the church mort-
gage revenues as a result of the emerging Creole control of political life
in Buenos Aires. The viceregal government already had spent the money
he had donated, as its outlays to colonial militias led by Creoles like
Cornelio de Saavedra and Manuel Belgrano were increasing steadily. The
fall of Liniers in 1809 and his replacement by the pro-Spanish viceroy did
not alleviate Marcó's commercial tribulations. First, Great Britain's mili-
tary defeat during the invasion did not prevent British merchants from
continuing to trade in the Río de la Plata. In 1809, while Great Britain and
the Spanish independence fighters were allied against France, the British
had introduced more than £1.2 million worth of goods into the Río de
la Plata. Spanish merchants suffered from the overseas competition and
demanded the expulsion of the British; however, the new viceroy sorely
needed the revenues and was unable to restrict British trade without
reducing customs revenues that financed his government. Fifty British
merchants had taken up residence in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, and
the continuing political crisis prevented the viceroy from repaying Marcó
del Pont's “emergency” loans. He would soon part from the rest of his
church revenues in the ensuing civil strife.
Revolution in the Río de la Plata
The independence movement took hold early in the Río de la Plata but
dissolved into chaos. Creole insurrectionary leaders could not maintain
