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    The Generation of 1837: Attitudes, Policies, and Actions Toward Indian Populations of Argentina
    The Generation of 1837: Attitudes, Policies, and Actions Toward Indian Populations of Argentina
    The Generation of 1837: Attitudes, Policies, and Actions Toward Indian Populations of Argentina
    Ebook108 pages1 hour

    The Generation of 1837: Attitudes, Policies, and Actions Toward Indian Populations of Argentina

    By Colin Mustful

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    By the year 1880 the Indians of the vast plains region known as the Pampas in Argentina had been almost completely exterminated. The defeat over the Indians by the Argentine government was a long process largely influenced by the works of a group of elite intellectuals called the Generation of 1837. This essay evaluates the literary works of the Generation of 1837 and links those works to the actions taken against the Pampas Indians throughout the nineteenth century. The justification for the conquering and extinguishment of the Pampas Indians was influenced through the racist attitude of the Generation of 1837 disclosed in their literary works.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherColin Mustful
    Release dateApr 8, 2014
    ISBN9781311740816
    The Generation of 1837: Attitudes, Policies, and Actions Toward Indian Populations of Argentina
    Author

    Colin Mustful

    Colin Mustful is an independent historian, author, and publisher. His work, which includes five historical novels, focuses on the tumultuous and complicated periods of settler-colonialism and Native displacement in American history. He has a Master of Arts degree in history and a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing. He is the founder and editor of History Through Fiction, an independent press that publishes compelling historical novels that are based on real events and people. As a traditional publisher, he works with authors who want to share important historical stories with the world. Mustful is an avid runner and soccer player who lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He believes that learning history is vital to understanding our world today and finding just, long-lasting solutions for the future.

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      Book preview

      The Generation of 1837 - Colin Mustful

      The Generation of 1837

      Attitudes, Policies, and Actions Toward Indian Populations of Argentina

      Colin Mustful

      The Generation of 1837:

      Attitudes, Policies, and Actions Toward Indian Populations of Argentina

      Colin Mustful

      Published by Colin Mustful at Smashwords

      Copyright 2014 Colin Mustful

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      Chapter 1 - The Generation of 1837: A Biographical Sketch

      Chapter 2 - The Pampas and Its Inhabitants

      Chapter 3 - Expressions of Progress: The Literary Works of the Generation of 1837

      Chapter 4 - The Conquest of the Desert

      Conclusion - Through Sword and Pen

      Bibliography

      End Notes

      INTRODUCTION

      Throughout the Americas, native indigenous cultures were subdued, suppressed, and overcome by the colonial powers of Western Europe. In areas where Europeans encountered dense native populations, such as Mexico and Peru, Indian communities survived, despite population loss and exploitation. But in areas of scattered, small groups of native Americans, such as in the United States, Brazil, and Argentina, Europeans overwhelmed and virtually destroyed native social organization. Over the long term the imbalance in population and power between the European and the Native American nearly extinguished Native American cultures.

      In colonial Argentina Spaniards exploited native labor in the silver mines, forcing natives into a dangerous industry with little reward. Furthermore, working conditions led to the death of many Indians. By the nineteenth century, however, the mining industry began to decline. Needing a source of capital to build their new nation, Argentine statesmen searched for other alternatives. The abundance they found was located just outside of Buenos Aires, in the great plains known as the Pampas.

      The Pampas was home to thousands of Indians led a semi-nomadic lifestyle that relied heavily on cattle and horses as a means of support. When the Spanish and creoles, or decedents of Spanish colonists, of colonial Argentina began searching for a new economic identity separate from mining, they often encountered the Indians of the Pampas. As the ranching and agricultural economies of Argentina expanded and replaced the depleted mining industry, they encroached on Indian territory in the Pampas. Shortly after Argentine independence in 1810, immigrant settlers along with creoles began establishing large ranches called estancias. The rapid expansion of estancias on the Pampas provoked conflict between settlers and Indians on the Argentine Pampas.

      In addition to farmers and ranchers on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, the citizens of urban Argentina also considered the Indians a menace. As long as Indians roamed the Pampas, Argentines believed their nation could not grow into a wealthy and industrial nation. When the Indians could not be used for indentured labor, they were perceived as useless. The city, as well as the country, wanted to rid the Pampas of its Indian population.

      Settlers saw the Indians as peculiar and different from themselves. The Indians, they believed, lived a barbarian lifestyle void of output. This attitude stood out in Argentina in the nineteenth century. Once the Argentines needed their land, the Indians quickly became a marked enemy. Through governmental actions as well as through literary materials, Argentine politicians targeted the Indians of the Pampas. During the nineteenth century the Argentine government took increased action against the Indians of the Pampas. They put pressure on the Indians through immigration policy, frontier strategy, and warfare. The government made it their goal to cure the Indian problem by wiping out the Pampas Indian.

      The literary works of Argentine intellectuals displayed consistently negative and racist attitudes toward the Pampas Indians and served as the intellectual justification for government action. Many Argentines considered themselves and their race superior to the Indian races of the Pampas. The Indians, they argued, were incapable of productive labor and intellectual advancement. Due in large part to their racial attitudes, the intellectuals of Argentina, as well as the vast majority of Argentines, did not believe they could coexist with the Indians.

      One group of intellectuals, called the Generation of 1837, were particularly opposed to the Indian presence. Although the works of the Generation of 1837 were aimed at political goals, they contained racially charged attitudes against the Indians. They argued that the Indians were an obstacle to progress. Their writings called for displacement of all Pampas Indians by the white race. The Generation of 1837 contended for a future without Indians and they promoted it throughout their literary works. The Argentine intellectual elite, led by the Generation of 1837, supported and diffused racist attitudes, actions, and policies toward the native and indigenous populations of the Pampas seeking to establish dominance over the Pampa’s inhabitants whom they believed were inferior and whose habits were incurable. Over time Argentines adopted the views of the Generation of 1837 and, through their words and works, justified actions taken against the Pampas Indians.

      CHAPTER 1

      The Generation of 1837: A Biographical Sketch

      In May of 1810 the inhabitants of the southern portion of the Viceroyalty of the Río de La Plata rebelled against the imperial Spanish Crown. In 1816, after five years of sporadic warfare, at the interior city of Tucuman, the new nation’s political and military leaders declared the existence of the independent nation of Argentina. The new nation was composed of sparsely populated provinces and the political leadership was divided over the issue of unification. One faction sought to unite the provinces under a centralized government located in the large port city of Buenos Aires. The other group wished the provinces to be autonomous and sovereign. This split led to a long term conflict between the Unitarists, who believed Argentina should be united under a central government at Buenos Aires, and Federalists, who believed that Argentina should be split along provincial borders. By 1829 the Federalists won this conflict under the leadership of Juan Manuel de Rosas.

      Rosas was a powerful and wealthy estanciero from Buenos Aires province. Once victorious, he adopted a caudillo style of rule. A caudillo was a ruler of the masses who most often ruled through violence while holding no juridical claim to its exercise.¹ In 1829 the people were looking for a leader to take control and establish a stable order. The well known Argentine historian José Luis Romero stated that, in a choice between abstract theories of government and the caudillo, the masses felt more comfortable with their caudillos, who, however primitive and ruthless their methods, were more sensitive to the fears and desires of the rural masses than the centralist elite.² The Federalist leadership in the legislature of the Province of Buenos Aires was so desperate, in fact, that they granted Rosas extraordinary faculties which essentially established him as dictator of Buenos Aires over the following three years.³ After completing his term, Rosas resigned and returned to his estancia. However, the legislature could not find a proper replacement to control and unite the nation. The people of Buenos Aires were, according to historian Nicolas Shumway, convinced that without Rosas there was no law and order.⁴ Therefore, on June 27, 1834, the provincial legislature voted to reappoint Rosas as governor of Buenos Aires.

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