What was the May Revolution of 1810 in Buenos Aires?
The May Revolution in Buenos Aires
La Revolución de Mayo
25 May 1810. When news reached Buenos Aires that French armies had overrun Andalusia and that the Spanish government had retreated to Cádiz, the city's leading men demanded…
Where: Río de la Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
What happened
When news reached Buenos Aires that French armies had overrun Andalusia and that the Spanish government had retreated to Cádiz, the city's leading men demanded an open town meeting. The cabildo abierto of 22 May 1810 debated whether the viceroy's authority still stood; on 24 May 476 residents signed a petition for a governing junta; and on 25 May the Primera Junta took office and Viceroy Cisneros was removed. Cornelio Saavedra presided, with Mariano Moreno and Juan José Paso as secretaries and Manuel Belgrano and Juan José Castelli among its members. The junta promised to govern in the name of Ferdinand VII, the captive king, a formula that avoided the word independence for six more years. 25 May is Argentina's national day.
Say it
El 25 de mayo de 1810 Buenos Aires formó su primer gobierno propio.
On 25 May 1810 Buenos Aires formed its first government of its own.
Why it matters
May 1810 is the birth of Argentine self-government and the origin of the Plaza de Mayo as the stage of the nation's politics, from Perón to the Madres. The 'mask of Ferdinand' shows how independence began as loyalty to a king who was not there.
Connected
- The independence of Spanish America (1808–1826)
- Madrid rises against Napoleon (2 May 1808)
- Madrid rises against Napoleon (2 May 1808)
- The Florero de Llorente: Bogotá's 20 July (20 July 1810)
- The Grito de Dolores (16 September 1810)
- Independence declared at Tucumán (9 July 1816)
- Independence declared at Tucumán (9 July 1816)
- Perón, Evita and the birth of Peronism (17 October 1945–September 1955)
- The dictatorship and the Madres de Plaza de Mayo (30 April 1977–10 December 1983)
Sources
- 25 May 1810: 214 years after the May Revolution — Casa Rosada
- 9 de julio de 1816: Declaración de la Independencia de la Argentina — argentina.gob.ar