Buenos Aires Province: Encyclopedia II - Buenos Aires Province - History

Buenos Aires Province - History

The aboriginals that inhabited the provinces before the arrival of the Spanish colonisation where the Pampas and other subgroups such as the Querandíes, but their culture has be lost for they have been almost exterminated, and the few survivals joined other tribes.

Pedro de Mendoza founded Santa María del Buen Ayre, and even though the first contact with the aboriginals was peaceful, soon became hostile. The city was evacuated in 1541. Juan de Garay re-founded it in 1580 as Santísima Trinidad y Puerto Santa María de los Buenos Aires.

Always among fights with the aboriginals, the cattle farms extended from Buenos Aires, whose port was always the epicentre of the economy of the territory. At the end of the 18th century, with the creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, the exportation of meat, leather and derivatives thought the port of Buenos Aires was the base of the economical development of the region.

Jesuits unsuccessfully tried to peacefully assimilate the aboriginals into the European culture brought by the Spanish conquistadores. A certain balance was found at the end of the 18th century, when the Salado River became the limit between both civilizations, even though the frequent malones aboriginal attacks to border settlements. The end to such situation came as late as 1879 with the Conquest of the Desert (Conquista del Desierto) in which the aboriginals where almost completely exterminated.

After the independence from Spain in 1816, Buenos Aires Province and the Buenos Aires city were in constant confrontation with the other provinces because of the federal system that was managed at Buenos Aires. This period of internal instability lasted for decades.

La Plata was founded in 1882 with the purpose of becoming the province's capital. By that time, the province had around half a million inhabitants.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki