DIFFERENCES BETWEEN UNITARY AND FEDERAL IN ARGENTINA - HISTORY - 2025

The differences between unitarians and federals, political movements of the 19th century, became latent in Argentina, being a rivalry that was born by the power struggles that arose with the revolution of May 1810.

This historical fact marks the end of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, that is, of Hispanic domination in current Argentine, Peruvian, Chilean, Uruguayan, Bolivian or Brazilian soil, among others.

Left: Jose de Urquiza, Unitarian leader. Right: Juan Manuel de las Rosas, federal leader.

In this struggle, the Unitarians and Federals held power for different periods of time until 1853.

In this year, after a long process of political organization, a federal constitution was issued that gave birth to the Argentine Republic.

While the Unitarians were mainly made up of wealthy people whose cultural influence was marked by the European style, the Federalists were mainly leaders of the provinces who sought to maintain their autonomy.

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Key differences between unitary and federal

Unity and Autonomy

The main difference between the Unitarians and the Federals in Argentina was their way of conceiving the organization of the country and their concepts of unity and autonomy.

The Unitarians sought a centralist policy, with a government that maintained power over the entire territory in a national unit.

On the other hand, the federals sought to maintain unity between provinces, while maintaining the autonomy of each one.

One of the main disputes in this regard involved the collection of taxes. The Unitarians argued that it was necessary to handle taxes and customs fees from Buenos Aires.

The feds, on the contrary, argued that the autonomy of the provinces required that each of them have the power to collect taxes and customs benefits.

Proclamation of constitutions between 1810 and 1853

The differences between Unitarians and Federals were manifested in the proclamation of three different constitutions during the period of greatest conflict between the two movements (1810-1853).

The first two constitutions were proclaimed in 1819 and 1826 respectively and had a unitary character.

The 1819 constitution promoted the concentration of power in the executive branch, although it maintained the participation of the provinces in the legislative branch and the chamber.

This constitution was strongly rejected by the provinces that mainly had a federal position.

For its part, the 1826 constitution managed to partially include the unitary ideology in its content given the need for union that the country had to fight the war it had with Brazil at that time.

However, pressure from the provinces led to the fight between federals and unitarians that would lead the federals to power and the creation of a new constitution.

The last constitution of this period, proclaimed in 1853, was instead a clear triumph of federalism.

This constitution remains in force today, although with important reforms, many of which happened in the Perón government.

Other differences between unitary and federal

The political difference between the two movements was the result of the ideological, historical and cultural differences of their members.

These differences can be seen when describing each of these movements.

Unitary

The Unitarians were a movement with liberal tendencies, with important leaders of the social elite such as José de Artigas and José de Urquiza.

The basis of this movement were the country's united literary elites who were heavily influenced by European culture.

Federal

One of its main representatives was Juan Manuel de Rosas, who was governor of the province of Buenos Aires for more than 20 years.

The base of this movement were the provincial masses and the caudillos who led them. Unlike the unitary movement, the federals did not have a single party, but several parties united in their opposition to the unitary system.

References

1. Barber WF The Economic Aspects of Argentine Federalism, 1820-1852. By Miron Burgin. The Journal of Politics. 1947; 9 (2): 286-287.
2. Campos GJB The political-constitutional process of the Argentine Republic from 1810 to the present. Yesterday, No. 8, THE FIRST IBERO-AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONALISM. 1992; 8: 163-187.
3. Gustafson L. Factionalism, Centralism, and Federalism in Argentina. The Journal of Federalism. 1990; 20 (3): 163–176.
4. Bridges GA (1958). The French intervention in the Río de la Plata: federal, unitary and romantic. Editions Theoría.
5. Suarez J. Federal in theory but unitary in practice?

   A discussion on federalism and the provincialization of politics in Argentina. SAAP Magazine. 2011; 5 (2): 305-321.

6. Zubizarreta I. Unitarians in Argentina, the good guys or the bad guys in history? The antagonistic construction of the image of a nineteenth-century political faction through the liberal and revisionist historiographic currents. Ibero-American. 2013; 13 (49): 67-85.