“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

around Buenos Aires, particularly that Elío might launch an invasion from Montevideo to
seize power with the assistance of the Portuguese. Confronted with an institutional crisis
and a potential war, the Creoles in Buenos Aires elected to seize power. On 22 May, Creole
elites called for a cabildo abierto, essentially a meeting of the vecinos in the capital, to determine
how to proceed. 13 During the debates, Creoles asserted the constitutional theory that in the
absence of the king, sovereignty reverted to the people. As their designated representatives,
the cabildo had the duty to rule locally and ensure the survival of the king’s dominions now
that Peninsular government had fallen to the French. The assembled vecinos elected to
assume control of the viceregal government and draft a new constitution. Three days later
on 25 May 1810, the Buenos Aires cabildo formally deposed Viceroy Cisneros and established
a new Creole junta led by the militia commander Cornelio de Saavedra. 14
The Creoles in Buenos Aires had peacefully deposed of the old institutions of
colonial authority. They positioned themselves as reluctant leaders of a bloodless revolution.
One intended only to carry out the will of the people. Yet while they easily toppled the
remnants of the colonial government in Buenos Aires, they still faced the challenge of
holding the Río de la Plata Viceroyalty together in its absence. In one of its first acts, the
new government circulated letters to provincial capitals throughout the viceroyalty detailing
the events of 25 May and requesting allegiance. They called upon the provinces to hold
elections and send representatives to establish a new government that would rule the
viceroyalty in the king’s name. In the interior, however, porteño appeals to support the new
government encountered deep suspicions. The provinces along the old silver trading routes
opposed porteño calls for free trade. They feared (correctly) that their inefficient
13 The Portuguese equivalent to the Spanish term “vecino” is vizinho. This dissertation
uses the Portuguese phrasing when referring to sources in Portuguese throughout.
14 Rodríguez O., The Independence of Spanish America, 123-25.
38