“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...
“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ... “MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...
hacendados. Declaring that “the most humble will be the most privileged,” Artigas’ regulation sought to establish his republican vision in the borderlands by seizing the properties “of emigrants, bad Europeans and worse Americans” and then redistributing them to his followers in small parcels. 31 These followers included all social classes in the borderlands, including “Free Blacks, Sambos of the same class, Indians and poor Creoles.” 32 The end result would be the creation of numerous small landowners throughout the borderlands. This would be a multi-ethnic, republican society where each citizen possessed written title to lands guaranteed by Artigas’ revolutionary government. 33 In exchange, the Banda’s population had to agree to settle and work their newly titled lands. This would bolster the borderlands economy by increasing agricultural production. As the borderlands developed, Artigas could use Montevideo’s deepwater port to bypass Buenos Aires and forge new trading linkages with the littoral provinces. In addition, redistributing lands also promised to at long last consolidate order in the interior. Borderlands property rights now directly flowed to land occupiers. With Artigas protecting their properties, the inhabitants in the borderlands would protect his polity. At the heart of the compact was a compromise between the recognition of traditional rights and the acceptance of state authority. Artigas’ vision of a loose confederation of territories populated by a multiracial mixture of small farmers and ranchers represented an alternative, radical vision of 31 Sala de Touron, Torre, and Rodríguez, Artigas y Su Revolucion, 92. This phrasing directly targeted royalists in Montevideo (the bad Europeans), Spanish Americans that had supported Buenos Aires (the worse Americans) and large landowners that had simply fled the violence and possessed nothing more than paper titles to vast segments of the borderlands (the emigrants). 32 Adelman, Sovereignty and Revolution, 281-84, Sala de Touron, Torre, and Rodríguez, Artigas y Su Revolucion, 92. 33 AA, T. XXI, No. 114, Reglamento Provisorio para el fomento de la campaña y seguridad de los hacendados de la Provincia Oriental suscrito por José Artigas (Sep. 10, 1815), at 95. 50
sovereignty rooted in borderlands politics and identities. It equally threatened not only the dominance of coastal elites, but also that of large landowners scattered throughout the interior. Alarmed, elites throughout the Banda and beyond began to plead for the Portuguese to intervene to check Artigas’ growing revolution. One Portuguese resident of Montevideo demanded that imperial officials “address the most extraordinary violence” of Artigas’ authorities. He claimed that these men had trampled on “his property rights and the laws of the Nation of which he was a member.” 34 This time, in addition to its old territorial ambitions over the eastern borderlands, the Portuguese monarchy could add fears that Artigas’ social revolution would spread to its dominions. Already, various indigenous communities in the Missiones region had joined Artigas’ movement. The prospect of the revival of a Guaraní polity along the lines of the old Jesuit states particularly alarmed the growing ranching communities along the Brazilian side of the upper Uruguay. For a slaveholding society, a multiracial republic of free persons of color in the southern borderlands was equally appalling. The empire prepared to intervene in the Banda once again. With the tacit support of the government in Buenos Aires, the Portuguese invaded the Banda in early 1816. It was less than a year after Artigas had formally launched his incendiary land redistribution program. Throughout the borderlands, the advancing imperial forces faced fierce opposition from Artigas and his followers. Artigas’ forces moved northwards along the Uruguay River. They penetrated Portuguese territories around the old Jesuit Missions in an attempt to encourage a broader indigenous revolt. Eventually, superior imperial forces forced Artigas to retreat. Although the Portuguese subsequently captured 34 Padre José Gomes Ribeiro al Marques de Alegrete, AHRGS. Livro de registro da correspondência dos Governadores para o Rio de Prata, 1810-1815. A 1.02, Caixa 125 (December 16. 1815). 51
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hacendados. Declaring that “the most humble will be the most privileged,” Artigas’ regulation<br />
sought to establish his republican vision in the borderlands by seizing the properties “of<br />
emigrants, bad Europeans and worse Americans” and then redistributing them to his<br />
followers in small parcels. 31 These followers included all social classes in the borderlands,<br />
including “Free Blacks, Sambos of the same class, Indians and poor Creoles.” 32 The end<br />
result would be the creation of numerous small landowners throughout the borderlands.<br />
This would be a multi-ethnic, republican society where each citizen possessed written title to<br />
lands guaranteed by Artigas’ revolutionary government. 33<br />
In exchange, the Banda’s population had to agree to settle and work their newly<br />
titled lands. This would bolster the borderlands economy by increasing agricultural<br />
production. As the borderlands developed, Artigas could use Montevideo’s deepwater port<br />
to bypass Buenos Aires and forge new trading linkages with the littoral provinces. In<br />
addition, redistributing lands also promised to at long last consolidate order in the interior.<br />
Borderlands property rights now directly flowed to land occupiers. With Artigas protecting<br />
their properties, the inhabitants in the borderlands would protect his polity. At the heart of<br />
the compact was a compromise between the recognition of traditional rights and the<br />
acceptance of state authority.<br />
Artigas’ vision of a loose confederation of territories populated by a multiracial<br />
mixture of small farmers and ranchers represented an alternative, radical vision of<br />
<br />
31<br />
Sala de Touron, Torre, and Rodríguez, Artigas y Su Revolucion, 92. This phrasing<br />
directly targeted royalists in Montevideo (the bad Europeans), Spanish Americans that had<br />
supported Buenos Aires (the worse Americans) and large landowners that had simply fled<br />
the violence and possessed nothing more than paper titles to vast segments of the<br />
borderlands (the emigrants).<br />
32<br />
Adelman, Sovereignty and Revolution, 281-84, Sala de Touron, Torre, and Rodríguez,<br />
Artigas y Su Revolucion, 92.<br />
33<br />
AA, T. XXI, No. 114, Reglamento Provisorio para el fomento de la campaña y seguridad de los<br />
hacendados de la Provincia Oriental suscrito por José Artigas (Sep. 10, 1815), at 95.<br />
50 <br />
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