“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

and staple exports instead of the old colonial merchant trade. 2 Utilizing his personal wealth
and standing within the provincial rancher community, Rosas fashioned a base of support
through an astute mixture of republican populism and harsh measures designed to ensure
political order in the countryside. 3 Rosas overthrew Lavalle’s unitarists, driving them into
exile in the Uruguayan Republic. The provincial assembly proclaimed Rosas the new
governor in early December 1829. Under Rosas’ direction, the assembly began enacting
draconian measures to tramp down on political opposition and consolidate Rosas’ authority.
Rosas became “the Restorer of Laws.” 4
Having secured leadership in the province, Rosas turned to consolidating his political
power within the dominant federalist coalition. In 1832 he left the office of Governor and
promptly undertook a brutal campaign to pacify the indigenous populations along Buenos
Aires’ southern frontier. He then distributed the spoils of war to his political allies. At the
same time, he worked behind the scenes to undermine successive provincial governments.
Through this combination of military action and political subterfuge, Rosas established
himself as the sole source of order in the province. In 1835, Rosas triumphantly returned to
the governorship and further consolidated his grip on power. The provincial legislature
granted him “the sum of public powers” for five years, accelerating the drift towards
authoritarian rule. Rosas quickly suppressed what remained of the political opposition.
With his grip on the government secure, he then used periodic plebiscites to extend his
2 Tulio Halperín Donghi famously described this process as the “ruralization of the
bases of power.” Halperín Donghi, Rovolución y Guerra, 380-404. Domingo Sarmiento
similarly picked up on this invasion of the urban space by the American countryside in his
dichotomy of civilization and barbarism. Sarmiento, Facundo.
3 Salvatore, Wandering Paysanos, ———, ed. Caudillismos Rioplatenses.
4 John Lynch, Argentine Dictator: Juan Manuel de Rosas, 1829-1852 (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1981), Adolfo Saldías, Historia de la Confederación Argentina, 3 vols. (Buenos
Aires: Ed. Clio, 1975).
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