El poder de la plebe. La política popular en la ciudad de Buenos Aires, 1806-1852

DI MEGLIO, GABRIEL

Río de Janeiro, Brasil

Congreso; XXVIII International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA); 2009

Latin American Studies Association

Since the revolution that started in 1810 and led to the Independence of what today is Argentina, politics in the city of Buenos Aires gained a new actor: the plebeian. With the end of the decisions made by the Spanish Crown, political affaires in the revolutionary side came to be decided through factional struggles, in which the elites started to look for support in other social groups. Thus the plebeian entered the political arena and had an important role in it along the 1810s by many means, like participating in mobilizations, pressing the authorities for harder measures against the Spaniards, attending political celebrations or organizing mutinies led by themselves in the Army and the Militia. When the revolutionary years were over, the presence of the plebe was not: it remained one of the components of Buenos Aires’ political life. Plebeians took part in the elections since the 1820s and were involved in violent mobilizations against different governments. The Federal party constructed a close relation with a broad part of the plebe, especially by paying attention to many popular claims. Plebeian became one of the stronger columns of Federalism from the 1820s, being especially important the support of the African descendants to Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas (1835-1852). This paper explores this participation, attending the reasons of the plebeians for entering politics. It also analyses how social conflicts where expressed in Buenos Aires by political affiliation.