Juan Manuel de Rosas

Introduction

Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas is one of the most controversial figures of Argentine history. A dominant figure while he ruled (1829–1832, 1835–1852), debates about his life and legacy continued to play an important role in the cultural, academic, and political spheres of Argentina after his death and do so up to the early 21st century. Rosas was born into a well-to do family in 1793 in the province of Buenos Aires. He spent much of his upbringing in the countryside learning the business of the growing cattle industry, as well as the ways of gauchos and Indians. By the 1820s, he had earned renown as a rancher and militia commander and became more involved in politics. He eventually associated himself with the Federalist Party, which promoted provincial rights and more traditional social structures against the “Unitarians,” who wanted a more centralized government and a liberalized society, similar to the republics emerging in Europe and North America. Continuing strife between Federalists and Unitarians provoked repeated civil wars. One of those conflicts led to Rosas being named governor of Buenos Aires, where he served from 1829 to 1832, then again from 1835 to 1852. During this time, Rosas also served as the leader of the Argentine Confederation, which gave him authority over foreign relations. In the name of restoring order and stability, and granted extraordinary powers to rule by the Buenos Aires legislature, Rosas put down any opposition to his rule, at times quite brutally. Rosas resisted pressure to create a national constitution, insisting that Argentina was not ready for such an organization. Under his rule, thousands of Argentines fled the country, sometimes of their own accord, but other times because of fear for their lives. Indeed, executions and assassinations did take place, especially during times of civil unrest and rebel activity. From exile, many of these dissidents eviscerated Rosas in newspapers, literature, and political commentaries, and, when possible, they fomented armed uprisings and foreign interventions against the Rosas regime. Foreign powers, especially France, pressured Rosas on issues of free trade and treaty rights, pressure which led to chronic conflicts with France and periodic clashes with England. In the early 1850s, Rosas’ allies from the interior began to turn against him, culminating in his defeat in 1852 by a joint army from the Argentine interior, supplemented by Brazilian troops. Upon his defeat, Rosas immediately boarded a British warship and went into exile in England for the last twenty-five years of his life. His role and significance in Argentine history are continuously debated by those who see him as a brutal throwback to Spanish colonialism and a precursor to future political violence, and those who see him as a great defender of Argentine sovereignty, culture, and national identity.

Historiography

The historiography of Rosas is extensive (see the bibliography Chiappini 1973). Useful historiographical overviews can be found in Etchepareborda 1970 and Clementi 1970 as well as in Shumway 2004. Pro-Rosas material was published contemporarily by friends of the regime (see Analysis of Rosas by His Contemporaries). Intellectuals exiled during his rule produced vitriolic anti-Rosas literature, and much of that negative perspective became integrated into national histories after Rosas fell from power in 1852. This line of thought is associated with Bartolomé Mitre, first president of the unified republic (1862) and a prolific historian, who saw the history of Rosas as a cautionary tale for the country (see Analysis of Rosas by His Contemporaries). This approach later came to be known as the “liberal” interpretation, or more cynically, the “official history” of Argentina. The multivolume history Saldías 1911 (cited under Political History) challenged the liberal view of Rosas in the 1890s, portraying Rosas in a more positive light. This work signaled a more balanced approach that became a characteristic of the “La Nueva Escuela” (the new school), of the early to mid-20th century, which included writers such as Ernesto Quesada, Emilio Ravignani, and Antonio Dellepiane, a trend continued later by Ricardo Levene and Enrique Barba, who may have had their biases for or against Rosas (frequently against), but who believed in a more rigorous historical method not overtly driven by ideology. Beginning the 1920s and 1930s, nationalist writers, soon to be known as “Revisionists” for their opposition to “official history,” published more and more works that exalted Rosas as a great hero of the nation who defended its sovereignty against foreign powers and who represented the true and authentic Argentina (see Kroeber 1964). In 1938, the Juan Manuel de Rosas Institute of Historical Studies was founded and began publishing pro-Rosas material. These nationalist “Revisionists” were frequently less rigorous in their historical method and thus tended to produce one-sided panegyrics. These trends—the anti-Rosas, new school, and Revisionist—continue in one form or another in the 21st century. Rosas and his legacy are still hotly debated, partly because different groups, such as conservative nationalists, use historical interpretations of Rosas to highlight their take on current issues in Argentina (see Devoto and Pagano 2004). Many historians, including professional academics, have taken it upon themselves to challenge the Revisionists, not only for their frequent right-wing stances, but for the lack of rigor and method in their historical scholarship (see Halperín Donghi 2005). Despite their opposition to what they see as Revisionist excesses, many academic historians are producing scholarship that presents a more complex and fuller picture of Rosas, and by extension, of the role of caudillos (strongmen) in Argentine history (Goldman and Salvatore 1998).

Chiappini, Julio O. Bibliografía sobre Rosas. Rosario, Argentina: Universidad Católica Argentina, 1973.
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A fairly comprehensive bibliography of scholarship relating to Rosas as of the early 1970s.
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Clementi, Hebe. Rosas en la historia nacional. Buenos Aires, Argentina: La Pléyada, 1970.
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A balanced look at the historiography on Rosas, focusing on the two major trends and how the various authors fit in, including the major works of each and their key points. Approach is fairly balanced, letting the authors’ bias speak.
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Devoto, Fernando, and Nora Pagano, eds. La historiografía académica y la historiografía militante en Argentina y Uruguay. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Biblos, 2004.
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The chapters by Julio Stortini (on the Rosas Institute) and Fernando Devoto (on the left in the historiography) are helpful in explaining in detail the historiographical developments of the mid-20th century, much of which reflects on the treatment of Rosas.
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Etchepareborda, Roberto. Rosas: Controvertida historiografía. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Pleamar, 1970.
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Etchepareborda examines the major historiographical debates about Rosas and brings various sources to bear on them. The author calls for a more mature approach to history, which in this case focuses on understanding Rosas as a man of his time.
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Goldman, Noemí, and Ricardo Salvatore, eds. Caudillismos rioplatenses: Nuevas miradas a un viejo problema. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Eudeba, 1998.
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An indispensable collection of academic scholarship that revises traditional views of caudillos in general and of Rosas in particular. The myth of an “institutional vacuum” is challenged, as is the idea that caudillos impeded national organization. Caudillismo was more of a stable system than previously thought. Introduction lays out traditional historiography on caudillos.
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Halperín Donghi, Tulio. El revisionismo histórico Argentino como visión decadentista de la historia nacional. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Siglo Veintiuno Editores, 2005.
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Three previously published essays on the Revisionist movement and on Rosas historiography by perhaps the best-known historian of his generation; Halperin shows how Revisionism is able to adjust itself to changing circumstances (and how Revisionism more and more abandoned historical method in favor of a “construction of allegories”). The third essay looks at the new directions in Rosas scholarship represented in Myers 1995 (cited under Historiography since the Rosas Repatriation in 1989).
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Kroeber, Clifton B. Rosas y la revisión de la historia Argentina. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Fondo Editor Argentino, 1964.
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A good historiographical analysis of the Revisionists, dividing them into two groups: those writings from the 1880s and those from the 1920s.
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Shumway, Jeffrey M. “Juan Manuel de Rosas: Authoritarian Caudillo and Primitive Populist.” History Compass 2.1 (2004).
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A brief overview of Rosista historiography, and how Rosas sought to cultivate support among the marginalized classes by respecting Afro-Argentine and gaucho traditions, and negotiating with Indians, although threats of force were always implicit for those who did not cooperate. Rosas’ carrot-and-stick approach has led some to call him a “primitive populist.” Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Historiographical Anthologies

Many useful anthologies of scholarship on Rosas exist. Ediciones Federales 1989, a collection of writings for or against Rosas, is small but very useful. The collection González Arrili 1970 stands out for its size, although it has a heavy anti-Rosas bent. Fermín Chávez, a skilled historian and ardent Rosas supporter, edited a smaller, more balanced collection (Chávez 1991), though tilting in favor of Rosas.

Chávez, Fermín. La vuelta de Don Juan Manuel: Ciento diez autores y protagonistas hablan de Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Distribuidora y Editora Teoría, 1991.
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Very useful collection of a wide range of writings on Rosas, from literature to history from the 1840s to the 1940s, including many critics of Rosas. Informative historiographical summary in the introduction.
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Ediciones Federales. Con Rosas o contra Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ediciones Federales, 1989.
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A comprehensive, balanced collection of thirty-two historians, many of them luminaries, writing on all sides of the Rosas debate. First published in 1968, edited by Federico Barbará.
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González Arrili, Bernardo. La tiranía y la libertad: Juicio histórico sobre Juan Manuel de Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ediciones Líbera, 1970.
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Great collection of selections from over one hundred authors organized topically, providing overwhelmingly negative views of Rosas (“The Throat Cutter” is one of the sections, for example).
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Biographies

Like all other genres of Rosas history, his biographies have been quite polemic. During Rosas’ rule, Pedro de Angelis and others produced lionizing biographical portraits of Rosas (see Angelis 1945, cited under Analysis of Rosas by His Contemporaries). After his physical exile to England, Rosas was also exiled to the margins of the emerging histories of the country, a line of interpretation usually associated with Bartolomé Mitre and his intellectual descendants. Mitre was a soldier, a statesman, a poet, and the first president of a unified Argentina in 1862. He was also a prolific historian who helped establish the pantheon of heroes and villains of Argentina history. Although Mitre did credit some of the caudillos with helping unify the Argentine nation, Rosas, and many of his supporters, were branded by Mitre as terrible examples whose memory and legacy should be shunned by all Argentines (Mitre 1957). Rosas supporters later labeled this line of thought as “official history.” Although this view was predominant, somewhat nuanced approaches to Rosas were published as early as Bilbao 1868. Many writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Ramos Mejía and José Ingenieros, were also enamored by positivism and the rise of new medical science and technology, which they hoped would guide the national state. From this positivistic perspective, Rosas was a neurotic tyrant who had a maleficent influence on Argentine society. Rosas’ nephew Lucio Mansilla also used, in part, the newly emerging perspective of psychology to analyze his uncle (Mansilla 1898). Adolfo Saldías began a more evenhanded approach to Rosas in the 1890s, followed by other scholars who sought to bring more objectivity to the topic while maintaining professional rigor. This group came to be known as the “New School” (Nueva Escuela). Professional historical approaches, however, did not mean that scholars were neutral on the Rosas question, as Ramos Mejía 1907 (against) and Ibarguren 1984 (in favor) demonstrate. In the 1930s, the growing nationalist movement enshrined Rosas as their great hero—a truly authentic Argentine who supported the church (Gálvez 1940 is an example of Catholic nationalism), protected national territory, and resisted foreign imperial pressures. This approach frequently became hagiographic, the mirror opposite of the anti-Rosas diatribes of official history. Varying degrees of these interpretations have continued side by side up to the early 21st century. Lynch 1981 is considered by many as the best and most balanced of biographies. Muller 2010 focuses exclusively on Rosas’ life during his twenty-five-year exile.

Bilbao, Manuel. Historia de Rosas: Precedido de un estudio psicológico. Buenos Aires, Argentina: impr. Buenos Aires, 1868.
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One of the earliest examples of a mild challenge to the emergent anti-Rosas historiography, Bilbao argues that individual leaders like Rosas are not to blame for the chronic conflicts in postindependence Argentina and Latin America; Rosas did represent the old order, and the chronic conflicts in Argentina were the result of clashes between Spanish colonialism and democratic nation building. Very critical of Spain’s legacy in the New World.
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Gálvez, Manuel. Vida de don Juan Manuel de Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: El Ateneo, 1940.
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A pro-Rosas biography by a Catholic nationalist that portrays Rosas as a pragmatist, a realist, a defender of the Catholic religion, and the main obstacle to European conquest of America.
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Ibarguren, Carlos. Juan Manuel de Rosas: Su vida, su drama, su tiempo. 17th ed. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ediciones Theoria, 1984.
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Written to bring Rosas into mainstream of Argentine history as one of the country’s great men who played a key role in shaping the nation. Ibarguren’s admiration for Rosas is evident, although he does not shy away from some of the negative aspects of Rosas’ rule. Well documented and includes extensive use of primary sources in the text. Originally published c. 1930.
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Lynch, John. Argentine Dictator: Juan Manuel de Rosas, 1829–1852. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981.
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Recognized by many as a standard. Rosas was the product of the unstable environment after independence and he ruled in order to control the masses and promote the growing ranching economy. In elegant prose, Lynch provides insights into the history of politics, economics, and foreign relations. Abridged version by S&R Books (2001) is a useful introduction.
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Mansilla, Lucio V. Rozas, ensayo histórico-psicológico. Paris: Garnier Hnos., 1898.
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Mansilla (Rosas’ nephew) portrays Rosas as pragmatist who committed great crimes, but not as many as some have suggested. Rosas was a tyrant, but he had public support and was in a way a product of his environment. Mansilla uses some psychology in his analysis. Scant documentation.
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Mitre, Bartolomé. Galería de celebridades Argentinas: Biografías de los personajes más notables del Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires, Argentina: n.p., 1957.
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An example of Mitre (and others like Sarmiento) laying the foundations of the liberal view of history with laudatory biographies of chosen heroes, while Rosas and others were reviled and dismissed as examples to be avoided at all costs by the new Argentine nation.
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Muller, Roberto D. Noticias de “Burgess Farm”: Vida de Rosas en el destierro. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Olmo Ediciones, 2010.
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Beautifully made book focusing on Rosas’ life in exile. Extensive and well documented; second part includes copies of some letters to his “ambassador” Josefa Gómez, as well as family genealogical trees; many images.
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Ramos Mejía, José María. Rosas y su tiempo. 3 vols. Buenos Aires, Argentina: F. Lajouane, 1907.
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Medical doctor/historian and proponent of positivism, Ramos Mejia promises an objective, scientific (and psychological) approach, driven by the sources. His position that Rosas was deficient is clear from the beginning, as is the emerging pro-Rosas approach of Saldías and others, which he dismisses as contaminated by passions. Some innovative approaches for his time, such as using psychology and looking at iconography and the role of women.
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Economic History

The economic history of the Rosas period is also quite controversial. He struggled to balance the demand for economic protectionism by many of his allies from the interior, with the desire for free-trade policies coming from agricultural and stock-raising interests from his home province of Buenos Aires (and from foreign countries like England and France). Many Rosas supporters see him as advancing Argentina’s natural comparative advantage in agriculture and stock raising, which nationalists saw as part of Argentina’s authentic identity (along with the gaucho). Others see him as an authoritarian leader who stifled foreign investment and impeded innovative economic development (Garavaglia 2003). Another dominant theme has portrayed Rosas as a powerful representative of the export-oriented ranching elite, who deceived the lower classes into supporting him and who ruled to the detriment of the other provinces. While Rosas did experiment with some protective tariffs, his was essentially a free-trade policy geared toward export. The interior provinces also hoped for a share of the customs receipts taken at the port of Buenos Aires. Rosas’ version of Federalism meant that Buenos Aires province controlled the import/export nexus of the port of Buenos Aires, including the lucrative customs duties that came with it (the province’s “economic birthright”). Burgin 1971 masterfully examines these issues. As the arbiter of foreign relations, Rosas claimed the right to require foreign traders to stop and pay customs in the port of Buenos Aires before moving up the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers, bringing further criticism from the interior and resentment from foreign traders. In 1845, the French and the British decided to force Rosas to open the rivers to free trade by sending a joint fleet of warships and merchant vessels up the Paraná river, an effort that was a success in the very short term, but a long-term failure. Thus, one of the main criticisms from many sides, including world systems and Marxist theories, is that Rosas did not create a unified and equitable constitutional and economic system and that his policies retarded economic growth. Brown 1979 challenged elements of this approach using the Staple Theory, developed in Canada. Gelman 2005 looks at how Rosas used consensus to bolster his rule, while Gelman and Santilli 2003 offer new insights into how wealth inequality during the Rosas era was not as bad, comparatively, as had been portrayed.

Brown, Jonathan C. A Socioeconomic History of Argentina, 1776–1860. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1979.
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While not completely focused on Rosas, Brown presents Rosas as an innovative “estanciero” and agricultural advisor to the larger landholders; he challenges dependency and world systems theories using the Staple Theory—that exports provided immense growth for Argentina that otherwise would have been unavailable; also, that landholding patterns were more diverse than traditionally thought.
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Burgin, Miron. The Economic Aspects of Argentine Federalism: 1820–1852. New York: Russell and Russell, 1971.
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An excellent, and still salient, study of how economic questions intensified the clash between Federalists and Unitarians; Burgin also points out the disputes between Federalists from Buenos Aires and Federalists from the interior over tariffs and over who would benefit from international customs duties. Rosas comes across as a proponent of his class and of the status quo rather than a long-term visionary.
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Garavaglia, Juan Carlos. “La Apothéosis del Leviathán: El estado en Buenos Aires durante la primera mitad del siglo XIX.” Latin American Research Review 38.1 (2003): 135–168.
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Using Rosas’ 1842 budget, the author shows how Rosas’ government focused on coercion and control (73 percent of the budget), making coercion the key to Rosas’ regime. Rosas may have brought peace, but it was the peace of the cemetery. Available online by subscription.
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Gelman, Jorge. Rosas, estanciero: Gobierno y expansión ganadera. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Capital Intelectual, 2005.
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A concise look at how Juan Manuel de Rosas used negotiation and consensus to run his large estancias. Toward the end of the book, Gelman argues that those experiences on the estancia contributed to Rosas’ ability to legitimize his political rule and strengthen the authority of the state in ways his predecessors failed to do.
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Gelman, Jorge, and Daniel Santilli. “Distribución de la riqueza y crecimiento económico: Buenos Aires en la epoca de Rosas.” Desarrollo Económico 43.169 (April–June 2003): 75–101.
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Using previously unused economic censuses of Rosas’ government, and analyzing them with tools such as the Lorenz curve and the Gini index, the authors challenge traditional historiography regarding inequality and economic growth during the Rosas era. Inequality was marked, but the level compared favorably to other regions of the world at the time. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Foreign Relations

Rosas faced numerous foreign relations challenges during his rule. Cady 1929 effectively summarizes Rosas’ foreign relations and his will to resist foreign designs. The United States of America was a smaller player in the region, and Dusenberry 1961 traces evolving views of Rosas by US diplomats. When Rosas came to power in 1829, the British had already established themselves as a powerful presence in the Rio de la Plata region. Rosas came to a quick accommodation with England and he was their staunch supporter during most of his rule, despite some periodic problems. Rosas trusted Great Britain and protected British interests, and they, for the most part, trusted and supported him. Rosas had a much tougher time with France, who pushed Rosas for the same kind of rights Britain enjoyed. Rosas was not so accommodating to French overtures, and France responded with a series of interventions and blockades, and by backing a rebel invasion to topple Rosas’ regime. Foreign relations are key in the historiography of Rosas because he has been heralded (see O’Donnell 2010) as a model of anti-imperialism by many of his later supporters because of his tough stance against France (weathering years of blockades against Buenos Aires) and his resistance to the Anglo-French attempt to force open the river trade in 1845. A major footnote to this pro-Rosas position is that the great liberator San Martín wrote numerous letters to Rosas expressing his admiration of Rosas’ conduct. San Martín even gave his saber from the Independence Wars to Rosas, congratulating him on his patriotic defense against foreign aggression. Rosas’ critics, on the other hand, or at least critics of the pro-Rosas historical interpretation, emphasize Rosas’ pragmatism (some imply that Rosas made a deal with the French when he was besieging the city in 1829, and that he tried to parlay the Malvinas/Falkland Islands to repay the defaulted Baring Brothers loan). Fernández Cistac 1995 is important because it includes Rosas’ inter–Latin American relations as well.

Cady, John F. Foreign Intervention in the Río de la Plata, 1838–1850. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1929.
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Cady demonstrates the imperial designs of the great powers and argues that Rosas made a conscious stand against them in favor of Argentine independence and Latin American pride. Based on archival research in multiple countries. Also translated into Spanish.
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Dusenberry, William. “Juan Manuel de Rosas as Viewed by Contemporary American Diplomats.” Hispanic American Historical Review 41.4 (November 1961): 495–514.
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US diplomats stationed in Buenos Aires early in Rosas’ administration had a more positive view of him because they were there too briefly; later diplomats saw the real Rosas and had a negative view of all aspects of his rule.
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Fernández Cistac, Roberto. Pasado, presente y futuro de le política exterior de Juan Manuel de Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas Juan Manuel de Rosas, 1995.
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An analysis of the complexities of Rosas’ relations with both European and Latin American nations, and the Catholic Church.
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O’Donnell, Pacho. La Gran Epopeya: El combate de la Vuelta de Obligado. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Grupo Editorial Norma, 2010.
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A recent Revisionist work focusing on Rosas’ resistance to the Anglo-French fleet trying to force free trade on Rio de la Plata and its tributaries in 1845. This is one of Rosas’ great patriotic acts that enshrines him in glory and makes him a model defender of Argentine sovereignty.
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Relations with Great Britain

Great Britain had long been involved in contraband trade in Buenos Aires since the colonial period. Then, in 1806, a British force invaded and took over the city of Buenos Aires. Although the British were soon expelled by local militias, British commercial relations with Argentina began expanding, as did the number of British residents in the region. British capital helped finance economic development in Argentina, facilitated by the 1825 Treaty of Navigation and Friendship. By the time Rosas became governor in 1829, the British had the most numerous and powerful foreign presence in Buenos Aires. By and large, Rosas supported Great Britain and vice versa, although with some important exceptions. In 1833, Great Britain seized the Malvinas/Falkland Islands. Rosas did see this as a serious issue, although the Malvinas question then was not what it has become today. Rosas’ supporters and critics differ in their interpretation of Rosas’ offer to cede the islands officially to Britain in exchange for forgiveness of the 1824 Baring Brothers loan which Argentina had defaulted on. Conflicts with Britain also occurred in the mid- to late 1840s when England and France tried to force Rosas to open the rivers to free trade. The subsequent Battle of Obligado on 20 November 1845, where Rosas’ troops battled an Anglo-French fleet trying to sail up the Paraná River, is one of the much-cited examples of Rosas’ ardent defense of national sovereignty (see O’Donnell 2010, cited under Foreign Relations). Despite these conflicts, Rosas on the whole had very close relations with Britain, a relationship punctuated by Rosas’ decision to go to exile in England. He spent the last twenty-five years of his life in Southampton and was buried there in 1877 until his remains were repatriated in 1989. By in large, Rosas maintained good relations with the British, and protected British interests, even when the two countries had violent altercations. As a result, many in Britain favored Rosas, as seen in Mallalieu 1845 as well as in the history Kirkpatrick 1931. Graham-Yooll 1980 is more balanced, although decidedly not pro-Rosas.

Graham-Yooll, Andrew. Así vieron a Rosas los Ingleses. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial R. Alonso, 1980.
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A compilation of correspondence and articles from The Times (London) that outlines the basic trends in Anglo-Argentine relations, which began positive and turned negative, climaxing at the Anglo-French blockade. Tries to avoid polemics. Shows how the English viewed Rosas.
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Kirkpatrick, Frederick A. A History of the Argentine Republic. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1931.
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Kirkpatrick, a Rosas apologist, praises Rosas, especially his dealings with England and France throughout British and French interventions in the 1840s.
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Mallalieu, Alfred. Rosas and his calumniators: The justice and policy of a triple alliance intervention of England, France, and Brazil in the affairs of the River Plate considered in letters to the Right Honourable the Earl of Aberdeen. London: E. Wilson, 1845.
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British journalist’s defense of Rosas against growing pressures from France, Brazil, and England over Rosas’ policies. Mallalieu expresses the views of the Rosas government that Argentina has and will continue to protect British interests and that Rosas’ strong hand is needed to prevent anarchy.
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Relations with France

During the Rosas era, France was bent on revitalizing its imperial strength, which included increasing its stature in the Río de la Plata region. Numerous issues hampered Franco-Argentine relations, creating chronic conflict between Argentina and France during the Rosas era (Brossard 1942 provides a French insider’s view of these relations). In 1829, French warships attacked Argentine vessels in the River Plate in retaliation for the forced recruitment of French citizens into the Buenos Aires militia that was, at that moment, resisting Rosas’ siege of the city. Various trade disputes led France to blockade the Buenos Aires port in the late 1830s, and France actively supported armed attempts to overthrow Rosas, such as General Lavalle’s invasion in 1840 (see Colli 1963). France also persuaded England to join her in trying to force Rosas to open the Paraná River to free trade in 1845. Rosas resisted with arms, highlighted by the Battle of Obligado in November of 1845, where shore batteries shelled the fleet as it went upriver. Rosas’ resistance to this effort earned him the admiration of José de San Martín as well as generations of nationalists who celebrate the day of that battle as a great holiday (it was made a national holiday in 2010). Pereyra 1919 is an early example of attempts to improve Rosas’ image based on his patriotism in foreign affairs.

Brossard, Alfredo de. Rosas visto por un diplomático francés. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Americana, 1942.
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First edition (1840) in French. Alfredo de Brossard gives an insider’s view of relations between Rosas and France during tense moments.
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Colli, Néstor. La política francesa en el Río de la Plata, Rosas y el bloqueo francés de 1838–1840. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Cesari, 1963.
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Very useful study exploring tense moments in Franco-Argentine relations. Well documented with archival sources as well as selections from Uruguayan and Argentine newspapers.
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Pereyra, Carlos. Rosas y Thiers: La diplomacia Europea en el Rio de la Plata (1838–1850). Madrid: Editorial América, 1919.
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Calls for a more balanced approach to Rosas, who, Pereyra finds after his own study to be possessed of good judgment and patriotism; moreover, in his conflicts with foreign powers, Rosas was superior to his Unitarian opponents and deserves credit as a national hero.
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Primary Sources

Many monographs continue the long tradition of including documents at the end of their studies, so there are numerous useful collections of primary sources relating to Rosas. Perhaps the largest and most useful is the multivolume collection Irazusta 1970. Barbará 1948, a small collection of pro-Rosas anecdotes, shows the human side of the man. Pradére 1914, a volume on iconography, and the additional volume added in Chávez 1970), are invaluable as sources of visual materials from the time. The records of Rosas’ trial in absentia (Causa criminal 1864) show how post-Rosas governments saw him. See also the Letters and Analysis of Rosas by His Contemporaries sections for more primary sources.

Barbará, Federico. Rosas: Genialidades y anécdotas del tirano. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial las Americas, 1948.
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Short collection of stories and anecdotes showing various sides (including humorous) of Rosas. Compiled by an admirer to humanize Rosas. Great stories but no documentation.
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Causa criminal seguida contra el ex-gobernador Juan Manuel de Rosas ante los tribunales ordinarios de Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires, Argentina: La Tribuna, 1864.
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Record of Rosas’ trial in absentia for multiple crimes against the state. Includes lists of people executed, imprisoned, forcibly drafted into the army, and other misdeeds. Concludes that Rosas and his government were completely corrupt and criminal.
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Chávez, Fermín, and Juan A. Pradére, eds. Juan Manuel de Rosas: Su iconografía. 2 vols. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Oriente, 1970.
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New edition of Pradére 1914. Chávez adds a new volume called Iconografía de Rosas y de la Federación. Indispensable for those wanting to gain a sense of the visual culture of the Rosas era.
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Irazusta, Julio. Vida política de Juan Manuel de Rosas, a través de su correspondencia. 8 vols. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Trivium, 1970.
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Extremely useful multivolume, documentary history compiled by Irazusta, a Rosas admirer, who scoured published sources to compile this wide range of documents from Rosas’ era. Irazusta stitches these documents together with running commentary and analysis. Great table of contents for each section. Published in various stages beginning in the 1940s.
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Pradére, Juan A., ed. Juan Manuel de Rosas: Su iconografía. Buenos Aires, Argentina: J. Mendesky Enrique L. Frigerio, 1914.
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An early attempt to treat Rosas impartially. An excellent source for all kinds of images, both for and against Rosas. Includes paintings, lithographs, images on vases, anti-Rosas cartoons, etc.
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Analysis of Rosas by His Contemporaries

Rosas inspired a large volume of contemporary writing about him and his regime, mostly from the negative side. Pedro de Angelis (Angelis 1945), the Italian immigrant who became the most noted of Rosas’ contemporary defenders (along with the Rosas-controlled newspaper La gaceta mercantíl). Exiled intellectuals poured out their acrimony in anti-Rosas diatribes, as seen in Indarte 1843. The classic work Sarmiento 1934 (Facundo), although not specifically about Rosas, is perhaps the best-known critique of the social, cultural, political, and even environmental context that produced Rosas and other leaders like him. The author of Frías 1928 fought against Rosas but waited a few years to publish this critical view of him. The memoirs of Tomás de Iriarte (Iriarte 1946) offer unique insight from someone who evolved from a supporter to a critic of the Rosas regime. Carretero 1970 and Ansaldi 1984 gathered useful samples of contemporary writings about Rosas, both for and against.

Angelis, Pedro de. Acusación y defensa de Rosas. Edited by Rodolfo Trostiné and Enrique Gandía. Buenos Aires, Argentina: La Facultad, 1945.
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A collection of many of Angelis’s pro-Rosas writings along with pieces on a variety of other figures.
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Ansaldi, Waldo. Rosas y su tiempo. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Centro Editor de America Latina, 1984.
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A collection of writings and reflections of Rosas’ contemporaries with the intent of humanizing Rosas.
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Carretero, Andrés M. Rosas en los testimonios de su época. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Antares, 1970.
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Author has gathered perspectives of Rosas from many of the major figures of the time, both for and against Rosas.
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Frías, Félix. La gloria del tirano Rosas, y otros escritos políticos y polémicos. Buenos Aires, Argentina: El Ateneo, 1928.
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Frías, a Unitarian writer and politician, fought with Lavalle against Rosas. Offers a comprehensive image of Rosas, his era, and his personality. More balanced than one might expect but is nonetheless in the “official history” category, concluding that Rosas never had a government, but was always a tyranny. First published in 1881 with a foreword by Sarmiento.
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Indarte, Rivera. Rosas y sus opositores: Es acción santa matar a Rosas: Tablas de sangre. Montevideo, Uruguay: n.p., 1843.
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Contemporary anti-Rosista polemics by exiled journalist in Montevideo. Analyzes in great detail Rosas’ dealings with Uruguay and the intervention of Great Britain and France. Mitre, in his introduction, said at times it reads like a Roman tale of Nero.
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Iriarte, Tomás de. Memorias. 11 vols. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ediciones Argentinas, “S.I.A.,” 1946.
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Memoirs of prominent military figure involved in the major conflicts of the 19th century; he fought for the royalists, then for independence. He started out on Rosas’ side but turned against him later. Volumes 4–11 cover the Rosas period.
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Sarmiento, Domingo F. Contra Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: El Ateneo, 1934.
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A selection of anti-Rosas material written by Sarmiento during his Chilean exile, highlighting the Rosas regime’s brutality by addressing subjects such as freedom of the press, the case of Camila O’Gorman, and the need for foreign intervention against Rosas, among other subjects.
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Sarmiento, Domingo F. Facundo. 6th ed. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Losada, 1974.
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Originally published in Chile by Imprento del Progreso in 1845. Sarmiento’s classic piece about the deep roots of Argentine society, with its political, social, cultural, and environmental elements that produced tyrants such as Rosas. Not directly about Rosas, yet it is seen as the quintessential anti-Rosas work that reveals Sarmiento’s critical views of the drawbacks of Argentine culture and his embracing of Euro-American models.
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Letters

Rosas was a prodigious writer, both during his time in office and in exile. Numerous collections of letters exist, although their selection frequently reveals the ideology of the editor. Rosas 1958 is a collection of letters focusing on Rosas’ correspondence with two of his caudillo allies regarding the touchy subject of a national constitution and unification, which Rosas opposed. The collection Raed 1980 illuminates some of the internal dynamics of the Rosas regime, while Rosas 1974 is a collection of letters Rosas wrote from exile to his informal “ambassador,” Josefa Gómez, in which Rosas reflects on many aspects of his rule and his life in exile. The selection in Ternavasio 2005 is small but includes letters that reflect on various stages of Rosas’ life and rule.

Raed, José. Cartas ineditas de Rosas, Roxas y Patrón. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Platero S.R.L, 1980.
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Collection of documents intended to give insight into the internal relations of the Rosas government. Attempts to show that Rosas did not make decisions alone and that his ministers had considerable influence, in most cases for the worse. They also shed light on Rosas’ feelings and actions relating to several important historical events.
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Rosas, Juan Manuel. Cartas del exilio 1853–1875. Edited by José Raed. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Rodolfo Alonso, 1974.
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Collection of letters Rosas wrote while in exile to his unofficial ambassador, Josefa (Pepita) Gómez. Letters reveal Rosas’ views on a number of matters and show his attempts to reclaim his property and honor. Contains numerous marginal notes that help contextualize the events or people mentioned in them. Raed is critical of “official historians” (see Historiography) in the introduction, but he is especially critical of pro-Rosas views.
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Rosas, Juan Manuel, Juan Facundo Quiroga, and Estanislao López. Correspondencia entre Rosas, Quiroga y López: Recopilación, notas y estudio preliminar de Enrique M. Barba. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Librería Hachette, 1958.
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Selection of letters, from 1831 to 1838, from these three great caudillos, touching mainly on the idea of constitutional organization of the country. Barba’s introduction and document selection support his thesis that Rosas was a shrewd manipulator of events and a deceiver of his fellow caudillos in his rise to power. Barba also provides valuable material and relevant literature.
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Ternavasio, Marcela. Correspondencia de Juan Manuel de Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Eudeba, 2005.
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A nice collection of letters from the various stages of Rosas’ regime.
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Political History

Political history has been the dominant genre in Rosas scholarship. As mentioned in the Historiography section, political histories of Rosas written after his fall in 1852 demonized him and his regime. Bartolomé Mitre, writing to promote an ideal republic, is seen as the main founder of this line of thought, although Indarte, Sarmiento, and other exiled writers had already laid the foundation. These anti-Rosas views later came to be known as the “liberal” interpretation (and by Rosas’ supporters as the “official history” of Argentina). Saldías 1911, a multivolume history of the Argentine Confederation, began to challenge the liberal view of Rosas in the 1890s. Saldías acknowledged Rosas’ flaws, but insisted on a more balanced approach to the history of his rule (and thus cast Rosas in a more positive light). This more balanced approach was one of the characteristics of what came to be called “La Nueva Escuela” (the new school) of history, which included writers such as Quesada 1950, Ravignani 1970, Dellepiane 1957 (cited under Gender and Family), and Levene 1950. Many historians used their craft to promote positivistic views of society (thus a number of works using psychological and medical terminology). Beginning in the 1920s and 1930s, the growing nationalist movement adopted Rosas as one of the great heroes of the nation who represented what was authentically Argentine. In 1934, a commission was founded to return Rosas’ remains, and in 1938 the Juan Manuel de Rosas Institute of Historical Studies was founded and began publishing pro-Rosas material. Many of these nationalist writers, who became known as “Revisionists,” made Rosas fit into their vision of what modern Argentina needed to be. Some Nationalist writers were motivated more by ideology than by objectivity in making historical judgments, and thus they tended to produce one-sided works that lavishly praised Rosas while condemning his opponents. These three trends—the anti-Rosas, new school, and Revisionist—continue in one form or another in the early 21st century as Rosas and his legacy are still subject to debate, partly because different groups, such as conservative nationalists, use historical interpretations of Rosas to highlight their take on current issues in Argentina. Professional academics are frequently drawn into these debates because they feel compelled to challenge what they see as a distortion of history by Revisionist writers. At the same time, current academic historians are examining more varied aspects of Rosas’ regime, creating a fuller and more complex picture of Rosas and his era (see, for example, Barreneche 2006 on the development of legal traditions). See also Garavaglia 2003 (cited under Economic History) as well as more political history in Historiography since the Rosas Repatriation in 1989.

Barba, Enrique M. Quiroga y Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Pleamar, 1974.
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Barba shows how Rosas resisted pressure from his allies to establish a national constitution, and the author also outlines the Federalist versus Unitarian forms of government. Barba, quite critical of Rosas and his legacy, is one of the great professional historians of 20th-century Argentina.
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Barreneche, Osvaldo. Crime and the Administration of Justice in Buenos Aires, 1785–1853. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2006.
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Fills a gap in the historiography by looking at the role of the administration of justice in Rosas-era Argentina. Postindependence rulers, including Rosas, allowed the police and the executive elements of government to gain more power over the judicial, creating judicial problems that continue in early-21st-century Argentina.
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Bushnell, David. Reform and Reaction in the Platine Provinces, 1810–1852. Gainesville: University Presses of Florida, 1983.
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Measures the development of liberal political ideas in a number of Argentine provinces, concluding that there was a continuity of liberal development in Argentina, even during Rosas’ supposedly conservative regime. Useful information on many of the laws passed after independence.
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Celesia, Ernesto H. Rosas: Aportes para su historia. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Peuser, 1954.
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Although written with objective language, Celesia is critical of Rosas, and especially of Revisionists’ pro-Rosas interpretation. The documents he places in the appendices reflect this stance on Rosas. Volume 1 covers up to 1833 and II up to Rosas’ death. Well documented and indexed. Volume 2 was published in 1968 by Editorial y Libreria Goncourt in Buenos Aires.
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Levene, Ricardo. El proceso histórico de Lavalle a Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Archivo Histórico de la Provincia, 1950.
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Levene, one of the great historians of the mid-20th century, provides an excellent, well-documented analysis of the conditions under which Juan Manuel de Rosas was able to come to power in 1829.
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Quesada, Ernesto. La época de Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ediciones del Restaurador, 1950.
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One of the earliest Rosas apologists, Quesada argues that Rosas was necessary to help in Argentina’s transition to modernity; Rosas responded to the needs of the country and to the will of the people. Extensive discussion of the philosophy of history in the introduction sets up his call for tolerance in writing history. First published c. 1900.
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Ravignani, Emilio. Rosas: Interpretación real y moderna. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Pleamar, 1970.
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A collection of a number of Ravignani’s works on Rosas. Arguing that he was neither for or against Rosas, Ravignani was a pioneer in approaching Rosas objectively, seeing him as an essential part of the process of national organization.
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Saldías, Adolfo. Historia de la Confederación Argentina: Rosas y su época. 2d ed. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Liberia “La Facultad,” de J. Roldán, 1911.
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This monumental work signaled the beginning of a more positive reevaluation of Rosas and his era. Although a Rosas admirer, Saldías succeeded in producing an admirable work of history that continues to inspire historians of all political stripes.
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Sampay, Arturo E. Las ideas políticas de Juan Manuel de Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Juárez, 1972.
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Has goal to avoid polemics, though this does not mean abstaining from passing judgment on individual events. Rosas’ political philosophy was to keep the power in hands of the landowners. For the most part judges Rosas on his own terms, although Sampay condemns Rosas for not modernizing the country or pushing for greater social mobility, thus hurting future development.
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Marxism

Marxism had its influence on Rosista historiography as well. Rosas and his landowning class fit into the Marxist schematic well, with Rosas as a feudal lord with his ranch/fiefdom on which he controlled the peasants. Many leftist nationalists criticized Rosas for his backward policies that retarded economic development, an interpretation that brought them into conflict with conservative nationalists who upheld Rosas as the greatest nationalist of all. Many leftist historians, and historians of other stripes, fled Argentina during the dictatorship of the 1970s (the “Dirty War”). Puiggrós 1944 used a Marxist approach to challenge the Revisionists’ exaltation of Rosas. Paso 1970 portrayed Rosas as a classic defender of his landowning class, and thus an opponent of true nationalism.

Paso, Leonardo, ed. Rosas: Realidad y mito. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Fundamentos, 1970.
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Marxist analysis of Rosas as a representative of the landowning class. Rosismo blocked and retarded economic development; thus he must be seen as antinationalist. Challenges key nationalist claims (like San Martín’s supposed support of Rosas), recognizing that history is part of the modern political and social arenas, and its interpretation is directly linked to social reality.
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Puiggrós, Rodolfo. Rosas el pequeño. Montevideo, Uruguay: Ediciones Pueblos Unidos, 1944.
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Using a Marxist approach, the author argues that Rosas was not the great national figure proposed by his admiring biographers.
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Nationalist Revisionism

Nationalists chose Rosas as one of their great symbols of Argentine identity, and they thus sought to challenge the liberal interpretation of history that had denigrated Rosas since his exile in 1852 (see Historiography). This approach came to be known as the “Revisionist” perspective. Rosa 1958 and Busaniche 1985 illustrate these concepts. Many Revisionists are willing to acknowledge that Rosas used brutality and terror, but they quickly add that liberals used similar tactics, and that Rosas lived in a time of crises that demanded a heavy hand. In short, many Revisionists want Rosas to be included as one of the “próceres” (great men/founders) of Argentina (see Chávez 1973, Lima 1979). Juan Perón admired Rosas, but Peronism inspired both conservative nationalists and leftist nationalists (who disagreed in their views of Rosas), so there was no unified Peronist approach to Rosas. Thus, divergent views paralyzed the Rosas Institute during the 1970s and 1980s (see Devoto and Pagano 2004, cited under Historiography). The Rosas Institute, and Revisionism, revived in the 1990s, however, spurred by political policies and growing economic and social crises. In 1989, President Menem of the Peronist Party returned Rosas’ remains from England, inaugurating an era of increasing integration of Rosas into Argentine society. While many nationalists praised Menem for bringing Rosas home, Menem’s excessive neo-liberal policies created a nationalist backlash. Argentina, it seemed, was again being sold to the highest bidder. Many nationalists in the early 21st century continue to see Rosas as a model for Argentine society, and his image is invoked in debates ranging from the Malvinas/Falkland Islands to Argentina’s relationship to the World Bank, issues that impassion large segments of Argentina’s population. The governments in the early 2000s took notice. In 2010, the Argentine government declared the 20th of November (the day of the Battle of Vuelta de Obligado in 1845, when Rosista forces fought an Anglo-French fleet trying to force open river trade) a national holiday, and President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner dedicated a monument at the site of the battle. In 2012, President Kirchner also established the Instituto Nacional de Revisionismo Histórico Argentino e Iberoamericano “Manuel Dorrego,” with the express purpose of bringing to light histories that have been ignored by “official” sources. “Revisionism,” some fear, is now becoming the new “official history,” although proponents argue they are just trying to bring balance and historic justice to Rosas’ history. O’Donnell 2001 and Casco 2004 epitomize this new wave of Revisionists.

Busaniche, José Luis. Rosas visto por sus contemporáneos. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Hyspamerica, 1985.
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First published in 1955. A collection of Rosas-era documents with critical narration by Rosas admirer Busaniche; attempts objectivity, but his goal is clear: to challenge the official history that has portrayed Rosas in such a negative light while overlooking faults of his liberal opponents.
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Casco, Marco. La vara ensangrentada: Rosas, el fundador de la República Federal, contra la Asociación Mayo, el Partido Unitario y los invasores extranjeros. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Corregidor, 2004.
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Focuses on Rosas as the founder of the Argentine Republic and protector of Creole culture, which was threatened by European imperial expansion. The book is mostly narrated using the direct words of people involved (letters to and from Rosas, journals, etc.). Well-documented and easy to follow to the sources.
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Chávez, Fermín. La cultura en la época de Rosas: Aportes a la descolonización mental de la Argentina. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ediciones Theoría, 1973.
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Authored by one of the leading and most skilled Revisionists; seeks to debunk the view of an uncultured and barbaric Rosas era; shows that Rosista culture was actually an early manifestation of “mental decolonization” from Europe. Looks at various aspects of culture during the Rosas era (art, literature, journalism, education, etc.).
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Fernández, Fernando. El Dictador. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Corregidor, 1983.
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A strident nationalist attack on official liberal history, Fernandez ranges from the 1820s through Rosas’ career and exile, then to the continuation of the “movimiento criollo” in the 20th century. A call to end Argentina’s status as a neocolonial power.
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Lima, Héctor Corvalán. Rosas y la formación constitucional Argentina. Mendoza, Argentina: Editorial Idearium, Ediciones Depalma, 1979.
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For Corvalán, Rosas is the “expresión viva de la Argentina real” (p. 13). The objective of the book is to establish that Rosas was the constructor of national unity and should be seen as the father of the constitution he made possible.
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O’Donnell, Pacho. Juan Manuel de Rosas: El “maldito” de nuestra historia oficial. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Planeta, 2001.
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Episodic treatment (124 brief chapters) of key moments and issues in Rosas’ life. Although there is never justification for the excesses Rosas committed, O’Donnell argues that the “official history” has treated Rosas poorly. Despite his errors, Rosas guided Argentina through tumultuous times, and his patriotism and dignity should continue to serve as a model for Argentines in the early 21st century.
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Rosa, José M. La caída de Rosas: El imperio del Brasil y la Confederación Argentina (1843–1851), guerra argentino-brasileña de 1851, gestión del pronunciamiento de Urquiza, Caseros, los tratados de Río de Janeiro. Madrid: Instituto de Estudios Políticos, 1958.
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A well-documented, pro-Rosas study by a leading Argentine economic nationalist and Revisionist. However, Brazilian historian Jose A. Soares de Souza accuses Rosa of using fraud and deception in this work.
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Rosas and San Martín

The relationship between Rosas and the liberator José de San Martín has been of great interest to historians, especially in Argentina. San Martín was one of the great liberators of South America, who played a key role in defeating the Spaniards in Argentina, Chile, and Peru. He resisted invitations for him to take political leadership in Argentina after the wars because he understood that whoever would rule would have to use violence against elements of the people—something he was unwilling to do. Instead, San Martí preferred to live in voluntary exile in Belgium and France. During his exile, San Martín wrote a number of letters to Rosas, many times expressing his admiration of Rosas’ resistance to foreign intervention, such as the military response to Anglo-French attempt to force open the river trade in 1845 (Gras 1948, Petrocelli 1994). Such was San Martín’s admiration that he sent his saber from the independence wars as a gift to Rosas. This is historically significant because Rosas supporters use San Martín’s credibility as a liberator as one of their main arguments in Rosas’ favor: if San Martín, the great liberator, approved and lauded Rosas’ actions, then the rest of the nation should recognize those virtues as well (implicit in Ortega Peña and Duhalde 1968), or at least be as critical of the faults of Rosas’ opponents as they are with Rosas (Petrocelli 1994). Critics of this approach argue that San Martín was also very critical of other aspects of Rosas’ regime and of the folly of Federalism in general. John Lynch believes that San Martín’s approval of Rosas is explicable only because San Martín never lived under Rosas’ government.

Gras, Mario César. San Martín y Rosas: Una amistad histórica. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Talleres Gráficos SEMCA, 1948.
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This study and collection of letters means to show how San Martín befriended Rosas and approved of his heavy-handedness to restore order and protect the nation. Classic view of many who want to link Rosas and the Great Liberator.
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Ortega Peña, Rodolfo, and Eduardo Luis Duhalde. San Martín y Rosas: Politica nacionalista en América. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Sudestada, 1968.
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Selected letters between Rosas and San Martín, gathered to challenge “official history” by showing that San Martín was an active patriot and nationalist; letters cover mainly topics of foreign intervention in the Rio de la Plata region.
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Petrocelli, Héctor B. La obra de Rosas que San Martín elogiara. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ediciones Theoria, 1994.
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Well-documented defense of Rosas’ place as one of the great founders of Argentina; acknowledges Rosas’ faults but chastises the official histories that overlook similar shortcomings in liberal Unitarian heroes.
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Historiography since the Rosas Repatriation in 1989

In September of 1989, President Menem presided over the repatriation of Rosas’ remains from their original resting place in Southampton, England, an act Menem used as a way to calm the historic tensions over Rosas but also to heal recent wounds created by the dictatorship of the 1970s and 1980s (see Shumway 2004). In many respects, the repatriation accelerated the reinsertion of Rosas into Argentine society (see Castex 2006). Eminent historian Félix Luna heralded Rosas’ return as a sign of a greater historical maturity in Argentine society, something he had been calling for for a number of years. It also signaled a more mature, balanced, and varied examination of Rosas and his legacy by professional historians who have expanded their treatment of Rosas beyond the political histories that had dominated previous generations. This corresponds with changes in the broader historiography on caudillos in Latin America, where many authors are looking at caudillo rule in new ways. Myers 1995 examined republican elements in Rosas’ regime, while Salvatore 2003 focused on the lives of subalterns. Di Meglio 2007 provides a more nuanced look at Rosas’ secret police force, while Gelman 2009 looks at how Rosas used coercion to set up a new system of government after the crisis of 1839–1840. Passions over Rosas’ place in history still run high, especially in the Revisionist camp, where Rosas’ name is invoked in debates ranging from the role of international organizations (like the IMF and World Bank) in the political and financial crises of the early 2000s. The Peronist Party, under the direction of the President Nestor Kirchner and his wife/successor Cristina Fernandez, have capitalized on this xenophobic tendency and have patronized Revisionist-oriented projects, such as the monument at the site of the 1845 Battle of Vuelta de Obligado, where Rosista forces fought a combined Anglo-French fleet trying to force open the river trade. In 2011, the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner further supported the Revisionist cause by establishing the Instituto Nacional de Revisionismo Histórico Argentino e Iberoamericano “Manuel Dorrego,” with the express purpose of bringing to light histories that have been ignored by “official” sources. This has caused concern, especially among professional historians, who point to the maturation and diversification of historiography over the last few decades, including the histories of Rosas, and who fear the emergence of a new official history that will stifle free thought. See also Garavaglia 2003 (cited under Economic History).

Castex, César M. La década de Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Dunken, 2006.
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An ardent Rosas supporter, Castex chronicles the reinsertion of Rosas into Argentine society between 1989 and 2000. Gives more focus to the history leading to the repatriation of Rosas’ remains (1989), followed by chapters examining other ways Rosas has been honored (appearing on the twenty-peso bill, monuments etc.).
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Di Meglio, Gabriel. ¡Mueran los salvajes unitarios! La Mazorca y la política en tiempos de Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Sudamericana, 2007.
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A close look at the role of the ironically understudied topic of Rosas’ secret police—the Mazorca—and how they were connected to, and used by, the Rosas regime.
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Garavaglia, Juan Carlos. “La Apothéosis del Leviathán: El estado en Buenos Aires durante la primera mitad del siglo XIX.” Latin American Research Review 38.1 (2003): 135–168.
DOI: 10.1353/lar.2003.0007Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Uses quantitative analysis, looking at the details of Rosas’ budget, to show that Rosas dedicated a large portion (73 percent) of his governmental budget to coercive elements. The high price of security was force and many deaths. Available online by subscription.
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Gelman, Jorge. Rosas bajo fuego: Los Franceses, Lavalle y la rebelión de los estancieros. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Sudamericana, 2009.
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Looks at a key moment in Rosas’ regime when a rebel invasion, a French blockade, and an internal uprising threatened Rosas’ government in 1839 and 1840. Rosas resorted to higher levels of coercion and turned even more to the lower classes for support as he reestablished his power.
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González Bernaldo de Quiros, Pilar. Civility and Politics in the Origins of the Argentine Nation: Sociabilities in Buenos Aires, 1829–1862. Translated by Daniel Philip Tunnard. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center, 2006.
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Translation of 1999 French original. Looks at how Buenos Aires elites developed a culture of sociability through a variety of mechanisms (coffee houses, literary salons, etc.) that influenced the political sphere, a process that declined after the tumultuous years of 1839–1840. After Rosas’ fall, elites reconstructed sites of sociability.
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Myers, Jorge. Orden y virtud: El discurso republicano en el régimen rosista. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, 1995.
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Pioneering work in looking at how Rosas’ government used classical republican discourse to characterize and justify his rule. Myers avoids traditional polemics and argues that the practice and the discourse of Rosismo are much more complex than scholars have thought.
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Salvatore, Ricardo. Wandering Paysanos: State Order and Subaltern Experience in Buenos Aires during the Rosas Era. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003.
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Pioneering work challenging the pervading historiography of a dominant (and for some, feudal) ranching class subordinating lower classes. Shows how subalterns exercised agency even amidst an increasingly powerful and regulatory state (rather than the traditional ranch). Focuses on four “fields of force”: labor and commodity markets, the law, the military, and politics. Concludes that subalterns “talked back” to the state and negotiated their place in Argentine society.
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Shumway, Jeffrey M. “Sometimes Knowing How to Forget Is Also Having Memory: The Repatriation of Juan Manuel de Rosas and the Healing of Argentina.” In Death, Dismemberment, and Memory: Body Politics in Latin America. Edited by Lyman Johnson, 105–141. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2004.
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Looks at the historical context of Rosas’ exile and the attempts by the growing nationalist movement to repatriate his remains; how President Menem used the repatriation of Rosas in 1989 to try to heal and unify Argentine society, and which he used as a stepping stone to pardon military leaders convicted of atrocities during Argentina’s Dirty War (1976–1983).
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Church Relations

Initial impulses after Argentina’s independence in the 1810s were anticlerical in that many revolutionaries wanted to separate church and state and overall to limit the Catholic Church’s role in society. The church-state issue was a key point of contention in the civil strife of the 1810s and 1820s, where conservative caudillos cried “religion or death” against the anticlerical measures of liberal Unitarians. Rosas supported the Catholic Church in that he did not attack it as much as his liberal predecessors did. However, as De Stefano 2006 points out, Rosas saw the church as a tool of the state much like his forbears did. Thus, Rosas did not hesitate to move against the church if he thought it challenged his power (see Esteban 1971 on Rosas and the Jesuits). His supporters (especially Catholic nationalists), then, focus on his pro-church positions. As with other issues, Rosas’ opponents criticize his support of the church as indicative of his conservatism. At the same time, many historians argue that Rosas was not a defender of the church, but that he used the church as a mechanism of social control. These issues are highlighted in the scholarship of Rosas’ dealings with the Jesuits, whom he invited back from their colonial expulsion, only to reexpel them again when they did not conform to his expectations.

De Stefano, Roberto. “El laberinto religioso de Juan Manuel de Rosas.” Anuario de Estudios Americanos 63.1 (2006): 19–50.
DOI: 10.3989/aeamer.2006.v63.i1.2Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Challenges the traditional view that Rosas “supported” the Catholic Church. Rosas saw the church as a tool of the state, and as such was more like Rivadavia and other liberals.
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Esteban, Rafael B. Como fue el conflicto entre los Jesuitas y Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Plus Ultra, 1971.
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Rosas invited the Jesuits back to Argentina, but chronic conflicts (starting with the requirement to wear the red ribbon) led him to expel them again. A useful look into Rosas’ relations with the church, and errors, according to Esteban, in bringing the Jesuits back.
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Gender and Family

Studies that look at Rosas from a gendered perspective are lacking, although there are works that touch on the subject. Inasmuch as gender analysis does not always correspond with political eras and periodization, many works informed by gender and women’s studies do not treat the Rosas era as a single analytical unit. Gil Lozano 2000, an edited work on women in Argentina, contains two chapters that touch on the Rosas regime. Many works address gender implicitly when they discuss Rosas and gaucho culture and values. Although focusing on frontiers in the Banda Oriental (Uruguay), Chasteen 1990 lays out the idea that hypermasculinity and violence could pervade cattle frontiers, and thus he invites similar studies that examine that issue in Rosas’ Buenos Aires. Hingson 2007 looks at women’s activities in an explicitly Rosista setting when he examines some of the roles women could play in the domestic politics of the Rosas era. The Rosas regime did not encourage female journalism (the appearance of numerous female-headed publications after Rosas’ fall punctuates this point), nor did Rosas support the Sociedad de Beneficencia, a female charitable society founded by the liberal Bernardino Rivadavia in 1823. At the same time, for a man who was considered conservative and traditional, Rosas was surrounded by powerful women, as Sáenz Quesada 1991 shows. Rosas’ wife Encarnación was a major shaper of Rosas and his regime, as Pichel 1999 and Di Meglio 2007 (the latter cited under Historiography since the Rosas Repatriation in 1989) point out, and Rosas’ daughter Manuelita was a key element of his regime, as noted in many of these works, including Dellepiane 1957.

Chasteen, John Charles. “Violence for Show: Knife Dueling on a Nineteenth-Century Cattle Frontier.” In The Problem of Order in Changing Societies: Essays on Crime and Policing in Argentina and Uruguay, 1750–1940. Edited by Lyman Johnson, 47–64. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1990.
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Though not focused on Rosas or on Buenos Aires, this study of masculinity and ritual violence in Uruguay informs the rural context in which Rosas grew up.
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Dellepiane, Antonio. El testamento de Rosas: La hija del dictador. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Oberón, 1957.
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A close analysis of Rosas’ testament by eminent historian Dellepiane, Also includes a short biography of Rosas’ daughter Manuelita. Rosas’ will and testament and other documents are transcribed in the appendix.
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Gil Lozano, Fernanda, Valeria Silvina Pita, and María Gabriela Ini, eds. Historia de las mujeres en la Argentina. Vol. 1 Colonia y siglo XIX. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Taurus, 2000.
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Though not focused on Rosas, many of the essays examine women’s issues during the era of Rosas. Of note are Marta Goldberg’s piece on black women and Laura Malosetti Costa’s piece on women and the frontier.
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Hingson, Jesse. “‘Savages’ into Supplicants: Subversive Women and Restitution Petitions in Córdoba, Argentina during the Rosas Era.” The Americas 64.1 (July 2007): 59–85.
DOI: 10.1353/tam.2007.0106Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Examines a new side of the Rosas regime: how it dealt with political insurgents, and more particularly how women were able to use their dowry rights, among other things, to defend themselves and their children from confiscations ordered by the Rosas government. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Pichel, Vera. Encarncación Ezcurra: La mujer que inventó a Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Sudamericana, 1999.
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Making extensive use of the correspondence between Encarnación Ezcurra and her husband Rosas, this study demonstrates that Encarnación was a major protagonist in shaping the Rosas regime.
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Sáenz Quesada, María. Mujeres de Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Planeta, 1991.
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An intimate look into the lives of the five women closest to Rosas: his mother, wife, daughter, lover, and friend. Offers insights into the role of women and Rosas’ view of women. Well-documented with footnotes and bibliography.
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Indian and Gaucho Relations

Rosas was raised on the frontier and had extensive exposure to Indian and gaucho life. He was raised in large part on his family’s ranches where he became an expert at gaucho skills. Slatta 1983 shows how Rosas’ policies toward the gaucho did not drastically differ from his Unitarian predecessors (see also Salvatore 2003, cited under Historiography since the Rosas Repatriation in 1989). Rosas learned to ride, walk, and talk like the gauchos. Rosas also knew something of the natives’ language and customs as well. His own grandfather and uncle were killed by Indians in the late 18th century. Indeed, the “Indian” question was a constant dilemma for Argentine leaders from the earliest colonial times until the late 19th century. Argentina was populated by diverse indigenous groups, many of which fiercely resisted European expansion. The conflict between the two groups was highlighted by constant raids where natives would steal cattle and also kidnap white women, a practice that continued well into the 19th century. In 1833, Rosas went on a campaign against the Indians where he rescued hundreds of captives (Charles Darwin met him at this time, and the naturalist saw the natives as being in danger of extermination). Sule 2003 offers an extensive and sympathetic view of Rosas’ Indian policies. Rosas believed in negotiating with the Indians, seeing them as possible agents of production in the pampas, although he was not averse to violently oppressing uncooperative tribes. Jones 1989 captures that duality in her examination of the chiefs Calfucurá and Namuncurá. Bernal 1997 argues that Rosas’ focus was on expanding cattle production rather than on helping the natives. Some scholars have contrasted Rosas’ vision of the Indian as a possible contributor to Argentine society with the more oppressive and violent policies of his liberal successors, who wiped the Indians from much of the pampas in the Conquest of the Desert of 1879.

Bernal, Irma. Rosas y los indios. Concepción del Uruguay, Argentina: Búsqueda de Ayllú, 1997.
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Critical view of Rosas’ Indian policy, arguing that Rosas’ main goal was not the betterment of the Indian’s condition, but an expansion of the cattle industry.
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Jones, Kristin. “Calfucurá and Namuncurá: Nation Builders of the Pampas.” In The Human Tradition in Latin America: The Nineteenth Century. Edited by Judith Ewell and William Beezley, 175–186. Wilmington: S&R Books, 1989.
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Shows the influence of Mapuche culture in Chile and Argentina over a number of generations, and how Rosas treated Indians with more tolerance (though he could still be ruthless) than his liberal successors like Mitre and Sarmiento, who saw Indians as a blight. Mapuche culture survived the Conquest of the Desert of 1879.
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Slatta, Richard W. Gauchos and the Vanishing Frontier. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983.
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Not explicitly about Rosas, but this work examines the policies of Rosas’ and other governments toward the gaucho. Slatta finds that although Rosas was seen as a friend to the gaucho, his attempts to control labor and social unrest were similar to those of his Unitarian predecessors.
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Sule, Jorge O. Rosas y sus relaciones con los indios. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Históricas Juan Manuel de Rosas, 2003.
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Well-documented Revisionist attempt to include Rosas’ Indian policies in the broader historiography. Shows Rosas as pro-Indian, as seen in all of his frontier policies, which focused on negotiation and integration. Also deals with larger history of the natives of Argentina during the Rosas era.
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Literature and Historical Fiction

Rosas and his regime inspired literary production from the beginning of his rule, from pro-Rosas poems and songs, to anti-Rosas selections of the same (see Lanuza 1941 for negative writings, and Weinberg 1967 for examples of literature for and against). Some of the greatest writers of the 19th century, like Echeverría 1979, Manso de Noronha 2005, and Mármol 1851, chose Rosas as one of their topics, although usually on the negative side. During Rosas’ rule, many dissidents wrote volumes of anti-Rosas literature, such as Echeverria’s iconic El matadero (Echeverría 1979—originally written c. 1839). Sarmiento’s Facundo (Sarmiento 1974, cited under Analysis of Rosas by His Contemporaries) was at once a literary and historical commentary on the backward elements of Argentina’s society and culture that produced Rosas and others like him. After Rosas’ fall, the anti-Rosas orientation of much of the literature on the period continued in line with the liberal vision of Argentine history established by Mitre, although Shumway 1991 shows that resistance to that official line of thought was robust.

Echeverría, Esteban. La cautiva, el matadero: Ojeada retrospectiva. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Centro Editor de América Latina, 1979.
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A collection of key works by one of the great intellectual leaders of 19th-century Argentina. El matadero is an allegorical short story of the evils of the Rosas regime, in which a pro-Rosas mob (including numerous blacks and mulattoes) at a slaughterhouse harasses, threatens, and begins to torture a well-dressed Unitarian, who dies of rage rather than continuing to suffer the outrages.
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Gutiérrez, Eduardo. Historia de Juan Manuel de Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: J. C. Rovira, 1932.
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Rosas novel originally published in 1882 by a prominent literary figure. Rosas was born a coward and a bandit and got worse with time. Gutiérrez has written other works on Rosas as well.
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Manso de Noronha, Juana. Los misterios del Plata: Episodios históricos de la época de Rosas, escritos en 1846. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Stockcero, 2005.
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Based on the 1924 revised edition by Ricardo Isidro Muñiz. An early historical novel by a pioneering female writer. Very critical of Rosas’ regime, showing that barbarism and savagery and retrogression were all reflected in Rosas’ home.
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Lanuza, José Luis, ed. Cancionero del tiempo de Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Emecés, 1941.
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A collection of contemporary poems written by Unitarians to attack Rosas and the Federalists.
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Mármol, José. Amalia. New York: Oxford University Press, 1851.
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Written by the “poetic hangman” of Rosas, this is the classic 19th-century historical novel highlighting Rosas’ sanguinary brutality. Mármol lived in exile for many years, and when Rosas went into exile, he uttered the famous prediction that “ni el polvo de sus huesos la América tendrá.”
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Sarmiento, Domingo F. Facundo. 6th ed. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Losada, 1974.
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Originally published in 1845 in Santiago by Imprento del Progreso. Something between history, literature, and political commentary, this is Sarmiento’s classic polemic against traditional gaucho and caudillo culture. Not directly about Rosas, but it is read as the quintessential anti-Rosas piece that reveals Sarmiento’s critical views of local Argentine culture and his embracing of Euro-American models.
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Shumway, Nicolas. The Invention of Argentina. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
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A fine (and in Argentina, quite controversial) literary and intellectual history of 19th-century Argentina. Using a close reading of the major literary and political writings (including those about figures such as Rosas and other caudillos, for good and ill), the author criticizes many of the liberal founders of Argentina, like Mitre and Sarmiento, for developing a very exclusionary vision (“guiding fiction”) of Argentine history and society still evident in Argentine society today.
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Weinberg, Felix, ed. La época de Rosas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Centro Editor de América Latina, 1967.
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A short collection of poems, songs, and a few selections from prominent intellectuals regarding Rosas and his era, both for and against.
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