South America, past and present

Contents

FIRST PART— SOUTH AMERICA PAST

Historical Information Regarding Epoch-making Events IN South America

CHAPTER PAGE

Chapter I Region Of The La Plata River

The Aborigines — Peoples of the Andes and the Pampas — Submissive Disposition of the Andeans — Haughty and Fighting Spirit of the Pampas — How these Peoples' Institutions Contributed to the Formation of this Very Marked Contrast — Conquest of the Region of the La Plata River — Condition of the Indians of South America During the Conquest — The Jesuits — System of Jesuitical Government — Social Condition of the Indigenes of Bolivia — Spanish Settlements in Uruguay — Disputes Over the Oriental Territory of Uruguay Between Spaniards and Portuguese — Founding of the Viceroyship of the Rio de La Plata in 1776 — Last War Between Spain and Portugal (1800) for the Oriental Missions of Upper Uruguay — Invasions by the English in 1806 and 1807 — Popular Movements Forerunners of the South American Revolution in Caracas in 1711 and 1713, Cochabamba in 1730, Asuncion in 1731, Quito, Chuquisaca, Montevideo and Caracas in 1809 and Buenos Aires in 1810 — Artigas Victor in the First Battle of the La Plata River Against the Spaniards at Las Piedras in 1811 — The Orientales Abandoned by the Buenos Aires Assembly, Obliged to Combat the Spaniards and Portuguese — Exodua of the People of Eastern Uruguay.

The Aborigines

At the time of the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492, it was inhabited by many millions of Indians unevenly scattered throughout its various regions, some of which and among them what are now known as Peru and Bolivia compared in density of population with some of the European countries of the same period. There is no SiTpeopiefrf^*" ^^*^ ^^ which to baso an account of the Pam^as*^ *°^ *^* exact number of Indians inhabiting these regions at the time, but it remains an undisputed fact that Perú and Bolivia had a number of cities with a dense population depending principally upon agriculture, the mining industry being then of little importance, due to the lack of commercial intercourse with the outside world, for excepting the settlements which now comprise Ecuador and Colombia, they were all inhabited by savages.

The Punas Heladas (bleak, frozen regions) of Bolivia, which are at 4,000 meters above the level of the sea, had been the center of an advanced civilization which left the famous ruins of Tiahuanaco, colossal city which must have exceeded in population the city of Cuzco, the capital of the Empire of the Incas, which the Spaniards found there on their arrival in Peru.

The founders of Tiahuanaco were not the miserable Aimarás who were first visited by the Spanish conquerors, but a banished and ignored tribe who were destroyed or compelled to migrate by the advance of a more barbarous and warring nation from the land to the south which is now Argentina.

The whole Tiahuanaco race may have disappeared or been obliged to abandon its native haunts through some change in the living conditions on the lofty Bolivian plateau, which having risen higher through the action of some seismic disturbance became uninhabitable for man and his progeny. For were it not for the vast mineral wealth first found there by the Spaniards — principally silver, which gave more than a thousand million pesos, from the Potosí and other nearby regions — and the rich deposits of lead, copper, tin, etc., which are now being developed, the Puna, that bleak and frozen region, would now be completely deserted. This meseta (plateau) has not always remained at its present elevation, which fact is made evident by the soil of the pampas, composed mostly of sediment such as is deposited under water and not only found on low, level ground but at more than one thousand meters above the sea on the sides of the Cordillera Real of Boli\áa, which slopes as far as the immense desert-like plain called El Chaco.

On the same soil of the pampas, which covers the Argentine plain, and which is to be found at more than one thousand metres elevation, numerous species of fossils have been discovered corresponding to the tiger, the predecessor of the elephant, ape, megatheriums, etc. No better proof than this need be asked to substantiate the fact that the Bolivian plateau has risen considerably higher than its original elevation above sea level.

These changes have occurred quite frequently in South American regions as well as in other parts of the world, as is the case in the desert of Sahara in the African continent, where at one time abundant streams drained its vast domains and luxuriant vegetation and domestic animals of all kinds were to be found ; these included the ox, a likeness of which has been found hewn in the rocks, no doubt carved there by the unknown settler of that unrecorded epoch.

The upheaval of the Alps mountains to beyond a certain height intercepted the northerly rain-laden winds, thereby making a barren, arid desert where once vegetation abounded and beautiful rivers flowed.

The tablelands of Patagonia — a desolate arid region from the Andes to the Atlantic, which Darwin termed "Accursed Land" — possess fossil fauna of mammals similar to that of the pampas, a fauna so rich in species and variety of form (more than 1,500 of the 5,000 known throughout the world) that make this the biggest fossil graveyard of the world.

You may find there all the species of fossils, from the predecessor of the horse to that of the ape, which bears closer physical resemblance to man, not excluding the anthropomorphus of Asia and Africa, the gliptodon which furnished Darwin with material proof for the elucidation of the metamorphosis, for it was this gigantic gliptodon which proved to be the predecessor of the "mulita" of the pampas. The fossil species of La Pampa and Patagonia will be dealt with in another part of the book.

These huge creatures, like the megatherium, the primitive horse and other herbivorous animals, had to have an overabundance of food. The gigantic forests where they wandered at will, stand today petrified mute witnesses attesting to the history of the region.

The change in the elevation of the Andean range in rising to a height that impeded the eastbound course of clouds from the Pacific, which produced rain to feed this flora, gradually caused its disappearance as well as that of the animals. Evidences of this upheaval are found at Mendoza in the pampa soil which formed the prairie now at 1,000 metres above sea level. The changes of La Patagonia are identical to those of the Bolivian plateau.

The theory that the American Indians are descendants of the Mongolians and that the famous plateau of Pamir may have been the cradle of humanity, can not now be accepted. The paleontological records show that the new world of the Spaniards is older than that which was believed to have been the primitive home of man.

The race which inhabited the Andean region at Cuenca on the borders of Lake Titicaca, had reached a high state of civilization, as is verified by the Templo del Sol (Temple of the Sun), the palaces and tombs of the Incas, the highways, the aqueducts and various other improvements, product of engineering skill. Politically, this nation was not as far advanced as others which were considered barbarians, among them the Charrúas, Araucanos and the tribes of the pampas, all of which constituted several true republics where all governmental functions were directed by parliaments or assemblies and where the executive was openly elected by the male members of the tribe. Every Indian was endowed with individual sovereign privileges to freely elect his governing chief, whom he obeyed strictly in all that obedience "was due.

The Quichuas and Aimarás were organized under governments similar to that under the then reigning kings of the Orient and of Egypt, whose subjects blindly obeyed every wish of a potentate whom they had not elected to power, but who had by divine inheritance received the authority to govern.

This socialistic system, wherein the state not only governed but also interfered in every act of the life of the individual, from the cultivation of the soil to even the most harmless diversions, and where the police vigilance had reached the stage where every ten individuals were watched by a sort of deputy who became responsible for the shortcomings of others and such as he himself could not have possibly prevented, had broken up the spirit of individual initiative and spontaneity and caused the people to become accustomed to entirely depend upon and expect everything from the government.

The absolute and complete submission of the Indians to the self-constituted authorities, together with the want of initiative which is the main characteristic of the Andean Indian, was in direct contrast to the aggressiveness of the Pampas, Araucanos, Charrúas and Guaraníes.

The Spaniards with a handful of men subdued powerful nations of millions of inhabitants, by merely mastering the Incas. Pizarro with only 180 soldiers of infantry and thirtyseven of cavalry started from Panama in 1531 to conquer Peru, which was then in itself a powerful empire of several million population, and accomplished his mission, while Don Pedro de Mendoza with more than one thousand men founded the city of Buenos Aires in 1535 and had to abandon it on the following year, after losing half of his men on being attacked by the Querandies and Charrúas.

The Charrúas occupied what is now República Oriental del Uruguay and crossed the river to assist in the expulsion of the invaders. The Spaniards, on being driven from the land which they had temporarily taken possession of and on which site is now situated the city of Buenos Aires, planned to reoccupy it, and returned later with additional reinforcements under the command of Garay, and again founded the city whose inhabitants were constantly engaged in defending themselves from continuous assaults.

Soils, the discoverer of the La Plata River, on attempting to take possession of the territory which is now Republic of Uruguay, was killed, together with some of his companions, by the Charrúas, who very heroically defended their domains.

The Spaniards later planned to found a settlement near the site where Soils died, but the Charrúas burned down the Spanish fortress and drove the Spaniards out of the country.

In 1600, Hernandarias de Saavedra, Governor of Paraguay, thought that the time had come to exterminate the Charrúas, and so, at the head of 600 Spaniards, undertook the journey to Uruguay, where he arrived after a strenuous four months' campaign. The Charrúas engaged him in battle on the banks of the Uruguay and the Spaniards were so decisively defeated that only their leader escaped, according to the Spanish writer Centenera in his book "La Argentina."

This disaster caused Hernandarias to petition the king of Spain, Felipe II, stating that it was impossible to subdue the Charrúas by force of arms and that the missionaries must be resorted to, which proposal was accepted by the king, who sent the first missionaries to the La Plata River.

In subsequent encounters with the Spaniards from time to time, the Indians, now victors, now vanquished, yet never slaves, came into the possession of horses which had been introduced by the Spaniards and became invincible warriors.

The Querandies and other tribes which were never vanquished first fought against the Spaniards, and later met the Argentinos in fierce encounters in the vicinity of Buenos Aires until 1879, when the conquest of the desert was finally accomplished.

The Guaraníes of Paraguay proved no less fearless adversaries in the defense of their native country against the Spaniards who founded Asunción, but instead of resorting to force the subjection of this tribe was at last effected by the Catholic missionaries.

The aggressive character of the people of the southernmost regions of South America was fully demonstrated by their initiative in the war of independence against Spain, for it was the Gauchos of the La Plata River, descendants of the Indians, who were the first to take up arms to fight for their independence. They were the liberators of Bolivia and Peru, and would have gone to Colombia and Venezuela if Bolivar's men of the plains and those of his generals, Paez and Piar, descendants of the Guaranian race, had not ventured upon a like undertaking. Nevertheless, the independence of Peru and Bolivia would not have been secured without the assistance rendered by the Gauchos of La Plata, descendants of the Pampas, Charrúas and Guaraníes, all settlers of the plains.

Conquest of the La Plata Region

Once the discovery of America by Columbus became a realization, Spain and Portugal lent material assistance to the undertakings which resulted in the discovery of South America as a whole, followed by its conquest and its division in almost equal parts between the two.

One of the exploring expeditions, under the command of Juan Diaz de Soils, arrived in 1516 at the mouth of a great river, or more properly speaking, the great estuary which he called Mar Dulce (Fresh Sea), as he admired its immensity. This name was later changed to Rio de La Plata. Soils was killed by the Charrúas on descending to the east side of the river.

Following the same route that Soils had traveled, Hernando Magallanes, Portuguese, in the service of Spain, arrived at Mar Dulce in 1520, and, as one of the members of his crew beheld the hill which rises opposite the capital of the state of Uruguay, exclaimed "Monte-vi-eu^' (Mount saw I), which was later corrupted into Montevideo.

Sebastian Cabot, who had been in the service of England and who discovered part of the North Atlantic coast, came afterwards to take possession of the land and govern it in the name of the sovereigns of Spain. After reaching the La Plata River, Cabot discovered the great river Paraná, ascending it to its affluent, the Bermejo, where he received from the indigenes several pieces of silver, which had probably come from Bolivia. On his return to Spain, Cabot presented the pieces of silver to the court, and the opinion was that this metal was very abundant in the region drained by the river discovered by Soils, and so the name of Mar Dulce was changed to the less appropriate one of Rio de la Plata.

At a later period, in 1535, came Don Pedro de Mendoza with more than one thousand men to substitute Cabot and founded the city of Buenos Aires. The city was attacked by the Indians, who compelled the Spaniards to retire shortly afterwards to the fort of Sancti Spiritus, founded by Cabot on the Paraná.

Mendoza was succeeded by his lieutenant, Ayolas, the founder of the city of Asunción on the river Paraguay. Not long after Ayolas was killed by the Indians, and in his place the settlers of Paraguay elected Domingo Martinez de Yrala provisional governor.

Paraguay, which comprised all the region drained by the rivers La Plata, Paraná and Uruguay, and the capital of which was Asunción, was the first center of civilization in the discovered regions. Yrala was succeeded by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, who in turn was replaced by Ortiz de Zarate, the predecessor of Don Juan de Garay, who again founded the city of Buenos Aires in 1580. Hernando Arias de Saavedra, who was afterwards elected Governor by the settlers and his election confirmed by the Crown, was the last of the conquerors of the La Plata, a native of Asunción.

In 1617 the vast territory of which Asunción was the capital city was divided into two parts: Paraguay on the north, and what was termed Province of Buenos Aires on the south, which comprised Buenos Aires and the adjacent territory lying between the rivers Paraná and Uruguay, also the lands to the east of Uruguay to the Atlantic, called Banda Oriental (Eastern Bank), inhabited by such fierce tribes as the Charrúas, Yaros and Minuanos.

The latter was a specially important region for the reason that the livestock which had been abandoned by the Spaniards years before had rapidly multiplied. On the other hand, Paraguay was far richer in food vegetable products than what the Guaraníes, a less combative tribe, had to offer to the conquerors.

This abundance of livestock prompted the Spaniards to colonize the Banda Oriental. The first settlement, known as Santo Domingo de Soriano, was founded in 1624 on the river Negro, a big inland stream, and at a point not far from tlie river Uruguay in one of the most fertile regions and where livestock thrived best. The settlement of San Salvador, which had been founded there previously, had to be abandoned, due to attacks by the Indians.

Condition of the Indians of South America During the

Conquest

Before the establishment of missions the Indian subjects were distributed among the Spanish leaders, and formed what were known as Encomiendas^ comtiements of con- poscd of ludiaus of both sexcs employed in

different kinds of work for the exclusive profit of their masters. According to regulation these Indians could not be sold, neither could they be mistreated nor driven out on account of illness or old age. Thus did Yrala organize the first Reducciones of the Indians taken prisoners. Whenever they submitted voluntarily they were gathered together in villages, with their chief at the head under the denomination Encomienda Mitayo, which was awarded as a prize to the chief.

These groups were not as much sought as those known as Yanacones, as only two months work from each man per year was allowed for the benefit of the Spaniards, and, besides, under the same arrangement, the women, children and chiefs were exempt from all work.

Through repeated complaints, which the Auditor of Charcas investigated in 1612 previous to action upon them, all personal work was abolished and recommendation made that the new settlements be left to the Jesuits.

The Jesuits who had been summoned in 1609 established themselves at La Guaira, opposite the famous cascades which are formed by the Paraná, and founded the Reducción of Loreto and others, which, after attacks by the Mamelucos of San Paulo, were transferred to the site of the present day missions comprising the territory between the upper Paraná and the upper Uruguay at the bend where the former turns eastwardly. This took place in 1631, when the Reducciones of Corpus, San Ignacio, etc., were founded and which constituted the Western Missions, now the mission territory in Argentina.

Each villa or tribe was entrusted to two Jesuits, who were absolute owners of all the property and who disposed of everything at will. There was a Municipal Council in each settlement, but nominally only, as the Jesuits were the masters. All the work of cultivation, construction and lesser industries performed by the Indians was for the benefit of the Order of Jesuits, which fed them, clothed them and furnished them with all the necessaries of a simple life.

Azara, the celebrated Spanish sage, who planned the boundaries between the Spanish and Portuguese possessions, in speaking of the Missions, gave accurate information regarding these settlements.

All Indians between the ages of eighteen and fifty years paid annually one peso per head to the Royal Treasury, and in addition, each tribe had to contribute 600 pesos.

In order to isolate their settlements from commercial intercourse with all other peoples, the Jesuits separated each tribe by deep pits and stockades and built big gates, under guards, at points on the roads leading to and from the settlement, allowing no one to enter or leave without a written order. They permitted horseback riding only to those of the Indians who looked after the livestock. The Jesuits had provided themselves with cannon and equipment and built adequate fortifications.

When the Jesuits refused admittance not only to the Indians and the Spanish authorities, but to the priests as well, it was the impression that they intended the organization of a Jesuitical empire. Azara says : "The dances which the Jesuits introduced among their tribes consisted largely of instruction in fencing and the use of the sword, as I have myself seen. The women were never allowed to dance."

The Jesuits were English, Italian and German, and the

KEGION OF THE LA PLATA KIVER 11

few Spanish among them had neither office nor authority. The Spanish Government limited itself to telling the Jesuits, after a century and a half, that it was time to grant some liberty to the Indians by permitting them to have selfgoverning powers, the right to trade and transact business with the Spaniards, and in fact, that they should be extricated from the confinement in which they were kept like so many rabbits in a warren.

The Jesuits stated that the Indians were not capable of governing themselves and promised to gradually reestablish private property, which in fact did not exist, as everything belonged to the Order. Each family was assigned a small piece of ground for cultivation two days out of each week for their own benefit. But inasmuch as the Indians could not sell their produce the arrangement was of no advantage to them for the reason that the Order paid for their products just what it saw fit. In the end, according to the Indians, the Jesuits disposed of the products of these properties together with their own.

"It is beyond all doubt," says Azara, "that the Jesuits governed these tribes arbitrarily, they themselves not being responsible to any one, and disposed of the properties of the different settlements and the individual work of the Indians just as freely as was done by the Indian chiefs who succeeded them, though the Jesuits were more considerate, only requiring them to work half of the day, amused them with dancing, festivals and tournaments and supplied them with sufficient food and clothing. All needlework was assigned to the musicians, sextons and choir boys, as the women attended only to the knitting of the cotton."

Manufactures by the Indians of fabrics, cotton and tobacco, as well as mate (Brazilian holly), vegetables and medicinal herbs, were transported to other cities and there sold in order to bring other articles back. The churches, which were sumptuously adorned, consumed a large portion of the income.

A decree calling for the expulsion of the Jesuits from

12 SOUTH AMEEICA PAST AND PRESENT

their domains was issued on February 27, 1767, by Carlos III, but the mandate was not complied with until the following year for fear of an uprising. The Indians did not want to obey the Spanish civilian authorities who were in conflict with the clergy, and in all disputes upheld the latter. These disputes brought about the downfall of the missions and caused the scattering of the Indians throughout the forests, ñnally reducing their number from 144,000 in 1767 to only 45,000 in 1804.

Were the Jesuits good colonizers and did they prove good sponsors of civilization? I say. No. To civilize does not mean merely to feed and clothe and impart an appearance of culture, but it means enlightenment as to the duties and privileges that all free men have in order to stabilize society so that civil equality may make of each man a social entity capable of successfully contributing to the solidarity of a nation.

The Jesuits could have accomplished this after one and a half centuries of rule, but they failed, as is proven by the fact that on their disappearance all else went with them and only the ruins of the temples remained. They did not construct, for after one and a half centuries — according to themselves— the Indians were not capable of self-government.

"To deprive a people from practicing self-government because of incapability,'^ says Macaulay, "is as irrational as it is to refuse to operate for cataract on the eye of a patient for the reason that he will not be able to at ñrst see the objects before him, the retina not being used to the light, but which faculty can be acquired after training the eye as to distance by the necessary reaction on the optic nerve."

The same thing is true of the Paraguayan Indians of the time of Francia and López, who after forty years of domination had not organized even one tribe capable of self-government, but who governed by tyranny, notwithstanding the fact that this tribe by its material progress bore evidence of a modern race.

KEGION OF THE LA PLATA RIVER 13

The Argentinian, Agustín Alvarez, says in one of hi» well-known works : 'The races of mankind are not improved by their ethnical but by their mental transformation, for the ability to succeed does not take root in the skin or the bony framework of man ; neither is man's value based, as is that of the ox, on the load that it pulls, value of its hide, tissue, fat and bone. Improvement in the breeding of livestock is merely physical, but the development of the human race must be accomplished through the spirit."

To quote Horace Mann: "The opinion of the most competent, most tranquil, most experienced instructors of the young, is, that we can within two or three generations through our school system and without undue sacrifice have this beautiful dream come true (he referred to the reformation of corrupted humanity) and see the best wishes of all philanthropists fulfilled. The value of the school is insuperable. It will before long, before the lapse of centuries, yes, within two or three generations, bring about the modification of the races. There are neither young nor old nations, neither are there superior nor inferior nations." And neither are the Latin people inferior to the Germans, as these latter in their delirium had come to believe, nor are the Latin races inferior to the Anglo-Saxon, or these to the Latin, whose highly developed culture has at times charmed and dazzled them, as is demonstrated by history in the alternating predominance of first one nation and then another.

Predominance comes during an historical period to the most highly intellectual, the most industrious and the most perseverant nation of that particular period. Japan, next to China, is the oldest civilized nation in the world, but having adopted the educational system of the Occidentals, it is to-day a young nation in the Eastern Hemisphere and its intellectual men are among the most renowned in medicine and other sciences. The Americans have demonstrated the truth of the assertion by Horace Mann, by transforming, in less than a quarter of a century, the mental development of the Filipinos raised and educated under the antiquated political rule of Spain.

Social Condition of the Indians Under Spanish Domination

"No more miserable and humiliating condition of humanity can be pictured than was that of the Indians at work in the fields. One of the iniquitous laws of the colonies, the personal tribute of the Mitas (enforced service of Indians) remained in force after independence till 1857. From each settlement a certain number of indigenes was recruited annually to contribute during the year to the work in the mines, on the farms in the cultivation of the soil or the raising of livestock, and in the shops where the tocuyo (shirting) fabrics were designed. The Indians thus forced to serve were called Conciertos/'

"Whoever consults the Noticias Secretas (secret notes) of Jorje Juan and Antonio de Ulloa, wherein the system of Mitas is portrayed as it was carried on during the latter period of the Colonies, and how without any material difference it existed until the middle of the nineteenth century, can feel that deep melancholia emanating from a clear vision of the abyss of human wickedness. Obstinate Indians were dragged to the shops' prison by tying their hair to the tail of the rider's horse. Only one of every ten of those thus forced to slavery ever returned alive."

"In order to still further torment the Mitayo (Indian subject to Mitas) and humble his last remaining particle of self-esteem they would further punish him by cutting his hair to the roots, which punishment was to him the worst of ignominy. All this painful discipline has created in the heart of the Indian not only the habit but the necessity of suffering. Whenever treated kindly he appears nonplussed and believes that he is being deceived. On the other hand, he becomes accustomed to the harshest tyranny, with the half -harrowing, half -repugnant meekness of a much abused and despised canine, and as is often the case with the common watchdog that feels neglected and leaves home after a prolonged lapse of time between whippings."

"At the time of the abolition of the unjust personal tribute exacted under the rule of Robles, many were the Indians that became frightened at the new order of things and acted as if a revered tradition was being violated and became homesick for the old slavery days. Away from the spur and influence of chastisement the Indian is indolent and weak. No promise can be made that he will believe nor reward big enough to stimulate him. It is not within the scope of his understanding that labor is ennobling and should be voluntary. He has neither love of freedom nor idea of rights."

"The emancipation movement as regards Spain at the time of the liberal yet unfortunate uprising of 1809, also the ephemeral declaration of independence two years later, and finally the adhesion to the triumphal impulse of Bolivar's hosts, were the achievement of the few settled and cultured Creoles in whom the inspiration to be free was uppermost and ranked above all else. The idea of mother country and patriotic passion for same were conceived at the hidalgos (public meeting houses) of the cities where the traditional rivalry between ^chapetones' (imported Spaniards) and Creoles was self-evident."

"The motley crowd of indigenes remained untouched by the idea and the love, even though it be sent forth as a horde or an army, its share of unredeemable blood to pay. Plebeian liberty did not obtain in them that heroic and genial incarnation which evolved into sculptural alignments within the breast of the Gauchos of the La Plata and within the plainsman of other parts of Colombia and in Venezuela. Even long after the revolution it often happened that the Ganan Indian of the haciendas, ignoring the existence of the nation, believed that the mita to which he was subject was imposed yet in the king's name."