Tensions Emerging within the Argentine Society in the Closing of the 19th Century
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Tensions Emerging within the Argentine Society in the Closing of the 19th Century
Located in the southernmost part of South America, having a variety of climates from the warmest tropical jungles to the frigid Antarctic, is a country that was once a source of hope for many Europeans, namely Argentina. From traditionally having an economy based on the exportation of beef, wool, hides, and corn, in the closing half of the century, Argentina transformed towards industrialization and openness to prosperity and progress. In the process of consolidation and forming an identity as a nation, liberals promoted and fostered European immigration as a way to attain civilization and progress in the nineteenth century. This essay discusses the tensions pertaining to immigration and popular classes in Argentina in the closing of the nineteenth century.
Intellectuals in Argentina in the nineteenth century found a justification for immigration citing that it would bring modernization and progress as a country. Predictions were that the Europeans would shake Argentina and Chile out of their traditional mold and make them dynamic, powerful, and civilized. The foreign population would promote economic, cultural progress and economic development. Advocates of liberal social philosophy laid down ideologies which would give the immigration phenomenon a scientific justification. They opined that society could be studied scientifically like other natural sciences, an observation that was likely to bring about social laws which would be applied universally.
The positivist ideas brought about race concerns around Argentina. At the time, Argentina population was divided into upper and lower classes. Many thinkers subscribed to the arguments of biological determinists that non-whites are inferior and condemned mixed races. Similarly, the upper-class and intellectuals in Argentina viewed dark skinned individuals are being culturally inferior to their white counterparts. The idea was that the natives would never bring progress or order to the nation. Whitening the population through intermarriage with Europeans was one of the many reasons for immigration. Even with intellectuals claiming that immigration was the best way to attain population growth, immigration remained to be the best option for attaining population growth required for economic and cultural progress. Ironically, foreigners were always considered as outsiders and despite dwelling there for good and raising families on Argentian soil.
Alberdi was a member of the ’37 generation that drafted the constitutional proposal to the federal in 1853 that set the foundation for modern-day Argentina. Alberdi’s most significant ideas revolved around the concern he had for this race and population. Juan Alberdi was renowned for his infamous dictum “Governar es poblar,” which translates to “to govern is to populate.” By asserting that to govern is to populate, Alberdi gives broad meaning to the term populate-one that embraces economic development, immigration, and moral and cultural improvement. In the mid-1800s, Argentina practiced liberal ideas hence promoting unrestricted immigration that provides cheap labor for the nation’s prosperity and growth. Alberdi did not favor the native Argentineans in populating his nation, but instead his hope was to boost population density using people of better quality from the race that were most civilized. Alberta believed immigration was a way of progressing and culturing Americans. Sarmiento, like Alberdi favored European arts, immigration, education, culture, and architecture. He was a great diplomat, educator, and president of Argentina (Alberdi, 36). His slogan was “to govern is to educate.” He tried to attain social, economic, and political freedom as well as prosperity and progress for the American people.
References
Alberdi, Juan Bautista. “Immigration as a Means of Progress.” The Argentina Reader. Duke University Press, 2002. 95-102.
