You may be wondering what Argentina’s 200th birthday has to do with laws and languages, honestly, when I set out to write this post I was wondering the same thing. Since I live in Argentina, I wanted to honor my country of residence with a little something on its big day and, as it turned out, there was something law and language related to blog about. But first, a little background info.

Background Info

Contrary to popular belief, Argentina is not exactly celebrating the bicentennial of its independence; it’s celebrating the bicentennial of a series of revolutionary events that occurred mainly throughout the week known as Semana de Mayo, which ultimately lead to its independence and, much further down the line, to its first constitution. During Semana de Mayo, viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, who had been appointed by the Spanish crown, was removed from power by the Primera Junta (First Assembly). This Assembly, which was officially named the Junta Provisional Gubernativa de las Provincias del Río de la Plata a nombre del Señor Don Fernando VII (Provisional Governing Assembly of the Provinces of Río de la Plata in the Name of Señor Don Ferdinand VII) was originally created to govern in the name of the King of Spain, who at the time, was being held prisoner by Napoleon Bonaparte. Assemblies like the First Assembly emerged during the Napoleonic invasion of Spanish cities and occurred throughout much of what today is Latin America. They were not a form of independence, but rather a form of transitional or emergency government designed to maintain Spanish sovereignty.

However, through this revolutionary process, Spanish Juntas (Assemblies) began to lose power, particularly Junta de Sevilla, their main Assembly, which claimed sovereignty over all overseas possessions. Although the First Assembly did not recognize the independence of the Argentine state and governed mainly in the name of the Spanish crown, many historians believe this was a mask (known as the Mask of Fernando VII) covering the true revolutionary intentions of the political leaders of the time. Nonetheless, it was the first organized form of government of what would later become the Argentine state. Argentina did not declare its independence until July 9, 1816, but according to historians, that declaration would not have been possible without the First Assembly and the leaders and philosophy it helped to create.

The Language of the Revolution

From a linguistic point of view, reading about the revolution was fascinating. Although most historians describe a country that was ethnically divided between Spaniards, criollos, gauchos, native americans, etc. in all the historical texts cited, the leaders of the time referred to the people as one: el pueblo; thus transmitting a sense of unity that contradicts historical accounts and, which years later, would be reflected in the first draft of the constitution.

Something else I found interesting was that while the First Assembly was being formed there was an open, mass meeting, known as el Cabildo (taking its name from the government building in front of which it took place) where the people discussed and voted on certain key issues –except the people did not include women and only included upper class males of Spanish descent; therefore rendering the use of the word open quite questionable when historians refer to this meeting as a Cabildo Abierto. The people that were not allowed to participate in this open meeting gathered in the historical square known as Plaza de Mayo.

Regardless of what can only be described in our time as the linguistic inconsistencies that surrounded the First Assembly, the truth is the smart use of words and expressions like the people, open assembly, etc. created a sense of unity and freedom that clearly paved the way to Argentine Independence, the creation of the constitution (much further down the line), and what ultimately would become the Argentine people; who today are celebrating 200 years as such. This post, however, is just a reminder of the important role simple little words played in making that all possible.