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The constitution of the Argentine Republic
The constitution of the Argentine Republic Author:Argentina Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: chapter{Section 4chapter{Section 5I. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. The territory which to-day comprises the Argentine Republic, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia, o... more »riginally belonged to the powerful vice-royalty of Peru, although, with the exception of Bolivia, it bore very little resemblance to Peru proper. The lands watered by the Parana and La Plata were thinly populated by Indians belonging to the Aucan tribes, a race savage and hard to civilize, while the Quichua Indians of Upper and Lower Peru were docile and had already submitted to a completely organized government. The colonization of the two regions was also widely different. In Peru Spanish rule was substituted for the government of the Incas by means of violence, perfidy, and cruel rapacity. In the regions watered by the great rivers small groups of adventurers, widely scattered over a vast territory, carried on constant warfare with the natives and subdued them with difficulty. The occupation of these early settlers was cattle raising, the broad and fertile pampas offering them ample opportunities for this industry. The herdsmen gathered together in groups and thus formed the nucleus of towns, which, from the nature of their inhabitants, were far apart with wide stretches of country between, and were the foundation of future independent provinces. Another strong and formative influence was the fact that the Portuguese of Brazil early showed a desire to invade the territories of Uruguay and Paraguay and possess themselves of the fertile lands bordering on the River Plate, and the necessity of self-defense fostered in the Spaniards the spirit of independence. These three considerations, the character of the original inhabitants, the chief occupation of the colonists, and the necessity of self-defense and self-government...« less