Mariano Moreno
Encyclopedia
Mariano Moreno was an Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 lawyer, journalist, and politician. He played a decisive role in the Primera Junta
Primera Junta
The Primera Junta or First Assembly is the most common name given to the first independent government of Argentina. It was created on 25 May 1810, as a result of the events of the May Revolution. The Junta initially had representatives from only Buenos Aires...

, the first national government of Argentina, created after the May Revolution
May Revolution
The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish colony that included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay...

.

Moreno was born in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

 in 1778. His father was Manuel Moreno y Argumosa, born in Santander
Santander, Cantabria
The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...

, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, who arrived in the city in 1776 and married María del Valle. Mariano was the firstborn of the Moreno family, and had thirteen brothers. During his youth he studied Latin, logic, and philosophy at San Carlos Royal College, followed by college studies of law at Chuquisaca. During these studies, he learned the new ideas of the Spanish Enlightenment. He married María Guadalupe Cuenca and returned to Buenos Aires, becoming a prominent lawyer for the Cabildo
Buenos Aires Cabildo
The Buenos Aires Cabildo is the public building in Buenos Aires that was used as seat of the ayuntamiento during the colonial times and the government house of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata...

. Unlike most other criollos
Criollo people
The Criollo class ranked below that of the Iberian Peninsulares, the high-born permanent residence colonists born in Spain. But Criollos were higher status/rank than all other castes—people of mixed descent, Amerindians, and enslaved Africans...

, he rejected the Carlotist
Carlotism
Carlotism was a political movement that took place in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata between 1808 and 1812; it intended to make Carlota Joaquina of Spain its queen. After Napoleon's invasion of Spain, Fernando VII was forced to abdicate and give the throne to Joseph Bonaparte...

 project and the administration of Santiago de Liniers
Santiago de Liniers
Jacques de Liniers was a French officer in the Spanish military service, and a viceroy of the Spanish colonies of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. He is more widely known by the Spanish form of his name, Santiago de Liniers...

, joining instead the ill-fated mutiny of Álzaga
Mutiny of Álzaga
The Mutiny of Álzaga was an ill-fated attempt to remove Santiago de Liniers as viceroy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. It took place on January 1, 1809, and it was led by the merchant Martín de Álzaga...

 against him. He worked for the next viceroy, Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros
Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros
Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros de la Torre was a Spanish naval officer born in Cartagena. He took part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent and the Battle of Trafalgar, and in the Spanish resistance against Napoleon's invasion in 1808. He was later appointed Viceroy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la...

. He wrote the economic paper The Representation of the Hacendados
The Representation of the Hacendados
The Representation of the Landowners is an 1809 economic report written by Mariano Moreno that described the economy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. It was written by Moreno on behalf of the Hacendados , to request the then viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros to reconsider the...

, which persuaded the viceroy to open trade with Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

Although he was not prominently involved in the May Revolution that deposed Cisneros, he was appointed as secretary of war of the new government, the Primera Junta. Along with Juan José Castelli
Juan José Castelli
Juan José Castelli was an Argentine lawyer. He was one of the leaders of the May Revolution, which started the Argentine War of Independence...

, he promoted harsh policies against the supporters of the former government and the strengthening of the new one. These policies were detailed at a secret document, the Operations plan
Operations plan
Operations plan is a secret document attributed to Mariano Moreno, that set harsh ways for the Primera Junta to achieve its goals...

; some historians dispute its authorship. Moreno organized military campaigns to Paraguay
Paraguay campaign
The Paraguay campaign was the attempt by a Buenos Aires sponsored militia, commanded by Manuel Belgrano, to win the Intendency of Paraguay for the revolutionary cause. The first battle was fought in Campichuelo and the Argentines claimed victory. However, they were completely vanquished in the...

 and Upper Peru, and ensured the execution of Santiago de Liniers after the defeat of his counter-revolution
Liniers Counter-revolution
When the May Revolution took place in Buenos Aires in 1810, the former viceroy Santiago de Liniers led an ill-fated counter-revolutionary attempt from the city of Córdoba. It was quickly thwarted by the patriotic forces from Buenos Aires led by Ortiz de Ocampo, who captured the leaders and...

. He established the first Argentine newspaper, La Gazeta de Buenos Ayres
Gazeta de Buenos Ayres
The Gazeta de Buenos Ayres was a newspaper created in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1810. It was initially used to give publicity to the government actions of the Primera Junta, the first Argentine government...

, and translated Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...

's The Social Contract into Spanish.

When the Junta achieved the first military victories, President Cornelio Saavedra
Cornelio Saavedra
Cornelio Judas Tadeo de Saavedra y Rodríguez was a military officer and statesman from the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata...

 opposed Moreno, favoring moderate policies instead. Allied with Gregorio Funes
Gregorio Funes
Gregorio Funes , also known as Deán Funes, was an Argentine clergyman, educator, historian, and lawmaker who played a significant role in his nation's early, post-independence history.-Early life and the priesthood:...

, Saavedra expanded the number of members of the Junta to leave Morenism in a minority. With disputes still going on, Moreno was appointed to a diplomatic mission to Britain, but died at sea on the way there. His brother considered that he was poisoned. His supporters were still an influential political party for some years after his death. Historians hold several perspectives about the role and historical significance of Moreno, from hagiography
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...

 to repudiation. He is considered the precursor of Argentine journalism.

Birth and studies

Mariano Moreno was the son of Manuel Moreno y Argumosa and Ana Maria Valle, a poor family with fourteen children. He studied at Colegio Grande de San Carlos
Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires
Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires is a public high school in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the tradition of the European gymnasium it provides a free education that includes classical languages such as Latin and Greek. The school is one of the most prestigious in Argentina...

 (now Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires), graduating with an honor diploma. He met influential people within the literary field, which meant he could continue his studies at the University of Chuquisaca, even when his father could not afford the cost. This was the only big university in South America at the time. He studied the books of Montesquieu, Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...

, Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....

, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...

, and other European philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...

. He studied English and French languages as well, to understand authors from Britain and France. This allowed him to work as a translator, and he spent several years working with Rousseau's The Social Contract. Moreno was convinced that society could be changed by the power of intelligence and reason.

He also studied philosophical texts of the Spanish Enlightenment under the tutelage of the priest Terrazas, and aspired to implement the new ideas in his country. He wrote a thesis with strong criticism of the native slavery
Slavery in the Spanish New World colonies
Slavery in the Spanish colonies began with the enslavement of the local indigenous peoples in their homelands by Spanish settlers. Enslavement and production quotas were used to force the local labor to bring a return on the expedition and colonization investments...

 at the mines of Potosí
Potosí
Potosí is a city and the capital of the department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the highest cities in the world by elevation at a nominal . and it was the location of the Spanish colonial mint, now the National Mint of Bolivia...

, influenced by the Spanish jurist Juan de Solorzano Pereira, the foremost publisher of Indian Law, and Victoria Villalva, fiscal of the Audiencia of Charcas and defender of the indigenous cause.

He started his professional career between 1803 and 1804, in the office of Augustine Gascón, officiating as labour counselor for Indians. As a result, he confronted powerful people like the mayors of Cochabamba
Cochabamba
Cochabamba is a city in central Bolivia, located in a valley bearing the same name in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and is the fourth largest city in Bolivia with an urban population of 608,276 and a metropolitan population of more than 1,000,000 people...

 and Chayanta
Chayanta
Chayanta is:*Chayanta Province, a province in the Potosí Department in Bolivia*Chayanta Municipality, a municipio in the Rafael Bustillo Province in Bolivia*Chayanta, Bolivia, a small town in the Chayanta Municipality in Bolivia...

. He left the city after being threatened, and returned to Buenos Aires in 1805 with his wife Maria Guadalupe Cuenca and their newborn son. Once in the city, he became a reporter of the hearings of the Royal Audiencia, a local appeal court. The Buenos Aires Cabildo
Buenos Aires Cabildo
The Buenos Aires Cabildo is the public building in Buenos Aires that was used as seat of the ayuntamiento during the colonial times and the government house of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata...

, the local council, hired him as an advisor as well. He defended Melchor Fernández, aggrieved by Bishop Benito Lue y Riega, in one of his first cases. In another of his early disputes he backed the Cabildo in denying the appointment as an ensign of the young Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino de la Trinidad Gónzalez Rivadavia y Rivadavia was the first president of Argentina, from February 8, 1826 to July 7, 1827 . He was a politician of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata, Argentina today...

.

A British army invaded Buenos Aires in 1806, starting the British invasions of the Río de la Plata
British invasions of the Río de la Plata
The British invasions of the Río de la Plata were a series of unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of the Spanish colonies located around the La Plata Basin in South America . The invasions took place between 1806 and 1807, as part of the Napoleonic Wars, when Spain was an ally of...

. Although Moreno was not actively involved with the military counter-offensive which drove them out, he opposed the British presence in Buenos Aires. He wrote a diary that noted all the events, so that, in the future, his countrymen would know the circumstances that allowed such an invasion. The British made a new attack in 1807, this time invading at Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...

. They edited a bilingual English–Spanish newspaper known as "The Southern Star
The Southern Star (Montevideo)
The Southern Star / La Estrella del sur was a bilingual newspaper edited in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1807. It was the first newspaper edited in the city, but its publishing lasted only for a pair months, when Montevideo was under British rule during the second British invasions of the Río de la Plata...

" or "La estrella del sur" (the newspaper used both names in conjunction). It advocated free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...

, a British goal, and promoted American independence under British protection. The Royal Audiencia of Buenos Aires banned the newspaper and requested Moreno to write articles refuting those of the British publication. Moreno refused because, although he did not accept British rule, he agreed with some of their criticisms of the Spanish government.

First political activities

Although Mariano Moreno was a criollo
Criollo people
The Criollo class ranked below that of the Iberian Peninsulares, the high-born permanent residence colonists born in Spain. But Criollos were higher status/rank than all other castes—people of mixed descent, Amerindians, and enslaved Africans...

, a Spanish citizen born in the Americas, he did not work with the other criollos of Buenos Aires who sought to promote political changes against the privileges of the Spanish-born. Unlike Manuel Belgrano
Manuel Belgrano
Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano , usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano, was an Argentine economist, lawyer, politician, and military leader. He took part in the Argentine Wars of Independence and created the Flag of Argentina...

 or Juan José Castelli
Juan José Castelli
Juan José Castelli was an Argentine lawyer. He was one of the leaders of the May Revolution, which started the Argentine War of Independence...

, he did not support viceroy Liniers or the Carlotist
Carlotism
Carlotism was a political movement that took place in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata between 1808 and 1812; it intended to make Carlota Joaquina of Spain its queen. After Napoleon's invasion of Spain, Fernando VII was forced to abdicate and give the throne to Joseph Bonaparte...

 project, which sought the coronation of Carlota of Spain in the Americas. He joined mayor Martín de Álzaga
Martín de Álzaga
Martín 'Macoco' de Álzaga was an Argentine racecar driver.-Indy 500 results:-External links:*...

 instead, which allowed him to serve as legal adviser of the Cabildo. In that capacity, he wrote a petition to the King of Spain, so that the Buenos Aires Cabildo
Buenos Aires Cabildo
The Buenos Aires Cabildo is the public building in Buenos Aires that was used as seat of the ayuntamiento during the colonial times and the government house of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata...

 was named Protector of the Cabildos of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. As a result, all petitions from local cabildos to the King or the Viceroy would be channeled through the Cabildo at the capital.

Martín de Álzaga organized a mutiny
Mutiny of Álzaga
The Mutiny of Álzaga was an ill-fated attempt to remove Santiago de Liniers as viceroy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. It took place on January 1, 1809, and it was led by the merchant Martín de Álzaga...

 on January 1, 1809, and Moreno joined it. Álzaga aspired to replace Viceroy Santiago de Liniers
Santiago de Liniers
Jacques de Liniers was a French officer in the Spanish military service, and a viceroy of the Spanish colonies of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. He is more widely known by the Spanish form of his name, Santiago de Liniers...

 with a government Junta
Junta (Peninsular War)
In the Napoleonic era, junta was the name chosen by several local administrations formed in Spain during the Peninsular War as a patriotic alternative to the official administration toppled by the French invaders...

, after learning of the capture of the Spanish King Ferdinand VII during the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...

 and the creation of the Junta of Seville. If it prevailed, Mariano Moreno would have been part of the new Junta. The mutiny was defeated by the swift reaction of Cornelio Saavedra
Cornelio Saavedra
Cornelio Judas Tadeo de Saavedra y Rodríguez was a military officer and statesman from the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata...

, in command of the Regiment of Patricians, who dispersed the crowd and persuaded Liniers not to abdicate. It is disputed by historians whenever the mutiny had similar or opposite goals to those of the May Revolution
May Revolution
The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish colony that included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay...

 that would take place a year later. The historians who support the latter perspective try to make attempts to excuse or justify Moreno's involvement; those who support the former consider instead that Moreno was a revolutionary a year before most other Argentines. Moreno was Álzaga's lawyer in the trial that followed, which was labeled a trial for independentism. Liniers did not extend the trial to Moreno himself, for reasons unknown.

Liniers was succeeded by Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros
Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros
Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros de la Torre was a Spanish naval officer born in Cartagena. He took part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent and the Battle of Trafalgar, and in the Spanish resistance against Napoleon's invasion in 1808. He was later appointed Viceroy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la...

 a few months later, who pardoned the mutineers to reduce political conflicts. Cisneros allowed free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...

 as well, as instructed by the Junta of Seville, which benefited British merchants; Britain was allied with Spain in the Peninsular War. The agents of the Consulate of Cadiz asserted that this would hurt the local economy, moral values, social usages, religious practices, and the loyalty to Spain and its monarchy. As a result, Cisneros closed trade again, restoring the Spanish monopsony. A group of hacendados (owners of hacienda
Hacienda
Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...

s), who did not feel adequately represented at the Cabildo, asked Moreno to defend them. Moreno wrote The Representation of the Hacendados
The Representation of the Hacendados
The Representation of the Landowners is an 1809 economic report written by Mariano Moreno that described the economy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. It was written by Moreno on behalf of the Hacendados , to request the then viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros to reconsider the...

, a report that represented the export interest of the hacendados, encouraged free trade, and condemned the privileges of the merchants benefited from the monopsony. It is considered the most comprehensive economic report from the time of the viceroyalty. It represented the new European economic ideas, and noted that the legal monopsony with Spain did not prevent British goods from being smuggled. Several authors have questioned Moreno's authorship of the paper, considering it instead an update of another, previously drafted by Manuel Belgrano
Manuel Belgrano
Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano , usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano, was an Argentine economist, lawyer, politician, and military leader. He took part in the Argentine Wars of Independence and created the Flag of Argentina...

, Secretary of the Commerce Consulate of Buenos Aires
Commerce Consulate of Buenos Aires
The Commerce Consulate of Buenos Aires was one of the most important institutions of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, along with the viceroy, the Cabildo and the religious ones.The Consulate was built in 1794 at the request of local merchants...

, written to make a similar request to the former viceroy Liniers. This report, as well as Moreno's prestige in the colonial society, helped him gain the confidence of Cisneros. Yet secretly, Moreno supported the plan to dismiss the Viceroy.

Primera Junta

Mariano Moreno had several contacts with groups seeking the removal of Cisneros, but was not strongly involved with the May Revolution
May Revolution
The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish colony that included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay...

, which considered the fall of the Junta of Seville a reason to depose the viceroy and create a local junta. At the time, Moreno was still loyal to Álzaga. He attended the May 22 open Cabildo
Open cabildo
The open cabildo was a special mode of assembly of the inhabitants of Latin American cities during the Spanish colonial period, in case of emergencies or disasters. Usually, the colonial cities were governed by a Cabildo, municipal-type institutions composed of officials appointed by the colonial...

, but according to the father of Vicente Fidel López
Vicente Fidel López
Vicente Fidel López was an Argentine historian, lawyer and politician. He was a son of writer and politician Vicente López y Planes.-Biography:...

 and the father-in-law of Bartolomé Mitre
Bartolomé Mitre
Bartolomé Mitre Martínez was an Argentine statesman, military figure, and author. He was the President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868.-Life and times:...

 (both direct witness) he stayed silent at one side and did not join the debate. He voted for Saavedra's proposal: to remove viceroy Cisneros and replace him with a Junta. Manuel Hermenegildo Aguirre, captain of hussars, proposed that the Cabildo take the reins of government, with five men appointed as counselors, Moreno among them. However, nobody else voted for that proposal, and it was the only one that included him. Moreno felt betrayed when the Cabildo twisted the results of the open Cabildo and created a Junta that would be headed by Cisneros. He refused any further contacts with the revolutionaries and stayed home during the remaining events. The definitive members of the Junta came from a popular petition signed on May 25, which was given to the Cabildo. The reasons of Moreno's inclusion in the list are unclear, as with all other members of the Junta. A commonly accepted theory considers it to be a balance between Carlotists and Alzaguists
Martín de Álzaga
Martín 'Macoco' de Álzaga was an Argentine racecar driver.-Indy 500 results:-External links:*...

.

The Junta faced strong opposition from the beginning: it was resisted locally by the Cabildo
Buenos Aires Cabildo
The Buenos Aires Cabildo is the public building in Buenos Aires that was used as seat of the ayuntamiento during the colonial times and the government house of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata...

 and the Royal Audiencia, still loyal to the absolutist factions; the nearby plazas of Montevideo and Paraguay did not recognize it; and Santiago de Liniers organized a counter-revolution at Córdoba
Córdoba, Argentina
Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with...

. Mariano Moreno, an unimportant politician up to that point, became the leader of the most radical supporters of the Junta. He was supported by the popular leaders Domingo French
Domingo French
Domingo French was an Argentine revolutionary who took part in the May Revolution and the Argentine War of Independence.- Biography :...

 and Antonio Beruti
Antonio Beruti
Antonio Luis Beruti was an Argentine revolutionary who participated in the May Revolution that started the Argentine War of Independence, and later fought in the Argentine civil wars....

, Dupuy, Donado, Orma, and Cardozo; and priests like Grela and Aparicio. Historian Carlos Ibarguren
Carlos Ibarguren
Carlos Ibarguren Uriburu was an Argentine academic, historian and politician. As a writer he was noted as one of the foremost academics of the history of Argentina as well as a leading expert on constitutional law...

 described that Morenist youths roamed the streets preaching new ideas to each pedestrian they found, turned the "Marcos" coffee shop into a political hall, and proposed that all social classes should be illustrated. Manuel Belgrano
Manuel Belgrano
Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano , usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano, was an Argentine economist, lawyer, politician, and military leader. He took part in the Argentine Wars of Independence and created the Flag of Argentina...

 and Juan José Castelli
Juan José Castelli
Juan José Castelli was an Argentine lawyer. He was one of the leaders of the May Revolution, which started the Argentine War of Independence...

 supported Moreno within the Junta, and French was promoted to Colonel of the regiment "América". This regiment, also known as "The Star" because of a star that they wore on their sleeves, was composed of radical youths led by French during the riots of the May Revolution.

Moreno established the official newspaper Gazeta de Buenos Ayres
Gazeta de Buenos Ayres
The Gazeta de Buenos Ayres was a newspaper created in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1810. It was initially used to give publicity to the government actions of the Primera Junta, the first Argentine government...

through a June 2 decree, and managed its contents. The first newspapers were available to the public five days later. He issued a freedom of the press decree, which allowed the press to publish anything that did not offend public morals or attack the Revolution or the government. Moreno published some works of Gaspar de Jovellanos
Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos
Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos was an Asturian-born Spanish neoclassical statesman, author, philosopher and a major figure of the Age of Enlightenment in Spain.-Life:...

, and his translation of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...

's The Social Contract. In this later work he skipped the chapter about religion, suggesting that the author "has raved in religious matters". This was done to prevent religious disputes among patriots. This publication was criticized by conservatives such as Tomás de Anchorena
Tomás de Anchorena
Tomás Manuel de Anchorena was an Argentine statesman and lawyer. He was a representative to the Congress of Tucumán which on 9 July 1816 declared the Independence of Argentina....

, who said that it could generate popular unrest. As with the Junta itself, Moreno's writings maintained loyalty to Ferdinand VII. It is unclear to historians whether he was concealing independentist ambitions, or was truly loyal to the deposed king. However, he made specific references to independentism as early as November, 1810. In reference to the Courts of Cádiz that would write a Constitution, he said that the Congress "may establish an absolute disposal of our beloved Ferdinand", meaning that the right of self-determination
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...

 would allow even that. He did not think the monarchical authority to be absolute
Divine Right of Kings
The divine right of kings or divine-right theory of kingship is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God...

, but subject to popular sovereignty, so that a monarch may lose his authority if he worked against the common good of the people. He also considered that if Ferdinand VII returned to the throne, he would not be able to challenge a Constitution written in his absence. However, he wrote that as a hypothetical scenario, to describe the strength of a Constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...

, not as a likely possibility.

Moreno issued several decrees during his first days in government. He ordered punishment for anyone attempting to generate disputes, and for those concealing conspiracies against the Junta or other people. The military bodies of "Pardos" and "Morenos", composed of indigenous peoples, were reformed to have military rank
Military rank
Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms...

s similar to those of the Spanish military bodies. He did this invoking the rulings of the Catholic Monarchs
Catholic Monarchs
The Catholic Monarchs is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being both descended from John I of Castile; they were given a papal dispensation to deal with...

 during the early Spanish colonization of the Americas
Spanish colonization of the Americas
Colonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions...

.

Actions against royalists

Althought the Junta of Seville was defeated, a new one was created afterwards, the Regency Council. The Primera Junta did not swore loyalty to it, but the Royal Audiencia did so in defiance of the local authority. The Junta summoned them, along with former viceroy Cisneros, and exiled them to Spain with the pretext that there was a threat to their lives. The Junta appointed new members for the Audiencia loyal to the revolution. Moreno wrote in the Gazeta that the Audiencia attacked the good faith of the government, and that the Junta left their usual moderation for the safety of the people.

The Junta was rejected in Montevideo, as was the exile of Cisneros and the former Audiencia. Moreno reacted immediately, replying to the Montevidean concerns. He supported the legitimacy of the Primera Junta by criticizing the Regency Council and stating that the overseas Spanish territories were equally capable of creating Juntas, as it was debated during the open cabildo. He also called for unity and support of the metropolis, and that both cities recognize Ferdinand VII as their legitimate monarch. He argued that the Junta treated the exiles initially with moderation, but their obstinacy, particularly on the part of Cisneros, generated popular discontent. Matías Irigoyen told the same thing to the British Lord Strangford
Percy Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford
Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford, GCB, GCH was an Anglo-Irish diplomat.-Personal life:He was the son of Lionel Smythe, 5th Viscount Strangford and Mary Eliza Philipse....

 in Río de Janeiro.

Moreno organized two military expeditions to counter the threat of the plazas that resisted the Junta. The first one, headed by Francisco Ortiz de Ocampo, would move to Córdoba and attack the counter-revolution
Liniers Counter-revolution
When the May Revolution took place in Buenos Aires in 1810, the former viceroy Santiago de Liniers led an ill-fated counter-revolutionary attempt from the city of Córdoba. It was quickly thwarted by the patriotic forces from Buenos Aires led by Ortiz de Ocampo, who captured the leaders and...

 organized by the former viceroy Santiago de Liniers; they next went to Upper Peru
Upper Peru
Upper Peru was the region in the Viceroyalty of Peru, and after 1776, the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, comprising the governorships of Potosí, La Paz, Cochabamba, Los Chiquitos, Moxos and Charcas...

. Ocampo's initial orders were to capture the counter-revolutionary leaders and send them to Buenos Aires, so that they could be judged. When the counter-revolution became stronger Moreno called the Junta and, with support from Castelli and Paso, proposed that the enemy leaders should be shot as soon as they were captured instead of brought to trial. The Junta accepted the new proposal, and delivered it to Ocampo. The counter-revolution was defeated the following August, but Ocampo did not execute his prisoners. Gregorio Funes
Gregorio Funes
Gregorio Funes , also known as Deán Funes, was an Argentine clergyman, educator, historian, and lawmaker who played a significant role in his nation's early, post-independence history.-Early life and the priesthood:...

, head of the patriotic party of Córdoba, persuaded him to spare them, because the prisoners were popular in Córdoba and the people would not support their deaths. Besides Liniers, the prisoners included the governor of Córdoba and the bishop of the city. Ocampo stuck to the initial orders and delivered the prisoners to the city. Moreno did not accept it, and told Ocampo that a general should simply obey orders. He called a new meeting of the Junta, and produced a paper left at his home which said, "If Liniers does not die, LET HIM LIVE!" (note: the second part was written in capital letters in the original). The Junta agreed to fire Ocampo and replace him with Castelli, with Nicolás Rodríguez Peña
Nicolás Rodríguez Peña
Nicolás Rodriguez Peña was an Argentine politician. Born in Buenos Aires in April 1775, he worked in commerce which allowed him to amass a considerable fortune. Among his several successful businesses, he had a soap factory partnership with Hipólito Vieytes, which was a center of conspirators...

 as secretary and Domingo French
Domingo French
Domingo French was an Argentine revolutionary who took part in the May Revolution and the Argentine War of Independence.- Biography :...

 leading the escort. They intercepted the convoy at Cabeza de Tigre and executed them, except for Bishop Orellana, because of his religious endowment. The Auxiliary Army, commanded by Ocampo and Castelli, was renamed as the Army of the North
Army of the North
The Army of the North , contemporaneously called Army of Peru, was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was freeing the Argentine Northwest and the Upper Peru from the royalist troops of the Spanish...

, and launched the First Alto Perú campaign
First Alto Perú campaign
The first Upper Peru campaign was a military campaign of the Argentine War of Independence, which took place in 1810. It was headed by Juan José Castelli, and attempted to expand the influence of the Buenos Aires May Revolution in Upper Peru...

. Moreno gave harsh new instructions for it: monitor the activities of the rich; kill Goyeneche, Nieto, Paula Sanz and the bishop on sight; and allow soldiers to pillage the enemies at the first patriot victory, to generate terror. The context was not favourable: only Cochabamba and Charcas made a genuine support of the revolution, and some indigenous people hesitated in joining, fearing the consequences of a possible royalist counter-attack. The Morenist projects for Upper Peru, which included the emancipation of the indigenous peoples and the nationalization of the mines of Potosi, were resisted by the local populations that were benefiting from the system already in force. Castelli proposed to advance the military campaign even closer to Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...

, but Moreno asked him to stay at his position.

The other military expedition moved to Paraguay
Paraguay campaign
The Paraguay campaign was the attempt by a Buenos Aires sponsored militia, commanded by Manuel Belgrano, to win the Intendency of Paraguay for the revolutionary cause. The first battle was fought in Campichuelo and the Argentines claimed victory. However, they were completely vanquished in the...

, commanded by Manuel Belgrano
Manuel Belgrano
Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano , usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano, was an Argentine economist, lawyer, politician, and military leader. He took part in the Argentine Wars of Independence and created the Flag of Argentina...

. Following instructions from Moreno, he helped the natives at the missions in Corrientes
Corrientes
Corrientes is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12...

, on his way to Paraguay. He gave them full civil and political rights, granted lands, authorized commerce with the United Provinces, removed taxes for ten years, abolished any type of torture, and lifted restrictions on taking public or religious office.

Moreno promoted stronger measures against the royalists. In July, he gave orders to the neighboring mayors to prevent the creation of secret groups, or activities that could promote alienation. He promoted a new decree of the Junta that called for trial and confiscation of goods for anyone that left the city without authorization, kept military weapons in secret, promoted popular alienation or discontent against the government, or wrote letters to people in other cities for such a purpose. Serious cases were usually punished with execution or exile. Some rich people exiled by this decree were Francisco Beláustegui, Olaguer Reynals, Norberto de Quirno y Echeandía, and Pablo Villariño. Manuel Andrés Arroyo y Pinedo, another rich man, blamed Moreno for these actions, accusing him of equaling disagreement with antipatriotism, and felt that the ideas of egalitarianism would only cause great evils. Those measures were also criticized by moderate supporters of the revolution, such as Gregorio Funes
Gregorio Funes
Gregorio Funes , also known as Deán Funes, was an Argentine clergyman, educator, historian, and lawmaker who played a significant role in his nation's early, post-independence history.-Early life and the priesthood:...

 from Córdoba, who rejected the lack of proper trials, or Dámaso Uriburu, from Salta, who compared Moreno, Castelli, and Vieytes with the French Jacobin
Jacobin (politics)
A Jacobin , in the context of the French Revolution, was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary far-left political movement. The Jacobin Club was the most famous political club of the French Revolution. So called from the Dominican convent where they originally met, in the Rue St. Jacques ,...

s.

By this time, Moreno thought that the only way to secure the Revolution would be if it was successful throughout the continent. However, he considered that Latin American integration
Latin American integration
The integration of Latin America has a history going back to Spanish American and Brazilian independence, when there was discussion of creating a regional state or confederation of Latin American nations to protect the area's newly won autonomy...

 should be achieved peacefully among equals, and not as the result of a conquest campaign. He wrote at the Gazeta that "even as pure as our intentions may be, it would be dangerous if the freedom of America was just our own work. Such a circumstance could lead to a real despotism and the Peruvian peoples would not improve having porteño oppressors instead of European ones." He made positive comments about the rebellions at Cochabamba
Cochabamba
Cochabamba is a city in central Bolivia, located in a valley bearing the same name in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and is the fourth largest city in Bolivia with an urban population of 608,276 and a metropolitan population of more than 1,000,000 people...

 and Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

.

Operations plan

Following a proposal of Manuel Belgrano, the Junta wrote a political platform setting broad goals and procedures to follow to achieve its objectives. The creation of this document, whose name is often summarized simply as the "Operations plan
Operations plan
Operations plan is a secret document attributed to Mariano Moreno, that set harsh ways for the Primera Junta to achieve its goals...

", was trusted to Mariano Moreno. There have been disputes about the authenticity of this document. Some historians like Paul Groussac
Paul Groussac
Paul-François Groussac was a French-born Argentine writer, literary critic, historian, and librarian. He was born in Toulouse to Catherine Deval and Pierre Groussac, the scion of an old Languedocian family.-Biography:...

 suspect that the document was a literary forgery
Literary forgery
Literary forgery refers to writing, such as a manuscript or a literary work either deliberately misattributed to a historical or invented author, or a purported memoir presented as genuine.- History :The common, or popularly known, instance of literary forgery may involve for example the work of a...

, prepared by a Spaniard at the Court of Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 to discredit the Junta. Supporters of the truthfulness of the document like Norberto Piñeiro, allege that the content would be consistent with government actions taken by the Primera Junta.

The document states the need to defeat the royalist forces and therefore proposes many possible actions similar to those employed by Jacobins during the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...

 of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

. It rejected the use of political moderation, considering that it would be dangerous during revolutionary times. It compared the South American revolution, still in its early stages, with the French and North American
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 ones, and even the revolution in Spain itself, pointing out that none of those relied solely in conspiracies or secret meetings. The document proposes to favor patriots
Patriot (Spanish American Revolution)
Patriots was the name the peoples of the Spanish America, who rebelled against Spanish control during the Spanish American wars of independence, called themselves. They supported the principles of the Age of Enlightenment and sought to replace the existing governing structures with Juntas...

, and fill the state offices with them. Peninsulars, on the other hand, should be carefully monitored, and punished at the slightest proof of action against the Junta, and executed if they were rich or influential. For this end, the Junta would need to create an espionage network. This policy towards peninsulars is coherent with the actions taken against the Liniers counter-revolution
Liniers Counter-revolution
When the May Revolution took place in Buenos Aires in 1810, the former viceroy Santiago de Liniers led an ill-fated counter-revolutionary attempt from the city of Córdoba. It was quickly thwarted by the patriotic forces from Buenos Aires led by Ortiz de Ocampo, who captured the leaders and...

, and similar to the one employed by Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...

 in the North shortly after. Moreno thought that José Gervasio Artigas
José Gervasio Artigas
José Gervasio Artigas is a national hero of Uruguay, sometimes called "the father of Uruguayan nationhood".-Early life:Artigas was born in Montevideo on June 19, 1764...

 would be an invaluable ally, and that Buenos Aires should use any resource at its disposal to have him join the fight against absolutism. He noted the internal conflicts in Chile and Paraguay, and urged support of local patriots against local royalists.

On the level of international relations, Mariano Moreno rejected slavery in Brazil
Slavery in Brazil
Slavery in Brazil shaped the country's social structure and ethnic landscape. During the colonial epoch and for over six decades after the 1822 independence, slavery was a mainstay of the Brazilian economy, especially in mining, cotton, and sugar cane production.Brazil obtained an estimated 35% of...

, a neighboring Portuguese colony. He proposed to distribute large numbers of Gazeta de Buenos Ayres
Gazeta de Buenos Ayres
The Gazeta de Buenos Ayres was a newspaper created in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1810. It was initially used to give publicity to the government actions of the Primera Junta, the first Argentine government...

newspapers, filled with libertarian ideas and translated into Portuguese, and provide military support to the slaves if they should riot. He considered the risk of a complete Spanish defeat in the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...

 or a restoration of absolutism great menaces, and regarded Britain as a potential ally against them. During a conflict, Britain would be able to provide them with weapons and other goods not produced locally. Critics of Moreno consider him an Anglophile because of this proposal, but the same document also warns against the risk of allowing Britain too much influence in national economy. He criticized the relationship between Britain and Portugal, considering that Portugal was subject to a "shameful slavery" to Britain, and that British influence in Brazil was so high that the Portuguese colonies might eventually become British ones. Moreno held the same ideas about being simultaneously friendly and cautious with Britain in the pages of the Gazeta newspaper.

In the economic field, the document addressed the lack of a bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...

 that could turn the political changes into economic development, and proposed to overcome this lack with strong state interventionism. Mariano Moreno proposed that the state invest 200 or 300 million in factories, manufacturing, arts, agriculture, navigation, and other critical areas. There would be no risk of bankruptcy because the state would manage the businesses. With the money generated, the state would then seek seeds and tools, and ultimately allow the continent to be economically autarchic
Autarky
Autarky is the quality of being self-sufficient. Usually the term is applied to political states or their economic policies. Autarky exists whenever an entity can survive or continue its activities without external assistance. Autarky is not necessarily economic. For example, a military autarky...

. The initial money that the state would need to become such an active economic force would come from the mines in Potosi, where the slavers had nearly 500 or 600 million. Moreno proposed simply to confiscate the money and nationalize
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...

 the mines. He reasoned that five or six thousand people would be harmed by such action, but eighty or a hundred thousand would benefit. The state would not manage those areas indefinitely; Moreno proposed that this should be done only until there was a strong economic activity in each area, and then the state would just observe, making sure that they followed the laws enacted for the common good of society.

Early 19th-century liberalism did not promote confiscation among their common proposals, but an antecedent of this proposal was the Conspiracy of the Equals, promoted by François-Noël Babeuf
François-Noël Babeuf
François-Noël Babeuf , known as Gracchus Babeuf , was a French political agitator and journalist of the Revolutionary period...

 during the French Revolution. Moreno thought that state-sized fortunes managed by a few individuals were detrimental to civil society, and those individuals would tend to manage the economy for their own benefit, without fixing the problems of society at large.

The document proposed to avoid exporting money, and to include high tariffs on the import of luxury goods. This is often seen as a contradiction of the The Representation of the Hacendados
The Representation of the Hacendados
The Representation of the Landowners is an 1809 economic report written by Mariano Moreno that described the economy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. It was written by Moreno on behalf of the Hacendados , to request the then viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros to reconsider the...

, but each request different things. The Representation opposed the absolute prohibition
Embargo
An embargo is the partial or complete prohibition of commerce and trade with a particular country, in order to isolate it. Embargoes are considered strong diplomatic measures imposed in an effort, by the imposing country, to elicit a given national-interest result from the country on which it is...

 of trade with Britain, which is not the same than allowing it while following a protectionist
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...

 policy. As secretary, Moreno reduced the tariffs on national exports, but kept high ones for imports.

Internal disputes

Mariano Moreno and Cornelio Saavedra
Cornelio Saavedra
Cornelio Judas Tadeo de Saavedra y Rodríguez was a military officer and statesman from the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata...

 had disagreements about the events of the May Revolution and the way to run the government; their disputes became public shortly after the creation of the Junta. Saavedra was the president, and Moreno was a secretary with the support of other vocal members. Ignacio Núñez describes how Morenists felt that the President was attempting to restore in his office the authority of the viceroys, thus downgrading the importance of the other members of the Junta at public events; while Saavedrists considered that the Secretary was overstepping his authority and did not allow even the appointment of a janitor that was not of his liking. However, Domingo Matheu
Domingo Matheu
Domingo Matheu was a Spanish businessman and politician. He was a member of the Primera Junta, the first national government of modern Argentina.- Biography :...

 would clarify in his memoirs that their initial concerns with Saavedra were based more on his desire for honours and privileges than for a real power struggle. Núñez described how Moreno was resisted by some criollos who initially supported the revolution without being aware of the long-term consequences. He was resisted by criollos alarmed by his straightforward way of talking about concepts like self-determination, tyranny, slavery, and freedom. Theologians resented that Moreno cited authors like Rousseau, Voltaire, or Montesquieu rather than Christian philosophers like Saint Augustine or Saint Thomas. He was also resisted by conservative lawyers and by most of the military.

By October, Moreno's measures started to generate resistance among some who initially supported the May Revolution. Traders did not like the protectionist policy, and some members of the military had close ties with rich people and opposed their punishment. On October 16 it was discovered that ten members of the Cabildo had sworn loyalty to the Regency Council the past July, and they were all jailed. This included Julián Leiva and Juan José de Lezica. Moreno and Saavedra had a dispute when the Junta was deciding what to do. Moreno proposed executing them as a deterrent, accusing them of working with the Montevideo Cabildo
Montevideo Cabildo
The Montevideo Cabildo is the public building in Montevideo that was used as the government house during the colonial times of the Viceroyalty of the River Plate. Today the building is used as a museum and houses the Historical Archive of the city. It is located on Constitution Square, in Ciudad...

, the enemy of the Junta. Saavedra replied that the government should promote leniency, and rejected the use of the Patricians Regiment to carry out such executions. The prisoners were finally exiled to Luján, Ranchos, and Salto, and Leiva was housed by Gregorio Funes
Gregorio Funes
Gregorio Funes , also known as Deán Funes, was an Argentine clergyman, educator, historian, and lawmaker who played a significant role in his nation's early, post-independence history.-Early life and the priesthood:...

 in Córdoba.

By this point, the only military support for Moreno was Domingo French, head of "The Star" regiment. Castelli and Belgrano supported him, but were far away from the capital on their respective military campaigns. The activists of the May Revolution supported him as well, as did other members of the Junta and other patriots like Vieytes and Nicolás Rodríguez Peña. Saavedra kept the strong support of the Regiment of Patricians, and added that of the merchants and even some supporters of the former regime who deemed the moderated Saavedra a lesser evil. Moreno sought to modify the military balance of power by reforming the promotion rules. Up until that point, the sons of officials were automatically granted the status of cadet and were promoted just by seniority; Moreno arranged that promotions were earned by military merits instead. However, in the short run this measure worked against him, as it antagonised members of the military who got promoted precisely because of such rules. He also thought that support from the lower classes was instrumental to the success of the Revolution, and wrote letters to Chiclana instructing him to generate such support at Upper Peru. Such popular involvement would take time to consolidate: the Guerra Gaucha
Guerra Gaucha
Guerra Gaucha is the eighth album of Enanitos Verdes published on 1996.It had guest musicians, also involved the famous folk percussionist Domingo Cura , the tango bandoneon player Daniel Binelli, percussionist Luis Conte and Ruben Albarrán singer of the Mexican group Café Tacuba, singing a duet...

, the War of the Republiquetas, and the rise of José Gervasio Artigas
José Gervasio Artigas
José Gervasio Artigas is a national hero of Uruguay, sometimes called "the father of Uruguayan nationhood".-Early life:Artigas was born in Montevideo on June 19, 1764...

 took place later, not as of 1810.

Saavedra increased his resistance to Moreno's proposals after the victory at the Battle of Suipacha
Battle of Suipacha
The Battle of Suipacha was fought on 7 November 1810 in Bolivia during the Bolivian War of Independence between the Spanish colonial army and the Republican forces sent by the Primera Junta from Buenos Aires. At the time Bolivia was known as Upper Peru . It was the first decisive defeat of the...

, considering that the revolution had defeated its enemies and should relax its severity in consequence. The Regiment of Patricians hosted a banquet celebration at the barracks, restricting attendance to the military and supporters of Saavedra. Moreno was not allowed to pass by the guards at the door, which generated a small incident. That same night, Officer Atanasio Duarte, who was drunk, gave a crown of sugar to Saavedra's wife and saluted Saavedra as if he was the new king or emperor of the Americas. The next day, when Moreno heard about the incident, he wrote the "Honours Suppression decree
Honours Suppression decree
The Honours Suppression decree was a decree of the Primera Junta, first national government of Argentina, in 1810 which removed from its members the honours and privileges inherited from the former monarchich system. It was designed by the secretary Mariano Moreno.-Context:The decree was motivated...

", which suppressed the ceremony usually reserved for the president of the Junta and inherited privileges of the office of viceroy. Duarte was exiled, and Moreno's act was justified by stating that "An inhabitant of Buenos Aires neither drunk nor asleep should be expressed against the freedom of his country". Saavedra signed the decree without complaint, but Gregorio Funes felt that the Patricians resented Moreno because of this.

The conflicts between Moreno and Saavedra generated international reactions. Lord Strangford complained about the later actions of the Junta, such as the execution of Liniers, which were seen as more violent than the initial ones. Brazil was also concerned because many copies of the Gazeta were being distributed at Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...

, influencing their slaves with libertarian ideas. The Brazilian government sent Carlos José Guezzi to Buenos Aires, with the purpose of mediating in the conflict with the royalists at Montevideo and to ratify the aspirations
Carlotism
Carlotism was a political movement that took place in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata between 1808 and 1812; it intended to make Carlota Joaquina of Spain its queen. After Napoleon's invasion of Spain, Fernando VII was forced to abdicate and give the throne to Joseph Bonaparte...

 of Carlota Joaquina to rule as regent. He met Saavedra in his first interview, in July, and got a positive impression of him. Saavedra said that if Carlota's rights were confirmed by the Spanish monarchy, Buenos Aires would support her, even if it meant they had to stand against the other provinces. The following month he requested a representative for the Court of Brazil, offered Carlota's mediation with Montevideo, and pointed out that Brazil had forces near the frontier, awaiting orders to attack the revolution. This time, Moreno resisted. Moreno rejected sending a representative, and told him that the Junta did not work for the interests of Brazil, but for those of the United Provinces. He rejected the mediation as well, considering that no mediation was possible under a military threat. Guezzi was immediately sent back to Rio de Janeiro on the first available ship. He described Moreno as "the Robespierre of the day", and accused the Junta of attempting to build a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...

.

In December, the deputies of the other provinces convened by the circular of May 27 arrived to Buenos Aires. Most of them were closer to the ideas of Saavedra, and Gregorio Funes
Gregorio Funes
Gregorio Funes , also known as Deán Funes, was an Argentine clergyman, educator, historian, and lawmaker who played a significant role in his nation's early, post-independence history.-Early life and the priesthood:...

 became highly influential over them. They did not agree about which body they should join: the deputies wanted to join the Junta, while Moreno thought that they should start a constituent assembly
Constituent assembly
A constituent assembly is a body composed for the purpose of drafting or adopting a constitution...

. Funes, allied with Saavedra, calculated that they could stop Moreno by joining the Junta, as his proposals would be agreed to by a minority. The Junta, with both its original members and the deputies, discussed the topic on December 18. Funes said that Buenos Aires had no right to rule the other provinces without their consent, and got the support of the other members. He said that there was popular discontent with the Junta. The supporters of Moreno said that such discontent was only among some rebels, and Moreno said that it was only the discontent of the Patricians in respect of the Supressions decree. However, only Paso voted with him, and the deputies joined the Junta. Moreno resigned, but his resignation was rejected. His opposition to the incorporation of the deputies is seen by some historians as an initial step in the conflict between Buenos Aires and the other provinces, which dominated politics in Argentina during the following decades. Some call it a precursor of the Unitarian Party
Unitarian Party
Unitarianists or Unitarians were the proponents of the concept of a Unitary state in Buenos Aires during the civil wars which shortly followed the Declaration of Independence of Argentina in 1816. They were opposed to the Argentine Federalists, who wanted a federation of independent provinces...

, while others find his words or actions more consistent with the Federal Party
Federales (Argentina)
Federales was the name under which the supporters of federalism in Argentina were known, opposing the Unitarios that claimed a centralised government of Buenos Aires Province, with no participation of the other provinces of the custom taxes benefits of the Buenos Aires port...

. However, historians Paul Groussac
Paul Groussac
Paul-François Groussac was a French-born Argentine writer, literary critic, historian, and librarian. He was born in Toulouse to Catherine Deval and Pierre Groussac, the scion of an old Languedocian family.-Biography:...

 and Norberto Piñeiro feel it is inappropriate to extrapolate so far into the future. Piñeiro considered it an error to label Moreno as federal or unitary, proving that this organization been prioritized over the secondary aspect of centralism or federalism, while Groussac similarly notes that Moreno devoted all his energies to the immediate problem of achieving independence without giving much thought to possible long-term scenarios.

Political decline and death

Hipólito Vieytes
Hipólito Vieytes
Juan Hipólito Vieytes, was an Argentine merchant and soldier. He was born in San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires Province on 6 August 1762, son of Juan Vieytes and Petrona Mora Fernández de Agüero...

 was about to make a diplomatic mission to Britain, but Moreno requested that he should be given the appointment instead. Saavedra accepted immediately. He traveled to Britain with his brother Manuel Moreno
Manuel Moreno
Manuel Moreno was an Argentine politician, brother of Mariano Moreno. He was one of the founders of the Federal Party in the province of Buenos Aires.-Biography:...

 and his secretary Tomás Guido
Tomás Guido
Tomás Guido. was a General in the Argentine War of Independence a diplomat and a politician.-Early life:...

, on the British schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

 Fame. His health declined and there was no doctor on board, but the captain refused requests to land at some earlier port such as in Río de Janeiro (Brazil) or Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

 (South Africa). The captain gave him an emetic in common use at that time, prepared with four grams of antimony potassium tartrate
Tartaric acid
Tartaric acid is a white crystalline diprotic organic acid. It occurs naturally in many plants, particularly grapes, bananas, and tamarinds; is commonly combined with baking soda to function as a leavening agent in recipes, and is one of the main acids found in wine. It is added to other foods to...

. Moreno had great convulsions as a consequence, and considered that in his state he could not have resisted more than the quarter of a gram. He died shortly afterwards. His body was wrapped in a Union Jack and thrown into the sea, after a volley of musketry.

Manuel Moreno speculated later that he was poisoned by the captain. Manuel Moreno was unsure of whether the captain really given him that substance, or if he substituted something else, or gave an even higher dose. Circumstances did not allow an autopsy to be performed. Further points used to sustain the idea of a murder are the captain's refusal to land elsewhere, his slow sailing, his administration of the emetic in secrecy, and that he didn't return to Buenos Aires with the ship. Enrique de Gandía
Enrique de Gandía
Enrique de Gandía was an Argentine historian, author of over a hundred books.He taught, as a professor of School of Fine Arts , the University of Morón and the University of Belgrano , being co-founder of the latter two. He also held the chair of Political Science at the Kennedy University...

 pointed to an irregular ruling of the Junta that appointed a British person named Curtis as Moreno's replacement for the diplomatic mission in the case of Moreno's death. The son of Mariano Moreno commented to the historian Adolfo Saldías
Adolfo Saldías
Adolfo Saldías was an Argentine historian, lawyer, politician, soldier and diplomat.Saldías received his law degree in 1875 and published a thesis on the subject of Civil matrimony...

 that his mother, Guadalupe Cuenca, received an anonymous gift of a mourning hand fan and handkerchief, with instructions to use them soon. By that time, the murder of Moreno was a common assumption, and it was mentioned during the trial of residence of the members of the Junta. Juan Madera stated at the trial that Moreno may had requested to go to Britain because he was afraid of being murdered, and that he may have stated this during the meeting when the Junta discussed his resignation. Modern author Manuel Luis Martín studied the health of both Moreno and his family, and concluded that he died of natural causes.

Legacy

Despite the death of Mariano Moreno, his supporters were still an influential party in Buenos Aires. Morenists accused Saavedra and Funes of plotting to allow the coronation of Carlota, and organized a rebellion with "The Star" Regiment. However, the Saavedrists became aware of it, and organized another rebellion on May 5 and 6, 1811. This rebellion requested strong changes in the government: the removal of Morenists Nicolás Rodríguez Peña, Hipólito Vieytes, Miguel Azcuénaga, and Juan Larrea from the Junta; the exile of Domingo French, Antonio Beruti, Agustín Donado, Gervasio Posadas and Ramón Vieytes; and the return and trial of Manuel Belgrano. Thus, the Morenist party was set apart from the government.

The Saavedrist hegemony was short-lived. The military defeats of Castelli and Belgrano started a new political crisis, and the First Triumvirate
First Triumvirate (Argentina)
The First Triumvirate was the executive body of government that replaced the Junta Grande in the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata...

 replaced the Junta Grande
Junta Grande
Junta Grande is the most common name for the executive government of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata , that followed the incorporation of provincial representatives into the Primera Junta .- Origin :...

 as the executive power, and then closed it completely. The former supporters of Moreno (Belgrano, Dupuy, Tomás Guido, Beruti, Monteagudo, French, Vicente López) would later support the campaign of José de San Martín
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...

. The Argentine war of independence would give room to the Argentine Civil War
Argentine Civil War
The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of internecine wars that took place in Argentina from 1814 to 1876. These conflicts were separate from the Argentine War of Independence , though they first arose during this period....

 between unitarians
Unitarian Party
Unitarianists or Unitarians were the proponents of the concept of a Unitary state in Buenos Aires during the civil wars which shortly followed the Declaration of Independence of Argentina in 1816. They were opposed to the Argentine Federalists, who wanted a federation of independent provinces...

 and federals
Federales (Argentina)
Federales was the name under which the supporters of federalism in Argentina were known, opposing the Unitarios that claimed a centralised government of Buenos Aires Province, with no participation of the other provinces of the custom taxes benefits of the Buenos Aires port...

. Saavedrists like Martín Rodríguez, Ortiz de Ocampo, de la Cruz—and even Saavedra himself—became unitarians. Manuel Moreno, French, Agrelo, Vicente López, and Pancho Planes opposed both the First Triumvirate and the presidency of unitarian Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino de la Trinidad Gónzalez Rivadavia y Rivadavia was the first president of Argentina, from February 8, 1826 to July 7, 1827 . He was a politician of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata, Argentina today...

. Manuel Moreno and Tomás Guido, in particular, worked in the government of the most powerful federal leader, Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas , was an argentine militar and politician, who was elected governor of the province of Buenos Aires in 1829 to 1835, and then of the Argentine Confederation from 1835 until 1852...

.

Historical perspectives

Early Argentine historians described Mariano Moreno as the leader of the Revolution and a great historical man
Great man theory
The Great Man Theory was a popular 19th century idea according to which history can be largely explained by the impact of "great men", or heroes: highly influential individuals who, due to either their personal charisma, intelligence, wisdom, or Machiavellianism utilized their power in a way that...

. Later liberal historians would embellish this portrayal even more. An example of this tendency is La Revolución de Mayo y Mariano Moreno by Ricardo Levene. Biographers would describe him as a serene statesman, a notable economist, a decided democrat, and a great leader. For those historians, Moreno would have been an anglophile, and "The Representation of the Hacendados", the government platform of the May Revolution.

Subsequently, revisionist authors would formulate accusations against him, while promoting Saavedra as a popular leader. According to those authors, Moreno was a British agent, a demagogic caudillo
Caudillo
Caudillo is a Spanish word for "leader" and usually describes a political-military leader at the head of an authoritarian power. The term translates into English as leader or chief, or more pejoratively as warlord, dictator or strongman. Caudillo was the term used to refer to the charismatic...

, a paranoid, a mere man of theoretical ideas applying European principles that failed in the local context, wrongly portrayed as leader of the Revolution by the liberal historiography. Año X by Hugo Wast
Hugo Wast
Gustavo Adolfo Martínez Zuviría , best known under his pseudonym Hugo Wast, was a renowned Argentine novelist and script writer....

 is considered the harshest work against Moreno. Moreno was still considered an anglophile, but in a negative light. They blamed Moreno for the harsh policies of the Junta, considering him a terrorist or a predecessor of Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...

; liberal historians usually concealed these policies.

Modern authors like Ernesto Palacio
Ernesto Palacio
Ernesto Palacio is a Peruvian tenor, particularly associated with Rossini and Mozart roles.Palacio first studied theology before turning to music...

, Norberto Galasso
Norberto Galasso
Norberto Galasso is a historian and essayist from Argentina, who wrote many books related with the history of Argentina. His career as historian spans nearly forty years.-Biography:He studied economy in the University of Buenos Aires, graduating in 1961....

, and Jorge Abelardo Ramos attempt to rescue the image of Moreno by avoiding both extremes: the sweet liberal Moreno and the horrible one written by revisionists. Those historians do not consider Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino de la Trinidad Gónzalez Rivadavia y Rivadavia was the first president of Argentina, from February 8, 1826 to July 7, 1827 . He was a politician of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata, Argentina today...

 a successor of Moreno, and the proposals to seek an alliance with Britain are not seen as the product of anglophilia, but just an example of the limited options available to the Primera Junta. Similarly, they do not attribute much influence to the Representation..., considering it a mere work for a client that didn't really influence Cisneros, who would have allowed free trade for international contexts. The harsh policies are acknowledged, but not attributed specifically to Moreno, but rather to the whole Junta, and compared with similar royalist measures used to punish the Chuquisaca
Chuquisaca Revolution
The Chuquisaca Revolution was a popular uprising on 25 May 1809 against the governor and intendant of Chuquisaca , Ramón García León de Pizarro. The Real Audiencia of Charcas, with support from the faculty of University of Saint Francis Xavier, deposed the governor and formed a junta...

, the La Paz revolution
La Paz revolution
The city of La Paz experimented a revolution in 1809 that deposed Spanish authorities and declared independence. It is considered one of the early steps of the Spanish American wars of independence, and an antecedent of the independence of Bolivia...

, and the indigenous rebellion of Túpac Amaru II
Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II
The Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II was an uprising of native and mestizo peasants against the Bourbon reforms in the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru...

.

Journalism

Mariano Moreno is regarded as the first Argentine journalist, as he created the Gazeta de Buenos Ayres
Gazeta de Buenos Ayres
The Gazeta de Buenos Ayres was a newspaper created in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1810. It was initially used to give publicity to the government actions of the Primera Junta, the first Argentine government...

. June 7, the day this newspaper was first available to the public, is recognized in Argentina as "Journalist day" since 1938. The Gazeta, however, was not the first newspaper in Buenos Aires, but the first one since the May Revolution. The first newspaper was the Telégrafo Mercantil
Telégrafo Mercantil
The "Telégrafo Mercantil, Rural, Político, Económico e Historiográfico del Río de la Plata" was the first newspaper edited in Buenos Aires...

(1801), followed by the Semanario de Agricultura Industria y Comercio (1802) and the Correo de Comercio de Buenos Aires (1810), edited during the colonial period.

Moreno was the only one to sign the decree that established the newspaper, but the text implies that it was the result of a discussion of the whole Junta, and not just his initiative. Fellow member of the Junta Manuel Alberti
Manuel Alberti
Manuel Máximo Alberti was a priest from Buenos Aires, when the city was part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. He had a curacy at Maldonado, Uruguay during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata, and returned to Buenos Aires in time to take part in the May Revolution of 1810...

 was appointed director of the newspaper. However, Alberti never actually directed the newspaper; Moreno did. Historian Guillermo Furlong considers that it was really Alberti who directed the newspaper, but the memoirs of José Pedro Agrelo (a later director), Tomás Guido, and Saavedra confirm that the newspaper was managed by Moreno. Moreno has also been promoted as a supporter of the freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...

, but the Gazeta... was actually a state-sponsored newspaper, and the Junta allowed such freedom only for information that was not against the interests of the government. According to Norberto Galasso
Norberto Galasso
Norberto Galasso is a historian and essayist from Argentina, who wrote many books related with the history of Argentina. His career as historian spans nearly forty years.-Biography:He studied economy in the University of Buenos Aires, graduating in 1961....

, that situation would today be considered media bias
Media bias
Media bias refers to the bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in the selection of events and stories that are reported and how they are covered. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening the standards of journalism, rather than the...

.

Personal life

The Moreno family was poor, but could afford a house and some slaves. Ana María Valle y Ramos, Mariano's mother, was one of the few literate women in Buenos Aires. Mariano Moreno was the firstborn of fourteen children. Mariano moved to Chuquisaca with his brother Manuel Moreno
Manuel Moreno
Manuel Moreno was an Argentine politician, brother of Mariano Moreno. He was one of the founders of the Federal Party in the province of Buenos Aires.-Biography:...

 and their friend Tomás Guido
Tomás Guido
Tomás Guido. was a General in the Argentine War of Independence a diplomat and a politician.-Early life:...

 once the family raised the money. The long and difficult journey gave Mariano a rheumatism attack; he had to stay in bed for fifteen days on arrival. He had further attacks years later. Moreno met María Guadalupe Cuenca in this city, after seeing a miniature portrait of her at a silversmith's house. Both Moreno and María were expected by their families to follow religious studies, and Moreno's father did not authorize a change. Moreno studied laws all the same, and married María in secret to avoid family resistance. They had a single son, named Mariano like the father.

When Moreno left for Europe on a diplomatic mission in 1811, his wife and son stayed in Buenos Aires. María wrote many letters to Moreno, with descriptions of ongoing events in the city. Most of them were written when Moreno was already dead; she did not learn of his fate until the following August, when a letter arrived from Manuel Moreno. She requested a widow's pension
Widow's pension
A widow's pension is a payment from the government of a country to a person whose spouse has died.Generally, such payments are made to a widow whose late spouse has satisfied the country's requirements, including contribution, cohabitation, and length of marriage.-United States:In the United...

 from the First Triumvirate
First Triumvirate (Argentina)
The First Triumvirate was the executive body of government that replaced the Junta Grande in the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata...

, which was in power by then; its value was thirty pesos.

Beliefs

Mariano Moreno studied French and Spanish authors of the Age of Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...

 during his studies at Chuquisaca. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...

's The Social Contract was a main influence; he translated this work to Spanish and used it to justify the actions of the Primera Junta. Contemporary people as Ignacio Núñez and Tomás de Anchorena
Tomás de Anchorena
Tomás Manuel de Anchorena was an Argentine statesman and lawyer. He was a representative to the Congress of Tucumán which on 9 July 1816 declared the Independence of Argentina....

 acknowledged him as the translator. However, as the main page said that the work was "reprinted in Buenos Ayres", some historians doubt whether it was actually Moreno's work. Vicente Fidel López
Vicente Fidel López
Vicente Fidel López was an Argentine historian, lawyer and politician. He was a son of writer and politician Vicente López y Planes.-Biography:...

 claimed that Moreno reprinted the translation made by the Spaniard Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos
Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos
Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos was an Asturian-born Spanish neoclassical statesman, author, philosopher and a major figure of the Age of Enlightenment in Spain.-Life:...

, but the two translations differ. Paul Groussac
Paul Groussac
Paul-François Groussac was a French-born Argentine writer, literary critic, historian, and librarian. He was born in Toulouse to Catherine Deval and Pierre Groussac, the scion of an old Languedocian family.-Biography:...

 thought it was a reprint of an Asturian translation, and Ricardo Levene said that Moreno was not the translator, but neither gave any indication as to who they thought had completed it. Enrique de Gandía
Enrique de Gandía
Enrique de Gandía was an Argentine historian, author of over a hundred books.He taught, as a professor of School of Fine Arts , the University of Morón and the University of Belgrano , being co-founder of the latter two. He also held the chair of Political Science at the Kennedy University...

 considers that the comments of contemporary people and the lack of an earlier similar translation of Rousseau's work allow us to conclude that Moreno must have been the translator, at least until an earlier translation is found.

Despite his interest in French authors, Mariano Moreno was not Francophile
Francophile
Is a person with a positive predisposition or interest toward the government, culture, history, or people of France. This could include France itself and its history, the French language, French cuisine, literature, etc...

 or afrancesado
Afrancesado
Afrancesado was the term used to denote Spanish and Portuguese partisans of Enlightenment ideas, Liberalism, or the French Revolution, who were supporters of the French occupation of Iberia and of the First French Empire.-Origins:...

. He kept a strong Spanish cultural heritage, and both Levene and Abelardo Ramos agree in that his stay in Chuquisaca influenced him more than the books. In line with the Spanish Enlightenment, Moreno kept strong religious beliefs. He removed the chapter from Rousseau's work that is critical of religion, and never became a freemason. He gave up his religious studies to study law and get married, but never actually became a priest, so there was no defrocking. He studied with priests such as Terrazas, who approved and perhaps even encouraged the change of vocation.

Physical aspect

The canonical image of Mariano Moreno is the one from the portrait Mariano Moreno en su mesa de trabajo
Mariano Moreno en su mesa de trabajo
Mariano Moreno en su mesa de trabajo is a portrait by the Chilean artist Pedro Subercaseaux. It shows the artist's interpretation of Mariano Moreno, Secretary of War of the Argentine Primera Junta, the first national government, working at his desk...

. It was done by the Chilean artist Pedro Subercaseaux
Pedro Subercaseaux
Pedro León Maximiano María Subercaseaux Errázuriz was a Chilean painter. He painted many portraits about events from the history of Chile, such as the Crossing of the Andes. He painted portraits of the history of Argentina requested during the Argentina Centennial...

 during the centennial of the May Revolution
Argentina Centennial
The Argentina Centennial was celebrated on May 25, 1910. It was the 100th anniversary of the May Revolution, when viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros was ousted from office and replaced with the Primera Junta, the first national government.-Context:...

 in 1910. The historian Adolfo Carranza
Adolfo Carranza
Adolfo Carranza was an Argentine lawyer, public official, historian, and writer who established the National Historical Museum.-Life and times:...

 asked him to design various allegorical pictures of the event. Carranza belonged to the mainstream line of historians who professed great admiration for Moreno, who he described as follows: "He was the soul of the government of the revolution of May, his nerve, the distinguished statesman of the group managing the ship attacked the absolutism and doubt, anxious to reach the goal of his aspirations and his destiny. Moreno was the compass and that also grabbed the helm, as he was the strongest and the ablest of those who came to direct it". He asked for a picture that was consistent with this image. The portrait depicts him as a friendly man with an open and round face, a wide forehead, and a serene look. Subsequent interpretations, like those of Antonio Estrada, would follow this style, as would portraits of other members of the Junta. However, as this portrait was made a hundred years after the death of the subject, with no known depictions done during his lifetime, it was thus based on the artist's imagination. It was known that Moreno had clearly-visible smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...

 scars from the age of eight, but not to the point where they disfigured his face.

Later a portrait of Moreno was discovered that had been done from life, by the Peruvian silversmith Juan de Dios Rivera. This portrait was painted between 1808 or 1809, before Moreno's appointment as secretary of the Junta. It is now considered to be the closest representation of Moreno's real appearance. In this portrait, he is depicted with an elongated face, abundant hair, long sideburns, big eyes, and a pointy nose.

External links

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