History+of+Argentina

The name of Argentina is derived from the Latin word //argentum//, which means “silver”. The earliest use of the name Argentina can be traced back to the first voyages made by the Spanish and Portugeuese conquerors to the Rio de Plata, which means “Silver River”. A long with several nomadic tribespeople, two major indigenous groups existed in Argentina before European conquest. In the northwest, near Bolivia and the Andes Mountains, there were people known as the Diaguita, while further southeast were the Guarani. Together, these two tribes formed the origins of permanent agricultural civilization by developing the technique for cultivating maize. **Conquest** The Diaguita are also remembered for successfully stopping the Incan Empire from expanding to Argentina. It is believed that their legacy of successful resistance is what enabled the native people of Argentina to fight off colonization by the Spanish. The first Spaniard to arrive in Argentina was Juan de Solis who landed on the shores of the Plata River in 1516 and was repelled by the Indians, then captured and killed. Next, in 1527, Sebastian Cabot and Diego Garcia sailed up the Paranà and Paraguay Rivers to form a small settlement called //Sancti Spiritus.// The local natives destroyed the settlement and the two explorers fled back to Spain. The Spanish attempted conquest again in 1536. This time, Pedro de Mendoza arrived with a large force, well-supplied with equipment and horses. He founded a settlement called //Santa Marìa del Buen Aire//, and by the late 16th century, it was securely established as Buenos Aires. Indigenous resistance became weaker due to the introduction of European diseases. Even though the native threat was diminished, Argentina was mostly neglected by Spain, who was more interested in the riches of Peru. The Spanish imposed trade regulation, forbidding Buenos Aires to trade with any foreign country. This had little affect on the colony because they smuggled goods anyway. In 1806 and 1807, the British attacked Buenos Aires after Spain was under the control of Napoleonic France. Without the assistance of their mother country, the colony managed to defeat the British in both attacks. These two events promoted the colony’s growing sense of independence. **Independence** On May 25, 1810, after it was confirmed that King Ferdinand had been overthrown by Napolean, the citizens of Buenos Aires established the first government. Two nations emerged: the Unted Provinces of South America in 1810 and the Liga Federal in 1815.
 * The First People**