The Very First Settlers
Archaeologists have found evidence of settlers that they believe are from the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic ages. However, during the dry period, 4000-2000 BC, evidence of settlement in the Argentine area is scarce (History of Argentina, 2014). This suggests that during the dry period the area loss population, most likely due to non-conducive living conditions. Furthermore, given the name of the period these condition were probably related to the lack of water for crops and people.
The Indigenous people can be grouped in several different ways. The most common ways are by the type of people they were, and by their ‘tribes.’ Archaeologist Raul Campa Soler groups these people into the following groups: “basic hunters and food gatherers, without development of pottery, advanced gatherers and hunters, and basic farmers with pottery” (History of Argentina, 2014). While the advanced gatherers and hunters could be found in Pampa and Patagonia, the basic farmers with pottery could be found in all over South America but mostly in northeastern Argentina (History of Argentina, 2014). Within these basic groups there were many indigenous ‘tribes’ which broke up these broad categories. These tribes as we will call them, did not work together and were very much separate from each other. Though there were too many to list all of them here, there were two main tribes. These were the Diaguita, who lived in the Andes and near Bolivia, and the Guarani, who lived southeast of the Diaguita. These two tribes were the founders of the permanent civilization in the Argentine area and were the first to cultivate maize (Argentina History, 1998-2012).
The Spanish Take Over
In the 1500’s the Spanish started their attempt to conquer the Argentine area. Since there were so many different tribes of indigenous people in many different areas, they each reacted to the Spanish colonization differently (Indigenous peoples in Argentina, 2013). The two groups that fought back the most were Diaguita and Guarani, which may possibly be why the Spanish had such a hard time founding Buenos Aries, the current capital of Argentina. Buenos Aries wasn't successfully established until the 16th century (Argentina History, 1998-2012). Ultimately, diseases from Europe overtook the native people, making them weak and susceptible to the Spanish colonization.
The Spanish conquered the Argentine area for their goods such as cattle and leather. However, because these good were not precious metals and nothing was allowed to be shipped directly out of Argentina, the Spanish tended to ignore their colonies in this area. Instead they focused on Peru, which held more riches. When the British tried to capture these areas in Argentina the colonists fought back without aid of their mother country leading to their growing feeling of independence (Argentina History, 1998-2012).
War of Independence
Clearly, the Spanish’s theory of going south and using their methods of civilization in this area did not work out. The people fought back and decided to do things their own way which would work better for them.
Just as in the United States where there were federalists and anti-federalists during the writing of the constitution, in South America there were federalists and Unitarists during their revolution. The federalists wanted local control while the Unitarists wanted a strong central government to control things. Throughout the war the territories that were established under the rule of viceroyalty changed and in the end were divided into separate countries.
The territories together called themselves several different names throughout the war and tried gathering together to declare independence but it never happened. Then, when some generals from the Peninsular war came to Buenos Aries things turned around. A new assembly was then brought together called Congress of Tucuman which declared independence from Spain and all other foreign powers. In 1825 the United Kingdom finally recognized Argentina as independent (History of Argentina, 2014).
Today, few from the indigenous groups still live in Argentina. The European immigrants make up most of the inhabitants and have separated into their own groupings and roles. Basque and Irish immigrants went into sheep rearing, while Germans and Italians went into farming and the British went into developing the country’s infra-structure (Argentina History, 1998-2012).
Geography: What is appealing about this area?
Climate and soil are large factors in what can grow in different areas. Agriculture that can be used to support human life is not able to be grown just anywhere. Different things make areas livable. Argentina was a great area for farming and cattle herding. The indigenous people even grew maize in this area. Together these things made Argentina able to be lived in.
There are four different regions in Argentina.
1. Northern Subtropical Woodlands and Swamps
2. Wooded Slopes of the Andes Mountains
3. Semiarid and Cold Patagonian Plateau
4. Temperate region around Buenos Aries
The last region is why Buenos Aries is so heavily populated. It is a great climate to live in and to farm. Argentina is also next to the Andes lakes which provides a great water source (Briney, n.d.). These things together make Argentina a great agricultural area and provided many goods that could be exported.
References :
Argentina History. (1998-2012). Retrieved from Geographia: http://www.geographia.com/argentina/history.htm
Briney, A. (n.d.). Geography of Argentina. Retrieved from About : http://geography.about.com/od/argentinamaps/a/argentina.htm
History of Argentina. (2014, Jan 16). Retrieved from Wikipedia.
Indigenous peoples in Argentina. (2013, Dec 3). Retrieved from Wikipedia.
Archaeologists have found evidence of settlers that they believe are from the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic ages. However, during the dry period, 4000-2000 BC, evidence of settlement in the Argentine area is scarce (History of Argentina, 2014). This suggests that during the dry period the area loss population, most likely due to non-conducive living conditions. Furthermore, given the name of the period these condition were probably related to the lack of water for crops and people.
The Indigenous people can be grouped in several different ways. The most common ways are by the type of people they were, and by their ‘tribes.’ Archaeologist Raul Campa Soler groups these people into the following groups: “basic hunters and food gatherers, without development of pottery, advanced gatherers and hunters, and basic farmers with pottery” (History of Argentina, 2014). While the advanced gatherers and hunters could be found in Pampa and Patagonia, the basic farmers with pottery could be found in all over South America but mostly in northeastern Argentina (History of Argentina, 2014). Within these basic groups there were many indigenous ‘tribes’ which broke up these broad categories. These tribes as we will call them, did not work together and were very much separate from each other. Though there were too many to list all of them here, there were two main tribes. These were the Diaguita, who lived in the Andes and near Bolivia, and the Guarani, who lived southeast of the Diaguita. These two tribes were the founders of the permanent civilization in the Argentine area and were the first to cultivate maize (Argentina History, 1998-2012).
The Spanish Take Over
In the 1500’s the Spanish started their attempt to conquer the Argentine area. Since there were so many different tribes of indigenous people in many different areas, they each reacted to the Spanish colonization differently (Indigenous peoples in Argentina, 2013). The two groups that fought back the most were Diaguita and Guarani, which may possibly be why the Spanish had such a hard time founding Buenos Aries, the current capital of Argentina. Buenos Aries wasn't successfully established until the 16th century (Argentina History, 1998-2012). Ultimately, diseases from Europe overtook the native people, making them weak and susceptible to the Spanish colonization.
The Spanish conquered the Argentine area for their goods such as cattle and leather. However, because these good were not precious metals and nothing was allowed to be shipped directly out of Argentina, the Spanish tended to ignore their colonies in this area. Instead they focused on Peru, which held more riches. When the British tried to capture these areas in Argentina the colonists fought back without aid of their mother country leading to their growing feeling of independence (Argentina History, 1998-2012).
War of Independence
Clearly, the Spanish’s theory of going south and using their methods of civilization in this area did not work out. The people fought back and decided to do things their own way which would work better for them.
Just as in the United States where there were federalists and anti-federalists during the writing of the constitution, in South America there were federalists and Unitarists during their revolution. The federalists wanted local control while the Unitarists wanted a strong central government to control things. Throughout the war the territories that were established under the rule of viceroyalty changed and in the end were divided into separate countries.
The territories together called themselves several different names throughout the war and tried gathering together to declare independence but it never happened. Then, when some generals from the Peninsular war came to Buenos Aries things turned around. A new assembly was then brought together called Congress of Tucuman which declared independence from Spain and all other foreign powers. In 1825 the United Kingdom finally recognized Argentina as independent (History of Argentina, 2014).
Today, few from the indigenous groups still live in Argentina. The European immigrants make up most of the inhabitants and have separated into their own groupings and roles. Basque and Irish immigrants went into sheep rearing, while Germans and Italians went into farming and the British went into developing the country’s infra-structure (Argentina History, 1998-2012).
Geography: What is appealing about this area?
Climate and soil are large factors in what can grow in different areas. Agriculture that can be used to support human life is not able to be grown just anywhere. Different things make areas livable. Argentina was a great area for farming and cattle herding. The indigenous people even grew maize in this area. Together these things made Argentina able to be lived in.
There are four different regions in Argentina.
1. Northern Subtropical Woodlands and Swamps
2. Wooded Slopes of the Andes Mountains
3. Semiarid and Cold Patagonian Plateau
4. Temperate region around Buenos Aries
The last region is why Buenos Aries is so heavily populated. It is a great climate to live in and to farm. Argentina is also next to the Andes lakes which provides a great water source (Briney, n.d.). These things together make Argentina a great agricultural area and provided many goods that could be exported.
References :
Argentina History. (1998-2012). Retrieved from Geographia: http://www.geographia.com/argentina/history.htm
Briney, A. (n.d.). Geography of Argentina. Retrieved from About : http://geography.about.com/od/argentinamaps/a/argentina.htm
History of Argentina. (2014, Jan 16). Retrieved from Wikipedia.
Indigenous peoples in Argentina. (2013, Dec 3). Retrieved from Wikipedia.
For Further Reading
- For more information on specific indigenous tribes and settlements in specific areas of Argentina please click on the button titled Early settlements which will take you to a paper on research on early Argentine settlements
- The Encyclopedia Britannica is a great resource and if you click on the button labeled "History of Latin America" you can find out more information on the History of Latin America as a broader subject. Here you will also be able to receive more information on how the European Colonization affected Latin America as a whole and the events of this whole era.
Population Pyramids
The population grew from 17,150,000 in 1950 to 40,374,000 in 2010. Along with this growth the life span of men and women increased to about 95-99 years old for women and 90-94 years old for men. The percentage of the population in each age group also became more equal to each other with having the 30-34 years old group as the largest.
This pyramid was found at: http://populationpyramid.net/argentina/