The sources chosen for this research assignment combined highlight both a famous Caudillos- Argentinian dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas, and a famous Unitarian- Argentinian writer and opposition of Rosas Esteban Echeverria. Through exploration of both individuals, our group hopes to uncover a broader and more in depth look into the role of the Caudillos in Latin America and the problematic features that both sides face.
The first source is a combination of two reviews of a bibliography of Rosas, one is written by Tulio Halperin Donghi and the other is by Clifton B. Kroeber. The reviews are a response to a book titled Argentine Dictator: Juan Manuel de Rosas 1829-1852. written by author John Lynch. Although the original bibliography would certainly be an interesting resource to use unfortunately I was unable to find it. However although these sources are based on reviews rather than strictly a play by play of Rosas’s life, they have the benefit of providing more lenses to look at the hisitorical figure of Rosas. In tadem they offer the reader a more balanced and versatile exploration into this major historical figure in history.
In both reviews there are key focuses into the effects of Rosas himself on Argentina, as well as the role of Caudillos generally. Although each review varies slightly and pulls to different points of focus there are underlying ideas that both writers discuss which Kroeber describes poignantly in reference to the original text “Lynch shows how Rosas and his faction epitomized, profited from, and conflicted with major economic changes from the era of independence until the mid-nineteenth century” [Kroeber, 705]
Donghi, Tulio Halperin. “Journal of Latin American Studies.” Journal of Latin American Studies, vol. 14, no. 1, 1982, pp. 202–204. www.jstor.org/stable/155737.
Kroeber, Clifton B. “The Hispanic American Historical Review.” The Hispanic American Historical Review, vol. 62, no. 4, 1982, pp. 705–706. www.jstor.org/stable/2514591.
The second source sheds light onto how the famous Argentinian writer Esteban Echeverria in part brought romanticism and European enlightenment based ideas into Latin America through his writing and political activism. It becomes evident that Echeverria is coming from an upbringing of elite liberal intellectualism as his childhood included things like spending parts of his childhood abroad in France. Miliani points out in this text that “…perhaps through that blind inclination to carry out the ideas of European liberalism, he lost sight of the social realities of his own country and was finally destroyed as a ruler by the anti-centralism of Rosas.” [Miliani, 527]
Miliani, Domingo. “Utopian Socialism, Transitional Thread from Romanticism to Positivism in Spanish America.” Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 24, no. 4, 1963, pp. 523–538. www.jstor.org/stable/2707982.