page_title: Constitution of Argentina
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Constitution of Argentina / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Argentine writer and dipolomat Juan Bautista Alberdi (1810–1884).
context_page_description: The Constitution of Argentina is the basic governing document of Argentina, and the primary source of existing law in Argentina. Its first version was written in 1853 by a Constitutional Assembly gathered in Santa Fe, and the doctrinal basis was taken in part from the United States Constitution. It was then reformed in 1860, 1866, 1898, 1949, 1957, and the current version is the reformed text of 1994.
context_section_description: The first attempt to divide political power in Argentina was during the government created after the May Revolution (Spanish: Revolución de Mayo): the Primera Junta could not create new taxes without the Cabildo's authorization.
  Many revolutionary leaders, led by Mariano Moreno, wanted to declare independence immediately and to make a constitution in order to build an independent state. In October 1811, the Junta Grande, which succeeded the Primera Junta, enacted the Regulation for the Division of Power, but it was not accepted by the executive power. Nevertheless, the freedom of press and the Decree on Individual Security were accepted by November.
  In 1813, the General Constitutional Assembly was intended to declare a constitution but it could only declare the freedom for slaves' sons.
  In 1819 and 1826 were declared two constitutions that eventually failed because of the disagreement between Federalists and Unitarians.
  Many other constitutional pacts existed between 1820 and 1853 (when the current Argentine Constitution was enacted). The most important of them are: the Treaty of Pilar (1820), the Treaty of the Cuadrilátero (1822), the Federal Pact (1831), the Palermo Protocol (1852), and the Treaty of San Nicolás (1852).
  The Federal Pact urged all the provinces to call a General Federal Congress, however this would have limited Juan Manuel de Rosas's power who was the most powerful province governor, so the Congress was never called.
  When Rosas was defeated, in 1852, the Treaty of San Nicolás finally called the Constitutional Congress that, in Santa Fe, on May 1, 1853, sworn to make effective the federal Constitution. Consequently, the Province of Buenos Aires left the Argentine Confederation until 1859.
caption: Juan Bautista Alberdi, the legal scholar who drafted the 1853 Constitution.
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