Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata

The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (Spanish: Virreinato del Río de la Plata or Spanish: Virreinato de las Provincias del Río de la Plata) was the shortest-lived of the Viceroyalties of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. It was the last to be organized. Its name means "River of the Silver",  It was also called "Viceroyalty of the River Plate" in some writings.   The name "Provincias del Río de la Plata" was formally adopted in 1810 during the Cortes of Cádiz to name the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.

 Government 
The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was created in 1776 by Charles III of Spain. Although it functioned as a Spanish colony, Río de la Plata was technically a personal possession of the King of Spain. This allowed both European Spain and its overseas territories to have their own laws and regulations.
1Pedro Antonio de Cevallos15 October 1777 – 26 June 17781 August 1776Appointed by Charles III of Spain2Juan José de Vértiz y Salcedo26 June 1778 – 7 March 178427 October 1777Appointed by Charles III of Spain; resigned3Nicolás del Campo7 March 1784 – 4 December 178913 August 1783Appointed by Charles III of Spain4Nicolás Antonio de Arredondo4 December 1789 – 16 March 179521 March 1789Appointed by Charles IV of Spain, resigned5Pedro Melo de Portugal16 March 1795 – 15 April 17975 February 1794Appointed by Charles IV of Spain, died in office -Real Audiencia of Buenos Aires15 April 1797 – 2 May 1797Interim government until the arrival of a new viceroy6Antonio Olaguer Feliú2 May 1797 – 14 May 1799During his mandate, he had to contend with the presence of British and Portugueseforces in the Río de la Plata region, as well as nascent revolutionary sentiment inspired by the recent French Revolution. He opened the port of Buenos Aires to foreign traffic in a bid to stimulate the commercial activities of the Viceroyalty.7Gabriel de Avilés,
2nd Marquis of Avilés14 March 1799 – 20 May 180125 October 17978Joaquín del Pino y Rozas20 May 1801 – 11 April 180414 July 1800Appointed by Charles IV of Spain, died in office9Rafael de Sobremonte24 April 1804 – 10 February 180710 November 1804During the British invasions of the Río de la PlataBuenos Aires and Montevideofell under British authority for brief periods of time. Sobremonte was forced on 14 August 1806 by an open cabildo to move to Montevideo, delegating in Santiago de Liniers the military authority and in the Audience the other areas of government. He was removed completely as viceroy by a martial court, with Liniers elected as interim viceroy.10Santiago de Liniers10 February 1807 – 30 June 1809Interim viceroy, confirmed in office by Charles IV of Spain, replaced by the Junta of Seville.11Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros15 July 1809 – 25 May 181011 February 1809Appointed by the Junta of Seville, ousted from office by the May Revolution, replaced by the Primera Junta.12Francisco Javier de Elío19 January 1811 – January 181231 August 1810Governor of Montevideo, self-proclaimed "viceroy", political chief confirmed as such by the Cortes of Cádiz, which also declared Montevideo the new capital of the viceroyalty and Buenos Aires a rebel city.13Pedro Antonio Olañeta27 May 18251825In May 1825, King Ferdinand VII of Spainappointed Pedro Antonio de Olañeta as viceroy of the Río de la Plata, unaware that he had died three months earlier at the Battle of Tumusla (Upper Peru).

References

Category:1776 establishments
Category:History of Argentina
Category:History of Bolivia
Category:History of Paraguay
Category:History of Uruguay
Viceroyalty Rio De La Plata
Category:1814 disestablishments
Category:Spanish Empire