The Protectionist Artisans. Buenos Aires, First Half of the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

Unlike other Spanish American cities, historical studies on the artisans of Buenos Aires in the first half of the nineteenth century are very scarce. This article argues that artisans played a prominent role in the debate between free trade and protectionism in the first decades after independence. It also shows that groups of artisans actively and successfully demanded the increase of custom duties. Their demands were considered by Juan Manuel de Rosas when sanctioning a Customs Law in 1835. This law, which has attracted a great deal of attention from historiography, has been regarded mostly as a gesture of the governor of Buenos Aires towards his provincial peers. The evidence provided in this paper suggests that this law was also, to an equal or greater extent, an attempt to gain support from the law artisans and farmers of Buenos Aires.