Argentina: 'The Slaves of Buenos Aires Demonstrate their Freedom and Gratitude to their Noble Liberator...

Juan Manuel de Rosas (30 March 1793-14 March 1877) was a politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confederation. Although born into a wealthy family, Rosas independently amassed a personal fortune, acquiring large tracts of land in the process. Rosas enlisted his workers in a private militia, as was common for rural proprietors, and took part in the factious disputes that led to numerous civil wars in his country. Victorious in warfare, personally influential, and with vast landholdings and a loyal private army, Rosas became the quintessential 'caudillo' , as provincial warlords in the region were known. In fact, far from being a 'liberator', Black people did not experience any improvement in their conditions under his totalitarian regime. Rosas was himself a slave-owner, and helped revive the slave trade. Despite doing little to promote their interests, he remained popular among blacks and gauchos. He employed blacks, patronized their festivities and attended their religious ceremonies.