This was an immense advance upon the old system of leaving the right of naming deputies to the Cabildos, and produced a very fair representation of the urban population of the united provinces, but the rights of the rural population were entirely overlooked.
"The General Constituent Assembly" was inaugurated on the 31st January, 1813. Without proclaiming the independence of the united provinces, they yet took to themselves the supreme power, substituting the national arms for those of Spain; a national flag for the flag of Spain; suppressing all laws and customs which in any way recognised Spanish tribunals as courts of appeal; abolished the Inquisition and judicial torture; gave liberty to all children born of slave parents after that date; and in the service of the Litany substituted a prayer for the "Sovereign Assembly of the United Provinces" in place of the one previously offered on behalf of the King. Further, they decreed that all Europeans, whether ecclesiastics, civilians, or soldiers, who should not within fifteen days become citizens should forfeit any employment they held under Government.
In January, 1814, the assembly determined upon another great step, they abolished the triumvirate and placed Don Gervacio Posadas at the head of the state, with the title of "Supreme Director of the United Provinces," but after holding office for one year Posadas resigned, and Don Carlos Maria de Alvear was named Supreme Director.
Alvear owed his election to the influence of the "Caballeros Racionales," of which secret society he was President, but he was disliked both by the mass of the people and by the army.
The position of the united provinces was at this time very critical; the fall of Napoleon had set Ferdinand at liberty, he was again King of Spain, and was preparing at Cadiz an expedition of 15,000 men for the purpose of reconquering the revolted colonies of La Plata. Alvear despaired of securing the independence of the united provinces, but five years of revolutionary rule had inspired the entire Argentine people with a hatred of Spain; he determined to place them under the protectorate of Great Britain. With this object he chose two ambassadors, Don Manuel Belgrano and Don Bernardino Rivadavia, whom he despatched to London with credentials to the Court of Saint James, and with a despatch addressed to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in which, after describing the disorder into which everything had fallen from the inaptitude of the people for self-government, he said:
"These provinces wish to belong to Great Britain, to adopt her laws, to obey her Government, and to live under her powerful influence. They deliver themselves unconditionally to the generosity and good faith of the English people."
The two ambassadors reached London in March, 1815, only to find Europe in a fresh commotion produced by the return of Napoleon from Elba. This unforeseen event, put an end to the expedition in preparation at Cadiz; greatly improved the position of Charles IV., ex-King of Spain, who still asserted his right to the crown of Spain, and was then living in retirement at Rome; and utterly precluded any hope that the British Government would adopt any policy in opposition to the interests of Ferdinand.
The two ambassadors never presented their credentials to the Court of Saint James, and, in conjunction with Sarratea, who was at that time agent in Europe for the Government of the united provinces, addressed themselves, instead, to the ex-King Charles, offering to bestow the crown of Buenos Aires upon his adopted son the Infante Don Francisco de Paula. Waterloo put an end to this negotiation, Rivadavia went to Spain to endeavour to treat with Ferdinand, and Belgrano returned to Buenos Aires.
Belgrano was no great genius, either as a military man or as a politician, but he was a hard-working, honest patriot; loving his country, and ready to make any personal sacrifice in her service, he aspired to no dignities and was careless of all emolument; he devoted his life and his energies to securing the independence of the Argentine people. But he was also a deep thinker, and foresaw that the anarchy which was spreading over the united provinces threatened evils even worse than the tyranny of Spain. During his residence in England, he had seen that the liberty of the people was perfectly compatible with monarchial institutions; he returned to Buenos Aires, convinced that the establishment of a monarchy was the only means by which order and liberty could be at once secured to the Argentine people.
During the campaign of Tucuman he had entered into friendly relations with various Indian chieftains of the interior, among them he now proposed to search for a lineal descendant of Atahualpa, for the purpose of re-establishing the Empire of the Incas. In this purpose he found many willing to join him, but the Argentine people, jealous of their new-born liberty, looked upon the project as a dream.