Abstract
The aftermath of the Napoleonic wars reverberated across the Atlantic ocean, reaching the Rio de la Plata viceroyalty which was under Spanish monarchic control. A succession of power struggles between European empires prompted the Rioplatense (term dubbed to the natives of this viceroyalty) population's wish for an independent state, free of the control these European empires attempted to impose. When Spain's authority over the region was weakened by Napoleon's invasions of its territories, the British crown took notice and attempted to invade the Spanish viceroyalty through the port of Buenos Aires. The locals and their newly formed militias abated the British attack, as well as their subsequent and more organized attempt. This victory over the British invaders in the early 1800s solidified the already growing spirit of independence in the people of Buenos Aires and the territories surrounding it, later becoming the Republic of Argentina. The entities that formed to govern the newborn nation saw a need for symbols to elicit blind allegiance from its supporters, including the sentiment of defending independence with their own lives. One of these symbols was the patriotic song, commonly known as the national anthem; the government commissioned the piece to be composed by a Spanish national musician and set to text by an Argentine lawyer and politician. The story of this piece's premiere is shrouded in political romanticism and mysticism and although most of the time-current political and social characters are present in this tale, it seems these events did not happen the way schools have taught them for more than a century. The evidence leads to a literary construction based on secondary accounts, fueled by the renewing patriotic spirit brought by the celebrations of the centennial, and depicted in a painting commissioned (again) by a government who would benefit from the population's adoption of these century-old ideas. The following analysis of historical evidence and research interpretations will attempt to demonstrate the purpose of this particular piece's creation, its rhetoric, and the myth surrounding its' historically publicized premiere as a conglomerated tool for popular control.