Afro-Descendant Participation in Argentine Military

As it was often the practice in other countries on the American continent, Afro-descendants in Argentina fought in numerous wars for the country they lived in. Their participation in the Argentine military has often been misrepresented and therefore undervalued (Andrews 113f). Not everyone, white as well as black, joined the army voluntarily though. Between 1823 and 1872, men as well as women could be sentenced with several years of service in the army after having committed a crime (114). Also, slaves were often bought by the state or donated by their owners in order to serve. Special decrees, called rescates, were initiated by the government several times between 1813 and 1818, requiring slave owners to sell a certain percentage of their “holdings” (116).

Slaves who had served in the army were promised freedom after the end of their service, though George Reid Andrews remarks that there is no data on the extent to which these contracts were actually fulfilled. However, the promised freedom was a persuasive incentive for black men to join the army (116f.). Soldiers of African descent fought in many very important wars, such as the Argentine War of Independence, the War against Brazil and the War of the Triple Alliance, not to mention a series of civil wars (Williams 47).

Andrews illustrates how the military service influenced the African and Afro-descendant community in Argentina. As in any other war, he describes how families were torn apart, and community organization, at this point dominated by men, stood still for a while after men and women were forced to or had decided to join the militia (Andrews 115). Please note that although troops were to a large extent segregated, there were also integrated units where black and white men fought side by side (117). In fact Andrews only names a few all-black units, the most famous of which were the Seventh and Eighth Infantry Battalions and the Eleventh Infantry. These units consisted to a large extent of former slaves from Argentina who fought in Chile, Peru and Ecuador (117). The San Martín’s conquest that these troops fought in is, according to Andrews, “the stuff military legend is made of” (117).

Although the army did promise freedom and chances for social upward mobility to black men, the fact that they were Afro-descendants placed great limitations on their possible careers. Segregation was part of Argentina’s society throughout colonialism and only ended in the army in the 1850s (Andrews 118f.), also Andrews observes “it seems to have been an unwritten rule that no Afro-Argentine could be allowed to reach the rank of general” (131). The scholar further comments, “While fighting those wars they served not only as followers, but also as leaders, and as soldiers and officers they compiled a record of achievement that has been too easily relegated to history’s back drawers” (137). Within the Argentine national narrative of whiteness there is no room for, or awareness of, the contributions Africans and Afro-descendants made (Williams 21).