May Revolution
The May Revolution was not the product of the actions of a single political party with a clear and defined agenda, but a convergence of sectors with varying interests. Thus, there are a number of conflicting perspectives about it, because different authors highlight different aspects. Mitre, for example, referred to "The Representation of the Landowners" (an 1809 economic report by Mariano Moreno) and the role of the merchants to support the view that the May Revolution intended to obtain free trade and economic integration with Europe; right-wing revisionists center around Saavedra and the social customs of the time to describe the revolution under conservative principles; and left-wing revisionists use the example of Moreno, Castelli and the rioters led by French and Beruti to describe it as a radical revolution.
First National Government
Commemorations of the May Revolution have been held since 1811, the first anniversary: Cornelio Saavedra ruled so for Buenos Aires, and Manuel Belgrano and Juan José Castelli did the same during their military campaigns at the cities they had under control during the anniversaries. The day was officially declared a national day by the Assembly of Year XIII on May 5, 1813. The 1816 Argentine Declaration of Independence provided an alternative national day. In the beginning, this added to the conflicts between Buenos Aires and the provinces in the Argentine Civil War, with the date in May being related particularly to Buenos Aires and 9 July to the whole country. This led the unitarian Bernardino Rivadavia to cancel the celebration on July, and the federalist Juan Manuel de Rosas to re-allow it, but without giving up celebrations on May. The celebrations in 1857, when Buenos Aires had temporary seceded from the Argentine Confederation, were large and included the remodelation of the Plaza. By 1880, with the federalization of Buenos Aires, the local connotations were removed and the May Revolution was considered the birth of the nation.