History of Uruguay

A drawing of the native people

The history of Uruguay has four different periods. They were the pre-Columbian time, the colonial period, building up the country, and as an independent country.

Background

Humans have lived in Uruguay for over 100 000 years. When the Europeans came, the native people began dying because of the diseases brought over by the Europeans. They also fought with the Europeans a lot, so many of them died during that time.

Social developments in the 19th century

During the 19th century, Uruguay suffered from periods of dictatorship and civil war. Despite this, a number of positive social advances nevertheless took place. A law of 1838 required “the deduction of one day’s pay per month from the salaries of public employees in order that civil pensions and retirement allowances might be serviced.” In 1896, a teachers’ pension and retirement fund was set up. A number of public health measures were implemented, with an early action involving the establishment of a large market in Montevideo “to improve the highly unsanitary conditions under which meat and other foods had been sold.” In 1853, the Old City took steps to extend its rudimentary sewer system, and Montevideo became the first Latin American city to have a complete sewerage system. Action to provide running water started in 1866. In 1847 the legislature passed an ordinance providing for vaccination against smallpox, while vaccination (which began for schoolchildren as early as 1829) became compulsory for infants in 1850. The 1850’s also saw “the first systematic and extensive steps taken to provide quarantine and disinfection services.” In 1883 a “House of Disinfection” was established in Montevideo and 4 years later a lazaret which was considered a model of its kind was established on the Isla de Flores.

In 1871 and 1878 regulations were issued to “govern the construction of conventillos in terms of aeration and sanitation. In the early 1830s Uruguay’s first real hospital, the Charity Hospital, was established at Montevideo.

In education, Uruguay’s first school law was passed in 1826, while the first budget for public instruction “involved the munificent sum of 10,800 pesos.” A project for a national university was approved in 1833, and organizations were formed in 1847 and 1848 to develop and control primary and secondary education. In 1849, the University of Montevideo (officially the University of the Republic) was established on July 18, 1849.

In 1878 the first law to set up a free public education system was approved.

In 1880 the Executive Branch was authorized to form colonies or help colonization companies, establishing the right of expropriation for reasons of public utility is established. In 1882 public lands occupied by tenants could be used for the formation of agricultural colonies. A decree of November 28, 1882 provided that public lands, occupied by tenants, may be used for the formation of agricultural colonies.

In spite of these developments, Uruguay suffered from numerous social and economic inequalities. As noted by one study, “The government had not as yet turned its attention to the relations of labour and capital: there was no regulation of the labour of women and children, no provision for accidents, no official means of protest for employees against unfair treatment, no restrictions on the hours of work.”

Rural workers experienced low wages and poor living conditions and were wholly dependent on the will of the landowner, and while slavery had been abolished in the forties “the rural worker was still without defences against the landowner and was a willing instrument in the hands of political leaders.” Also, during the late Nineteenth Century a period of capitalist modernization took place which caused a great deal of hardship. According to one study, “The capitalist country model implemented by militarism during the governments of Latorre and Santos (fascicle 4) with the approval of the dominant classes that had promoted it (ranchers, large-scale commerce, finance), soon demonstrated its frailties and shortcomings: mainly, its dependence on the great centers of world capitalism, causing the deformations of our economy; as well as the acute social contradictions, which caused unemployment and misery of the rural masses.” As noted by another study, wire fences cut down the need for hands, with excess hands asked or forced to leave. They were dragooned into the army or drifted in rural slums known as pueblos de ratas (rat towns).

Measures to mitigate the problems of Uruguayan society would be undertaken during the course the age of José Battle Y Ordoñez.

The age of José Battle Y Ordoñez

Several progressive reforms were undertaken by José Battle Y Ordoñez, who would serve as president of Uruguay from 1903 to 1907 and again from 1911 to 1915. Many of his successors would continue his policies.

Following a civil war, Batlle introduced widespread political, social, and economic reforms, such as a welfare program, government participation in many facets of the economy, and a new constitution. Between 1904 and 1916, according one study, "the triumphant sector of the Colorado Party, Batllism, emphasized social programs and what the philosopher Carlos Vaz Ferreira (1915) denominated pobrismo (focus on poverty), constructing a state that was intended to be the "shield of the weak" (Perelli 1985)."According to one study, Batlle ratified his war victory "with the 1905 electoral victory which put his supporters into the legislature and his lieutenants in control of the party organization all over Uruguay. Having secured his position, he was ready for reform."

The Batlle era saw the introduction of numerous reforms. In 1910 a hospital for children and an asylum were constructed, while building started on a hospital for tuberculosis patients. In 1915, a Maternity House, asylums for older children, a milk program for children up the age of two, and a service in medical emergencies in homes were initiated. Hospital services "also began to improve in the capital cities of the interior" while small asylums were set up for abandoned mothers and their children in some rural towns. In 1920 a second public hospital was established in Montevideo was established to provide general services, while another facility provided exclusive care for the elderly and beggars.

Research institutes were also founded, while a children’s hospital, an orphanage, a senior citizen’s home and military hospital were also built. In 1916 a law was introduced in 1916 concerning accommodation and food for people without resources. This aimed to protect the “right to life.”

In 1927 the minimum wage for public functionaries was introduced. Various reforms in education were also carried out. Public secondary education was instituted while university education was reformed, "creating new schools for professionals." In 1912 secondary schools were set up in each of the 18 departmental capitals of the interior "and incorporated into the Secondary Education Section of the University that operated in Montevideo (Universidad de la Republica). A secondary night school was established in 1919 "so that adults who had not finished secondary school could continue their formal education."

The National Commission for Charity and Public Welfare was authorized to create a "Gota de Leche" clinic. A period of land reform lastly roughly between 1913 and 1923, with 2 laws passed that established 10 agricultural "colonies" totalling "about 75,000 acres, divided into farms averaging about 100 acres in size." Through support provided by the superior Government, Public Assistance was able to open the first Gota de Leche Clinic in the city of Montevideo at the start of 1908.

The reforms of the Batlle era served as a rallying cry for supporters of Batlle's ideas. An attendee at a Colorado Party convention in 1916 noted the social progress Uruguay had made while also identifying the party with ordinary citizens:

"-Let us stop without regret and without discouragement. For the same reason that this is a truce, let us prepare all our forces to resume new campaigns tomorrow, in happier days, when the environment is more propitious, when all the hostilities, when all the slander, when all the aggressions, when all the anaconisms and all personalisms have dissipated, before the evidence that will come, bright as the sun, that we have always proceeded well, that we have always sincerely taken into account, above all things, the interest of the Republic, the interest of its greatness, the interest in the improvement of its institutions, for the benefit of all, the rich and the poor, the humble and the powerful; but yes, let's confess it: especially the poor and the humble... (Very good! - Applause)

-because always, gentlemen, they were the abandoned ones! And the party that has popular core, that nourishes its blood with the blood of the people, could not leave them like this in the hours of triumph, in the hours in which it believed, unselfish and sentimentalist, that the environment was conducive to everything good for of the poor and the humble. And we brought upon our heads all the conspiracies of the irreducible reactionaries. –(Big applause)

-But this very thing, gentlemen, reveals and demonstrates the moral nature of our party that, at the risk of attracting the opposition of the most powerful classes, realized many popular hopes and dignified many institutions, exalted the concept of its duties, promoting that, as well as The country in the past, with spear boats, with epic thrust, founded democracy on the social equality of the rights of the people. –(Big applause)

In the lead up to the November 1919 general elections, the Agrupación Colorada Batllista started publishing its program of works carried out from 1903 to 1918. The points covered were:

• ‘Pacification of the country based on respect for institutions;

• abolition of the death penalty;

• abolition of the levy regime for the army's comeback;

• administrative and personal honesty;

• construction of bridges, roads, ports, railways;

• settlement of divorce;

• creation of departmental high schools;

• creation of schools and salary increase for teachers;

• free high school and university education;

• creation of the State Power Plants, the Mortgage Bank, the Insurance Bank and the State railways and trams;

• creation of the Agronomy and Veterinary Schools and the Agronomic Stations;

• organization of the Business School;

• construction of university buildings;

• creation of the Historical Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts;

• creation of boulevards and public walks;

• initiative of the League of Nations in The Hague;

• organization of physical education and sports places throughout the country;

• establishment of old-age pensions;

• compensation for work accidents;

• regulation of women's and children's work;

• suspension of night work;

• creation of free chairs and salary increase for teachers;

• creation of the Institutes of Fishing, Industrial Chemistry, Geology and Drilling;

• suspension of discounts of 10 and 15% on the salaries of public employees;

• creation of the Educational Colony for Men;

• campaign against alcoholism;

• abolition of the Presidency of the Republic;

• establishment of the secret ballot, proportional representation and mandatory registration;

• departmental autonomies;

• separation of Church and State;

• vote of women and foreigners;

• popular insurance;

• legitimation of natural children;

• paternity investigation;

• fight against white slavery;

• establishment of the conditional sentence;

• establishment of broad and compulsory arbitration in international litigation;

• establishment of popular libraries;

• creation of the School of Dramatic Art and the national orchestra;

• creation of industrial education;

• creation of agricultural colonies;

• establishment of the agrarian pledge, rural credit and agricultural defense;

• creation of the Women's University;

• agriculture protection;

• stimulus laws for the improvement of livestock;

• foundation of hospitals in the departments;

• creation of the maternity, the Alienated Colony, the Gynecology Pavilion, the Children's Hospital, the Nursing School, the Vacation Colony, the Outdoor Schools and the Institutes for the deaf.’

A couple of years later, the Convention of the Batllista Association 'decided to sanction a double program of principles to establish which were the previous works of the party, that should be maintained, and, at the same time, specify the aspirations or future achievements.' The works carried out as listed were

'1. Democratic-representative institutions.

2. of the Collegiate Government form

3. of Municipal autonomy.

4. General and compulsory arbitration in international matters.

5. Of the separation of the State and the Church.

6. Secret ballot and proportional representation.

7. The abolition, without exception, of the death penalty.

8. On the conviction and parole of criminals.

9. Divorce at the will of the woman, without the need to express cause.

10. From the investigation of paternity.

11. Of the rights of natural children.

12. Of the secularism of teaching.

13. Free primary, secondary, preparatory and higher education.

14. From the absenteeism tax.

15. From the University of Women.

16. From departmental high schools.

17. Of night teaching.

18. Of the agronomic stations.

19. Of the free chairs and progressive salaries to the professors.

20. From the Physical Education Commission.

21. Of the right to assistance.

22. From lay public assistance.

23. The right to livelihood.

24. Of the repression of alcoholism.

25. Of the maximum day of eight hours.

26. From pensions to old age.

27. One day's rest after every five days of work.

28. Compensation for work accidents.

29. From the State Insurance Bank.

30. Of the Bank of the Republic exclusively of the State.

31. Of the nationalization of the Mortgage Bank.

32. Of the nationalization of the Power Plants.

33. Of the nationalization of the telegraphs.

34. Of the nationalization of the services of the Port.

35. Of the nationalization of the Northern Tramway and Railway, the Trinidad al Durazno Railway and the Olmos Junction at Maldonado.

36. Of the construction of the country's railways by the State and for the State.

37. The suppression of bullfights, their parodies, non-simulated pigeon shooting, cockfights, the rat-pit and all shows in which the suffering of animals is provoked as an attraction.'

The Batllistas also listed a number of works to be realised, including

“48. The prohibition of work for children of both sexes under 15 years of age.

49. The reduction to four hours of the work day for young people between 15 and 18 years of age.

50. The reduction to six hours of the working day work of young people between 18 and 20 years of age and of women

51. Increased up to ten pesos in old age pensions

52. The declaration by law that the mother woman deserves well from the Republic, regardless of her marital status

53. The prohibition for women to work during the 30 days that precede childbirth and during the 30 that follow it

54. The creation of nursing homes to house and assist women in the last 30 days of pregnancy and in the 30 days following childbirth or longer if their health requires it, in which they will also be instructed in how to raise children

55. The installation of nursery rooms in establishments where women with children are employed

56. The allowance of $10 per month for one year counted from the month prior to the childbirth to women who support the child even when they have salary or salary, allocation that will be provided from old age pension funds.

57. The increase in the number of asylums or maternity homes until the popular need is fully satisfied in these establishments

58. The fixing of a minimum wage for community workers, based on the main living conditions, among which must be counted in the first place healthy and sufficient food and hygienic housing and arrangement.

59. The fixing of the minimum wage of $30 for farmhands, huts or dairy,

60. The determination of the food that should be given to farmhands, huts or dairy, which must be healthy and sufficient.

61. Rest in shifts of a full day after every five days of work for ranch, cabin or dairy laborers

62. The participation of workers and employees of state companies in their profits and the increase in salaries and wages.

63. The creation of a mandatory minimum insurance of 2/^ of the wage or salary, against unemployment, illness or disability.

64. The creation of retirement and pensions for all those who work on their own account, individuals or the State.

65. The recognition of the right of retirees or pensioners to reside in the country or abroad, and to marry without losing their pension.

66. The establishment in each judicial section of a doctor, at least, designated annually by popular election of the corresponding section, with a monthly salary of not less than $200 to provide assistance to the workers and in general to any person of modest economic situation, according to a reduced rate that will be set by the municipal authorities.

67. The rigorous application of labor, protection and salary laws to the work regime of convents, asylums, congregations and religious associations.”

Several of these reforms would be realized both during and after Batlle’s lifetime.

Post-Batlle reforms

Further reforms were carried out in the years following Batlle’s passing. Under a law of 25 June 1930, a minimum wage previously established on 18 November 1926 for port workers was extended to more people. In 1934, a program of establishing low-cost restaurants where well-balanced meals could be served to workers at minimum prices was started. A number of other reforms concerning matters like social security, housing and working conditions were introduced throughout the 1930s and 1940s.

A statute of 1930 permitted teachers who had worked for 10 years to retire they were mothers of small children. This was later extended to all female workers. In the Fifties retirement benefits "were permitted for those who had been self-employed without ever having contributed to a retirement fund."

In 1950, Women who are mothers became eligible for retirement pensions after 10 years of employment, irrespective of age. In terms of housing, a 1951 law sheltered the functionaries of the legislative branch. A law was passed in 1953 to meet the requirements of the banking retirement fund, which in accordance with the BHU administered funds for housing loans. In 1954 a law was approved for members of the armed forces.

A law of December 1968, known as the 1968 National Housing Law, also greatly increased the number of housing cooperatives and "specified a detailed regulatory framework for housing cooperatives." In 1967 a new constitution was approved which instituted 9 years of mandatory education.

A National Housing Plan was also approved, with considerable housing construction in Montevideo and the coastal cities taking place between 1970 and 1972.

Private training colleges that had been established in almost all towns in the interior on the initiative of the teachers' and parents' associations received a government grant in 1949.

The number of school canteens and school milk services increased, as well as the school psychology services. New classes for handicapped children were also opened.

In terms of secondary education, a law of 31 January 1957 "made official seven inland lycées, set up an experimental evening school inland and a day lycée and an evening lycée in the capita." In addition, a law of 29 November 1957 "increased by 9 million the 18 million pesos allocated by the 1950 law for the purchase of land the construction of new buildings for lycées and the adaptation and enlargement of existing schools."