Buenos Aires was founded by the Spanish Pedro de Mendoza in 1536 and was named Puerto de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Aire (Our Lady Saint Maria of the Good Air). The city, ravaged by Indians, disease and an inhospitable climate, was abandoned. What little remained of the inhabitants remained upstream toward what is now Paraguay

On June 11, 1580, a second attempt at founding Buenos Aires was made by Juan de Garay. This second attempt at founding Buenos Aires was made out of the need for a gateway to the Atlantic from which all the commodities mined by the Spanish in Peru and Bolivia could be exported. This was also one of the reasons why the early city of Buenos Aires depended on the Viceroyalty of Peru.

The new settlement of Buenos Aires suffered all kinds of needs. The people were located far away for major commercial traffic and did not have an abundance of the important minerals and commodities that made other parts of the region a particular focus and interest for the Spanish Crown. Spain had the privilege of access to major ports of the Pacific Ocean and Buenos Aires, being a port of only minor relevance during this time, only received two supply ships per year and in some years none at all.This weakened the city's population to a small village of just 500 who found it difficult to create a livliehood out of their limited commercial relationship with Brazil, which involved the risky task of smuggling. During this time the only thing the people could really find the courage to smuggle was the leather of animals (amazingly the meat of such animals was not used for anything and was thrown away).

In 1776, Buenos Aires´ status changed and it became the capital of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata. Thus began a period of prosperity as the Crown began to benefit commercially in Buenos Aires. This caused the city to receive a strong flow of immigration from Spain and to a lesser extent France and Italy . Despite the beginning of this new and prosperous period, the city still faced further challenges and struggles. From its inception until 1807 the city was subject to several invasions. Perhaps the best known is the one that of 1807 known as the "British invasion". Since the initial conquest, England always had a major interest in the riches of the region. This interest led John Whitelocke and his soldiers to try and occupy the city, however they were defeated by both the inhabitants of the city and the urban militia.

This was a great victory for the people and saw the emergence of historical figures and an independent spirit. Buenos Aires though with a newfound moral, military power and prestige discovered how little support Spain had for its' colony.This lack of support  generated a feeling of annoyance amongst the people as they were expected to defend themselves yet still be subject to negotiations exclusively with the Spanish Crown.