Argentina Discovery: the State
History
Prior to the Spanish colonisation of Argentina in the 1500s, a number of autonomous indigenous peoples inhabited the area; those in the north belonged to the Incan Empire. The pace of colonisation was slow but by the 1700s the Spanish had established a number of cities and the indigenous peoples were increasingly under threat.
In 1806, an attempt by the British to capture Buenos Aires was unsuccessful. However, this intervention, along with tensions with Spain, led to a movement for independence. During this time, the Spanish colony also included neighbouring Paraguay and Uruguay.