Background
Led by José Gervasio Artigas, the region theretofore known as the Eastern Bank, in the River Plate basin, revolted against Spanish rule in 1811, against the backdrop of the 1810 May Revolution in Buenos Aires and the regional rebellions that followed in response to Buenos Aires' pretense of primacy over other regions of the viceroyalty. In the same context, the Portuguese Empire, then hosted in Rio de Janeiro, took measures to solidify its hold on Rio Grande do Sul and to annex the region of the former Eastern Jesuit Missions.
From 1814 on, the Eastern Province joined forces with the provinces of Santa Fe and Entre Rios in a loose confederation called the Federal League, which resisted Buenos Aires authority. After a series of banditry incidents in territory claimed by the Portuguese Empire, in Rio Grande do Sul, Portugal invaded the Eastern Bank in 1816.
Artigas was finally defeated by the Luso-Brazilian troops in 1820 at the Battle of Tacuarembó. The Portuguese Empire (formally the United Kingdom of Brazil, Portugal and Algarves since 1815) then formally annexed the Eastern Bank, under the name Cisplatine Province, with support from local elites. With the annexation, the Portuguese Empire now enjoyed strategic access to River Plate and control of the estuary's main port, Montevideo.
After Brazilian independence, in 1822, the Cisplatine province became part of the Empire of Brazil. It sent delegates to the 1823 Constitutional Convention and, under the 1824 Constitution, enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy, more so than other provinces of the Empire.
Read more about this topic: Cisplatine War
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