In 1810 news arrived of the May Revolution in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.

On 4 September 1815, separatists in Santiago led by Francisco Borges launched the first bid for independence, but it was suppressed by governor Bernabé Aráoz.

On 20 April 1816 the Santiago del Estero deputies Pedro León Gallo and Pedro Francisco de Uriarte joined the Congress of Tucumán, where the independence of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata was declared.

On 10 December 1816, a second revolutionary movement was launched in Santiago del Estero, again led by Borges.

[1] This republic, and others formed at the time such as the Republic of Entre Ríos, were set up in the expectation that they would soon be united into a larger political grouping, perhaps even a confederacy uniting the provinces of the former Spanish Viceroyalties of Río de la Plata, Chile, and Peru.

[3] A constitution was needed for the republic, and a council of leaders of the former provinces was called to define how it would be organized.

The people of Santiago del Estero rebelled, supported by armed forces from the Fuerte de Abipones led by Juan Felipe Ibarra, who defeated Echauri in an engagement on 31 March 1820 and forced him to retreat to Tucumán.