The 1837 generation was an Argentine literary group. Influenced by the new romantic

Romanticism

Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...

 ideas, they rejected the cultural Spanish heritage of the country. They considered themselves the "sons of the May Revolution

May Revolution

The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish colony that included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay...

", as they were born shortly after it, and wrote some of the earliest Argentine literary works. They did not acknowledge any national roots in the indigenous peoples or the period of European colonization, focusing instead on the Revolution as the birth of the country.

The group established a literary hall in 1837, hence the name. Initially, they claimed to be neutral in the Argentine Civil Wars, but in time they wrote works biased against the federal

Federales (Argentina)

Federales was the name under which the supporters of federalism in Argentina were known, opposing the Unitarios that claimed a centralised government of Buenos Aires Province, with no participation of the other provinces of the custom taxes benefits of the Buenos Aires port...

 governor Juan Manuel de Rosas

Juan Manuel de Rosas

Juan Manuel de Rosas , was an argentine militar and politician, who was elected governor of the province of Buenos Aires in 1829 to 1835, and then of the Argentine Confederation from 1835 until 1852...

 (such as El Matadero by Esteban Echeverría

Esteban Echeverría

José Esteban Antonio Echeverría was an Argentine poet, fiction writer, cultural promoter, and political activist who played a significant role in the development of Argentine literature, not only through his own writings but also through his organizational efforts...

 or Facundo

Facundo

Facundo: Civilization and Barbarism is a book written in 1845 by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, a writer and journalist who became the seventh president of Argentina...

by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the seventh President of Argentina. His writing spanned a wide range of genres and topics, from journalism to autobiography, to political philosophy and history...

) and became fully Unitarians

Unitarian Party

Unitarianists or Unitarians were the proponents of the concept of a Unitary state in Buenos Aires during the civil wars which shortly followed the Declaration of Independence of Argentina in 1816. They were opposed to the Argentine Federalists, who wanted a federation of independent provinces...

.

Some notable members of this generation were Esteban Echeverría

Esteban Echeverría

José Esteban Antonio Echeverría was an Argentine poet, fiction writer, cultural promoter, and political activist who played a significant role in the development of Argentine literature, not only through his own writings but also through his organizational efforts...

, Juan Bautista Alberdi

Juan Bautista Alberdi

Juan Bautista Alberdi was an Argentine political theorist and diplomat. Although he lived most of his life in exile in Montevideo and Chile, he was one of the most influential Argentine liberals of his age.-Biography:...

, Miguel Cané

Miguel Cané

Miguel Cané was an Argentine writer, lawyer, academic, journalist, and politician....

, Bartolomé Mitre

Bartolomé Mitre

Bartolomé Mitre Martínez was an Argentine statesman, military figure, and author. He was the President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868.-Life and times:...

, Andrés Lamas

Andrés Lamas

Andrés Lamas Bervejillo is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays for Recreativo de Huelva in the Spanish second division, as a centre back.- Career :...

, Antonio Somellera, Vicente Fidel López

Vicente Fidel López

Vicente Fidel López was an Argentine historian, lawyer and politician. He was a son of writer and politician Vicente López y Planes.-Biography:...

, Carlos Tejedor

Carlos Tejedor (politician)

Carlos Tejedor was an Argentine jurist and politician, Governor of Buenos Aires Province between 1878 and 1880. Tejedor was a prominent figure in the movement against the Federalization of Buenos Aires.-Life and times:...

, Juan Bautista Peña, Florencio Varela

Florencio Varela (writer)

Florencio Varela was an Argentine writer, poet, journalist and educator.Florencio was born in Buenos Aires on February 23 1808, he was the sixth child of Don Jacobo Adrián Varela and María de la Encarnación Sanjinés, he had a keen interest in the literary arts from a young age...

, Juan Cruz Varela, José Mármol

José Mármol

José Mármol was an Argentine journalist, politician, librarian, and writer of the Romantic school.Born in Buenos Aires, he initially studied law, but abandoned his studies in favor of politics. In 1839, no sooner had he begun to make a name for himself than he was arrested for his opposition to...

, José Rivera Indarte

José Rivera Indarte

José Rivera Indarte was an Argentine poet and journalist. He has been both a supporter and critic of Juan Manuel de Rosas, writing first the "Anthem of the restorers" and later the "Blood tables"....

 (Buenos Aires), Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the seventh President of Argentina. His writing spanned a wide range of genres and topics, from journalism to autobiography, to political philosophy and history...

, Quiroga Rosas, Antonino Aberastain, Santiago Cortínez (San Juan), Benjamín Villafañe, Félix Frías (Tucumán), Francisco Álvarez

Francisco Álvarez

Francisco Álvarez was an Argentine film and theatre actor of the classic era of Argentine cinema....

, Paulino Paz, Enrique Rodríguez

Enrique Rodríguez

Enrique Rodríguez Cal is a retired boxer from Spain, who won the bronze medal in the light flyweight division division at the 1972 Summer Olympics. It was Spain's only medal in Munich, West Germany. He captured the bronze medal at the inaugural 1974 World Championships in Havana, Cuba...

, Avelino Ferreyra, Ramón Ferreyra (Córdoba), Juan Thompson (Corrientes).