Viajes por Europa, Africa y Norte America -1845/1847

Domingo F. Sarmiento’s Viajes por Europa, Africa y Norte America -1845/1847 stands as one of the most significant travel books ever written. Undertaken between December 1845 and February 1848, this journey was initiated by a commission from the Chilean government (orchestrated by Manuel Montt) for Sarmiento to study public education, though it also served to remove a “highly compromising man” from Chile’s political scene.

Sarmiento’s travelogue transcends a mere record of places visited. From Montevideo and Rio de Janeiro to Paris, Spain, Algeria, Rome, Germany, and finally the United States, his observations are steeped in profound comparative analysis. He critiques the corruption in French politics, condemns slavery in Brazil, and unleashes a torrent of “anti-Spanish” expressions, lambasting Spain’s perceived backwardness.

His encounters are sharply drawn: he dines with free-trade leader Richard Cobden in Barcelona, meets Marshal Bugeaud in Algiers to discuss colonial administration, and is deeply impressed by the ingenuity and dynamism of the United States, seeing it as a “disparate” that nonetheless embodies greatness and nobility. He marvels at American innovations in telegraphy and internal navigation, and notes the striking freedom of single women.

This work is a critical version of the Argentine experience, particularly in its American chapters, echoing the spirit of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. Sarmiento’s Viajes is not just a personal odyssey; it’s a foundational text for understanding his vision for nation-building, education, and the future of Argentina, defining how a young nation could learn from the Old and New Worlds.