SUMMARY
This article presents a critique of the historiographical literature on Afromestizo colonel Lorenzo Barcala (Mendoza, 1800-1835). The analysis includes trials, biographies, sketches and some significant mentions of the national literature since 1845. Two central ideas are discussed and refuted in these texts: 1) that Barcala was a rescued slave to serve in the arms of the Homeland; 2) that Barcala fulfilled a civilizing mission towards the lower town. It is argued that the historiographical construction of Barcala favored the representation of the Revolution of 1810 as a redeemer of slavery; and the thesis of the disappearance of Afro-Argentines by the wars of independence. Also, that the conception of Barcala as a tutor of the plebs is explained by the racial thought of the time in Spanish America; and by an imaginary nation that postulated a biological and cultural assimilation of Argentine blacks.