a federation of federated states, similar to the states of the United States; each one should write its own local constitution and organize itself, and a national constitution should be written at the end, without being rushed. The Rosas era Rosas resigned as governor, and moved to the south. The later conflicts between Rosist and anti-Rosist federals led to the Revolution of the Restorers, which ousted Juan Ramón Balcarce and replaced him with the Rosist Juan José Viamonte. The weak governments of Balcarce and Viamonte led the legislature to request Rosas to take the government once more. For doing so he requested the sum of public power, which the legislature denied four times. Rosas even resigned as commander of militias to influence the legislature. The context changed with the social commotion generated by the death of Facundo Quiroga, responsibility for which is disputed (different authors attribute it to Estanislao López, the Reinafé brothers, or even Rosas himself). The legislature then accepted to give him the sum of public power. Even so, Rosas requested confirmation on whenever the people agreed with it, so the legislature organized a referendum about it. Every free man at the age of majority living in the city was allowed to vote for "Yes" or "No"; 9,316 votes supported the release of the sum of public power on Rosas, and only 4 rejected it. There are divided opinions on the topic: Domingo Faustino Sarmiento compared Rosas with historical dictators, while José de San Martín considered that the situation in the country was so chaotic that a strong authority was needed to create order. Although slavery was not abolished during Rosas' rule, Afro Argentines had a positive image of him. He allowed them to gather in groups related to their African origin, and financed their activities. Troop formations included many of them, because joining the army was one of the ways to become a free negro, and in many cases slave owners were forced to release them to strengthen the armies. There was an army made specifically of free blacks, the "Fourth Battalion of Active Militia". The liberal policy towards slaves generated controversy with neighbouring Brazil, because fugitive slaves from Brazil saw Argentina as a safe haven: they were recognized as free men at the moment they crossed the Argentine border, and by joining the armies they were protected from persecution of their former masters. The people who