Although Argentina's rich literary history began around 1550, it reached full independence with Esteban Echeverría's ''El Matadero'', a romantic landmark that played a significant role in the development of 19th century's Argentine narrative, split by the ideological divide between the popular, federalist epic of José Hernández' ''Martín Fierro'' and the elitist and cultured discourse of Sarmiento's masterpiece, ''Facundo''.