Historiographical studies of the May Revolution started in the second half of the 19th century in Argentina and have extended to modern day. All historiographical perspectives agree in considering the May Revolution as the turning point that gave birth to the modern nation of Argentina, and that the Revolution was unavoidable in The main topics of disagreement between Argentine historians are the specific weight of the diverse causes of the May Revolution , who were the leaders of it among the different involved parties, whenever there was popular support for it or not, and whenever the loyalty to the captive Spanish king Ferdinand VII was real or an elaborate masquerade to conceal pro-independence purposes.
Historians do not face many doubts or unknown details. The most important details were properly recorded at the time, and made available to the public by the Primera Junta as patriotic propaganda. Because of this, the different historical views on the topic differ on interpretations of the meanings, causes and consequences of the events rather than the accuracy of the depiction of the event themselves. The modern historical vision of the revolutionary events do not differ significantly from the contemporary ones.
The only factual topics that remain unconfirmed are the quotes and speeches made at the Open Cabildo or the audience with Cisneros, as the quotes kept do not come from transcriptions or recordings but from memories wrote years later or from oral tradition. Another disputed topic is the existence or not of the Operations plan , a secret document allegedly written by Mariano Moreno and setting harsh way for the Primera Junta to achieve its goals.
Supporters of it consider that it is coherent with the actions taken by the Junta, like the execution of Santiago de Liniers , while detractors consider it a literary forgery made by an enemy of the Revolution in order to harm its public image in Europe. It is a topic of discussion which were the reasons to create a Junta with Cisneros, instead of following the results of the open cabildo in the first place. Cisneros would remain in office, but sharing the power with the criollos.
It is also unclear which person or group decided the members of the Primera Junta. Juan Larrea and Domingo Matheu were peninsulars involved in commercial activities of some importance. Miguel Angel Scenna points out in his book Las brevas maduras that "such balance could not have been the result of chance, or from influences from outside the local context, but of a compromise of the parties involved".
