this paper studies the smallpox vaccination in argentina since 1870, when these discussions were inittiaded until the 1910s, when they were extended to the rest of the country. we analyze immunization practices implemented prior to the compulsory vaccination law, passed in 1886 for the capital and in 1904 for the rest of the country. such a move found resistance from different sectors. its approval depended on the consequences of modernization and urbanization, the weight of hygienists in the political arena, and its extension depended on a different administrative conception, incorporating new areas and sectors to the national scenario.
