The Cádiz Constitution and Liberalism
- LAST REVIEWED: 05 May 2017
- LAST MODIFIED: 30 June 2014
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199766581-0161
- LAST REVIEWED: 05 May 2017
- LAST MODIFIED: 30 June 2014
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199766581-0161
Introduction
In 1812, in the middle of the occupation of almost all of the Iberian peninsula by the French army, a group of around 300 deputies from Spain, Spanish America, and the Philippines promulgated a liberal constitution in the Mediterranean port of Cádiz (this was possible to a large extent because the city was protected by the British Navy). This document meant a radical change from the way in which the Spanish Empire had worked for centuries. The constitutional monarchy that the Constitution of 1812 tried to put in place did not come to fruition because in May of 1814 king Fernando VII declared it invalid and restored absolutism. However, Cádiz and the Constitution of 1812 was a very important period in the political and intellectual history of the Spanish-speaking world and represents a major contribution to Western political thought and practice during the Age of Revolutions. The study of the Cádiz Constitution, of liberalism, and of its manifold relations with Spanish America during the first quarter of the 19th century has witnessed such a revival in the past two decades that it may be a temptation to say that this is a “new” field in the Western academic world. If this may be an exaggeration in the case of Spain and a couple of Latin American countries, it may be correct if we consider the rest of the Western world. This explains one of the main difficulties that any English-speaking scholar that doesn’t read Spanish will face if he or she wants to delve into this topic: the vast majority of the bibliography is in Spanish. The rise of Atlantic history, and more specifically of the literature on the Atlantic revolutions, is changing this situation, but it will be some time before it changes drastically (if it ever does). Another aspect that should be mentioned regarding the study of the Cádiz Constitution and liberalism is that up until fairly recently this study was almost exclusively confined to the Peninsula. That is not the case anymore: Spanish America is now a very large field of research regarding Cádiz, liberalism, and the 1812 Constitution. The bicentennials of the beginning of the crisis of the Spanish monarchy or crisis hispánica (2008), of the beginning of the “independence” movements in Spanish America (2010), and of the promulgation of the Cádiz Constitution (2012) have been the main motive behind the editorial avalanche on these topics that we have witnessed since for the past six or seven years. However, it will be some time before the academic community establishes which titles will make it beyond the “commemorative frenzy.” In any case, the importance of the participation of the Spanish American deputies in the Cádiz Cortes and of the role that Spanish liberal thought in general and the Cádiz Constitution in particular played in Spanish America during the first quarter of the 19th century are now well established. Regarding the 1812 Constitution, the political, ideological, and intellectual aspects of liberalism are essential if we are to understand the main aspects of a legal document that, with all its limitations and its very restricted application in the Peninsula, was revolutionary vis-à-vis the political principles that had sustained the Spanish monarchy for centuries. Cádiz was, more than anything else, a political revolution; however, this fact should not neglect or minimize the social and cultural implications of a period of the history of the Spanish-speaking world that evidently transcends a legal document. Because Cádiz, liberalism, and the 1812 Constitution are the main objectives of this bibliography, it centers its attention in Peninsular Spain during the six years that cover the crisis hispánica and the revolución liberal española (i.e., 1808–1814) and in Spanish America during those six years and the following decade, all through which the presence, weight, and influence of what was still the metropolis was felt in the entire region (with considerable variations among the different territories). In 1820, liberals came back to power in Spain and the Cádiz Constitution was restored. This period, known as the Trienio Liberal, lasted only three years and could not avoid the loss of the whole continental Spanish American empire. In any case, many of the books comprised in this bibliography include the Trienio. Finally, considering the tendency of contemporary Western historiography to amplify chronological spans and to emphasize continuities, some of the titles included in this bibliography cover the first half of the 19thcentury (particularly in some sections devoted to Spanish America).
Historical Overviews
The “modern” academic discussion on the Cádiz Constitution stems from the debate that took place around the middle of the 20th century between two well-known Spanish historians, Federico Suárez and Miguel Artola. Their positions were clear-cut: Suárez was very critical of the Cádiz Constitution, more specifically of its liberalism (Suárez 1950), and Artola 1999 considered that it was precisely this liberalism that gave this period of Spanish history its essential and most distinguished feature (Artola 1959, Artola 1999). Attention then turned to the Constitution specifically. Suárez’s followers considered it a bad imitation of the French Constitution of 1791, while Artola’s epigones praised its revolutionary character. Among the Spanish historians who devoted more attention to this period in the following decades is Josep Fontana. In Fontana 1979 and Fontana 2007, the author’s Marxist position in a certain way superseded the Suárez–Artola debate, but it also created other historiographic questions and problems—among others, an emphasis on “social forces” that is c insufficient to explain a revolution like the one that took place in Spain and Spanish America between 1808 and 1814.
Artola, Miguel. Los orígenes de la España contemporánea. 2 vols. Madrid: IEP, 1959.
NNNThis book is the first step to approach the 1808–1814 period for anyone interested in the historiographic origins of the present study of the revolución liberal española. The first volume may be considered the book itself; the introduction (100 pages) is a socioeconomic overview of the Antiguo Régimen in Spain. The second volume is a selection of documents received by the authorities as responses to the Consulta al país carried out by the Junta Central in 1809.
Artola, Miguel. La España de Fernando VII. Madrid: Espasa, 1999.
NNNThe foundational work on the reign of Ferdinand VII. Although forty-five years have transpired since its original publication, it still can be read with profit. However, Spanish America and the independence movements are not given any attention. This book originally appeared ol. 26 of the Historia de España dirigida por Ramón Menéndez Pidal (Madrid: Espasa Calpe, 1968).
Fontana, Josep. La crisis del Antiguo régimen 1808–1833. Barcelona: Crítica, 1979.
NNNAs a book that is part of a collection of guides to Spanish contemporary history, this volume gives a panoramic view that covers not only the political issues but also the social and economic ones. It also includes a very complete chronology of the whole period (pp. 219–260). It is clear, well written, and useful; however, the authors’ emphasis on the social aspects to explain this period is debatable.
Fontana, Josep. La época del liberalismo. Barcelona: Crítica/Marcial Pons, 2007.
NNNThis book is Volume 6 of one of the most recent histories of Spain; it covers Spanish history from 1808 to 1874. Only chapter 2 is devoted to Cádiz. The project in general is directed to the educated reader, and this volume in particular fulfills its objective. However, Fontana tends to establish a direct link between the failure of liberalism and the lack of attention the liberals gave to the Spanish people (more concretely, to peasants), an interpretation that is open to debate, for several other variables should be equally taken into consideration
Suárez, Federico. La crisis política del Antiguo Régimen en España. Madrid: Rialp, 1950.
NNNThis book establishes what could be considered the standard “conservative” perspective of the transition from the Antiguo Régimen to the Spain that emerges after the death of Ferdinand VII. Although its traditionalism and antiliberalism now appear simplistic and outdated, it still is an important reading for someone interested in the origins of the historiographic debate about Cádiz and liberalism that went on during the second half of the 20th century.
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Abolition
- Abortion and Infanticide
- Agricultural Technologies
- Alcohol Use
- Ancient Andean Textiles
- Andean Contributions to Rethinking the State and the Natio...
- Andean Music
- Andean Social Movements (Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru)
- Anti-Asian Racism
- Antislavery Narratives
- Arab Diaspora in Brazil, The
- Arab Diaspora in Latin America, The
- Argentina in the Era of Mass Immigration
- Argentina, Slavery in
- Argentine Literature
- Army of Chile in the 19th Century
- Asian Art and Its Impact in the Americas, 1565–1840
- Asian-Peruvian Literature
- Asunción
- Atlantic Creoles
- Baroque and Neo-baroque Literary Tradition
- Beauty in Latin America
- Bello, Andrés
- Black Experience in Colonial Latin America, The
- Black Experience in Modern Latin America, The
- Bogotá
- Bolaño, Roberto
- Borderlands in Latin America, Conquest of
- Borges, Jorge Luis
- Bourbon Reforms, The
- Brazilian Northeast, History of the
- Buenos Aires
- Cali
- California Missions, The
- Caracas
- Caribbean Philosophical Association, The
- Caribbean, The Archaeology of the
- Cartagena de Indias
- Caste War of Yucatán, The
- Caudillos, 19th Century
- Cádiz Constitution and Liberalism, The
- Central America, The Archaeology of
- Chaco War
- Children, History of
- Chile's Struggle for Independence
- Chronicle, The
- Church in Colonial Latin America, The
- Chávez, Hugo, and the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela
- Cinema, Contemporary Brazilian
- Cinema, Latin American
- Colonial Central America
- Colonial Latin America, Crime and Punishment in
- Colonial Latin America, Pilgrimage in
- Colonial Legal History of Peru
- Colonial New Granada
- Colonial Portuguese Amazon Region, from the 17th to 18th C...
- Comics, Cartoons, Graphic Novels
- Contemporary Indigenous Film and Video Production
- Contemporary Indigenous Social and Political Thought
- Contemporary Maya, The
- Cortés, Hernán
- Costa Rica
- Cárdenas and Cardenismo
- Cuban Revolution, The
- de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, Fernando
- Dependency Theory in Latin American History
- Development of Architecture in New Spain, 1500–1810, The
- Development of Painting in Peru, 1520–1820, The
- Disability
- Drug Trades in Latin America
- Dutch in South America and the Caribbean, The
- Early Colonial Forms of Native Expression in Mexico and Pe...
- Economies from Independence to Industrialization
- Ecuador
- Ecuador, La Generación del 30 in
- Education in New Spain
- El Salvador
- Enlightenment and its Visual Manifestations in Spanish Ame...
- Environmental History
- Era of Porfirio Díaz, 1876–1911, The
- Family History
- Film, Science Fiction
- Football (Soccer) in Latin America
- Franciscans in Colonial Latin America
- From "National Culture" to the "National Popular" and the ...
- Gaucho Literature
- Gender and History in the Andes
- Gender during the Period of Latin American Independence
- Gender in Colonial Brazil
- Gender in Postcolonial Latin America
- Gentrification in Latin America
- Guaman Poma de Ayala, Felipe
- Guaraní and Their Legacy, The
- Guatemala and Yucatan, Conquest of
- Guatemala City
- Guatemala (Colonial Period)
- Guatemala (Modern & National Period)
- Haitian Revolution, The
- Havana
- Health and Disease in Modern Latin America, History of
- History, Cultural
- History, Food
- History of Health and Disease in Latin America and the Car...
- Honor in Latin America to 1900
- Honor in Mexican Public Life
- Horror in Literature and Film in Latin America
- Hospitals
- Human Rights in Latin America
- Immigration in Latin America
- Independence in Argentina
- Indigenous Elites in the Colonial Andes
- Indigenous Population and Justice System in Central Mexico...
- Indigenous Voices in Literature
- Japanese Presence in Latin America
- Jesuits in Colonial Latin America
- Jewish Presence in Latin America, The
- José María Arguedas and Early 21st Century Cultural and Po...
- Las Casas, Bartolomé de
- Latin American Independence
- Latin American Theater and Performance
- Latin American Urbanism, 1850-1950
- Law and Society in Latin America since 1800
- Legal History of New Spain, 16th-17th Centuries
- Legal History of the State and Church in 18th Century New ...
- LGBT Literature
- Literature, Argentinian
- Machado de Assis
- Magical Realism
- Maroon Societies in Latin America
- Marriage in Colonial Latin America
- Martí, José, and Cuba
- Menchú, Rigoberta
- Mesoamerica, The Archaeology of
- Mestizaje and the Legacy of José María Arguedas
- Mexican Nationalism
- Mexican Revolution, 1910–1940, The
- Mexican-US Relations
- Mexico, Conquest of
- Mexico, Education in
- Mexico, Health Care in 20th-Century
- Migration to the United States
- Military and Modern Latin America, The
- Military Government in Latin America, 1959–1990
- Military Institution in Colonial Latin America, The
- Mining
- Mining Extraction in Latin America
- Modern Decorative Arts and Design, 1900–2000
- Modern Populism in Latin America
- Modernity and Decoloniality
- Montevideo
- Music in Colonial Latin America
- Musical Tradition in Latin America, The
- Mystics and Mysticism
- Native Presence in Postconquest Central Peru
- Natural Disasters in Early Modern Latin America
- Neoliberalism
- Neruda, Pablo
- New Conquest History and the New Philology in Colonial Mes...
- New Left in Latin America, The
- Novel, Chronology of the Venezuelan
- Novel of the Mexican Revolution, The
- Novel, 19th Century Haitian
- Novel, The Colombian
- Nuns and Convents in Colonial Latin America
- Oaxaca, Conquest and Colonial
- Ortega, José y Gasset
- Painting in New Spain, 1521–1820
- Paraguay
- Paraguayan War (War of the Triple Alliance)
- Pastoralism in the Andes
- Paz, Octavio
- Perón and Peronism
- Peru, Colonial
- Peru, Conquest of
- Peru, Slavery in
- Philippines Under Spanish Rule, 1571-1898
- Photography in the History of Race and Nation
- Piracy
- Political Exile in Latin America
- Ponce de León
- Popular Culture and Globalization
- Popular Movements in 19th-Century Latin America
- Portuguese-Spanish Interactions in Colonial South America
- Post Conquest Aztecs
- Post-Conquest Demographic Collapse
- Poverty in Latin America
- Preconquest Incas
- Pre-conquest Mesoamerican States, The
- Pre-Revolutionary Mexico, State and Nation Formation in
- Printing and the Book
- Prints and the Circulation of Colonial Images
- Protestantism in Latin America
- Puerto Rican Literature
- Quipu
- Religions in Latin America
- Revolution and Reaction in Central America
- Rosas, Juan Manuel de
- Sandinista Revolution and the FSLN, The
- Santo Domingo
- Science and Empire in the Iberian Atlantic
- Science and Technology in Modern Latin America
- Sephardic Culture
- Sexualities in Latin America and the Caribbean
- Slavery in Brazil
- São Paulo
- South American Dirty Wars
- South American Missions
- Spanish American Arab Literature
- Spanish and Portuguese Trade, 1500–1750
- Spanish Caribbean In The Colonial Period, The
- Spanish Colonial Decorative Arts, 1500-1825
- Spanish Florida
- Spiritual Conquest of Latin America, The
- Sports in Latin America and the Caribbean
- Studies on Academic Literacies in Spanish-Speaking Latin A...
- Telenovelas and Melodrama in Latin America
- Textile Traditions of the Andes
- 19th Century and Modernismo Poetry in Spanish America
- 20th-Century Mexico, Mass Media and Consumer Culture in
- 16th-Century New Spain
- Tourism in Modern Latin America
- Transculturation and Literature
- Trujillo, Rafael
- Tupac Amaru Rebellion, The
- United States and Castro's Cuba in the Cold War, The
- United States and the Guatemalan Revolution, The
- United States Invasion of the Dominican Republic, 1961–196...
- Urban History
- Urbanization in the 20th Century, Latin America’s
- Uruguay
- US–Latin American Relations during the Cold War
- Vargas, Getúlio
- Venezuela
- Venezuelan Literature
- Women and Labor in 20th-Century Latin America
- Women in Colonial Latin American History
- Women in Modern Latin American History
- Women's Property Rights, Asset Ownership, and Wealth in La...
- World War I in Latin America
- Zapatista Rebellion in Chiapas