RIZAL

CLOSE READING 4: Cadiz Constitution of 1812

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The Political Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy, promulgated on 18 March 1812 by the Cortes of
Cádiz, defined Spanish and Spanish-American liberalism for the early nineteenth century. It was a
response to the constitutional crisis caused by the forced abdication and exile of Spain's legitimate
monarch, Ferdinand VII, in 1808. Spanish liberals hoped to regenerate Spain through the adoption of
a modern constitution influenced by Enlightenment principles and concepts stemming from the
French and American revolutions. Although liberals dominated the Cortes, the resulting constitution
was a blend of modern and traditional elements. Its controversial restriction of aristocratic and
clerical privileges encouraged and strengthened liberal political arguments and emphasized the
function and rights of local and provincial governments in making decisions for themselves, opposing
traditional elites. The central idea behind the constitution was that sovereignty resided in the nation,
which alone had the right to establish fundamental laws. Its makers hoped to correct the abuses of
absolute monarchy without rejecting traditional features of Spanish law. Five American delegates sat
on the committee in charge of drafting the document for debate.

The Constitution of 1812 essentially established a constitutional monarchy. Although it

retained Roman Catholicism as the established church, it abolished the Inquisition, aristocratic
privileges, feudal obligations, and seignorial levies. It provided for elections of deputies to future
Cortes, representation without class distinctions, and the abolition of entailed estates. The Cortes
were to convene on 1 March each year, for three months. Deputies were chosen every two years and
sat for two consecutive sessions. Although not rejecting the monarchy, the constitution did moderate
the power of the crown to ensure constitutional government. The crown retained only those functions
that the Cortes could not exert, royal control over the administration was subjugated to an elected,
unicameral assembly that met annually. A council of state watched over the crown's actions, although
its members were chosen by the crown from a list compiled by the Cortes. Such restrictions on the
monarch's powers, not surprisingly, caused great friction when Ferdinand VII returned to the Spanish
throne in 1814.

The Constitution of 1812 extended universal suffrage to all free males under a deliberately indirect
representative electoral system. Colonial representation in the Cortes provided political definition and
substance to the demands of the creole liberal delegates. Although the American colonies gained full
political rights within a unified Spanish empire, the Constitution did not allow the American dominions
full self-rule. On the issue of free trade, for which the colonial delegates pressed, the constitution
encouraged freer trade, but not to the full extent the colonies wished.

The document also provided for elected city councils and for representative provincial bodies
(diputaciones provinciales). It proclaimed freedom of the press and threatened traditional fueros and
monopolies. To encourage agrarian production, the constitution established clear and absolute
property rights. True to liberal principles, individual property rights took precedence over corporate or
collective rights. The constitution assured the individual's right to enclose, sell, or rent his land,
paving the way for alienation of indigenous communal lands in some areas of Spanish America.

Although the conservatives tried to present the constitution of 1812 as the work of a radical minority
—"a criminal conspiracy of a handful of facciosos [agitators]"—in reality the constitution had
widespread support. Even the most radical of the clauses passed without effective opposition in the
Cortes. What opposition to the constitution did exist was presented by the ecclesiastical orders and
institutions whose petitions and privileges had been curtailed by the liberal clauses. The attack on
church privilege, however, excited greater disapproval of the document outside the Cortes. In
general, the Constitution of 1812 provided for a division of governmental powers, consolidated and
updated the Spanish legal system, ensured civil equality, and curtailed corporate privilege.

Its restriction of monarchical power, however, led to open conflict upon Ferdinand VII's return to
power. The king dissolved the Cortes and abrogated the constitution on 4 May 1814, restoring the
unrestricted monarchy that had existed prior to 1808. Liberal opposition to Ferdinand's repressive
power and to the war in the colonies led to the Riego Revolt of 1 January 1820, which reestablished
the Constitution of 1812. In 1823, however, with the assistance of Bourbon troops from France,
Ferdinand recovered his full authority and once more suppressed the constitution. The Constitution of
1812, however, both in Spain and in Spanish America, served as the initial model for the early
nineteenth-century liberals. It is reflected strongly, for example, in the Mexican constitutions of 1814
(Apatzingán) and 1824, the Central American Constitution of 1824, and several early South American
Republican constitutions.

See alsoFerdinand VII of Spain; Mexico, Constitutions: Constitutions Prior to 1917.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Constitution of 1812 was published as Constitución política de la monarquía española,

promulgada en Cádiz a 19 de marzo de 1812 (1820). Secondary works dealing with the constitution
and its influence include Luis Alayza Paz Soldán, La Constitución de Cádiz, 1812: El egregio limeño
Morales y Duárez (1946); Rafael De Alba and Manuel Puga y Acal, eds., La Constitución de 1812 en
la Nueva España (1912); Cesareo De Armellada, La causa indígena americana en las Cortes de
Cádiz (1959); Nettie Lee Benson, ed., Mexico and the Spanish Cortes, 1810–1822 (1966); Raymond
Carr, Spain 1808–1978 (1982); María Teresa Berruezo, La participación americana en las Cortes de
Cádiz, 1810–1814 (1986); Jorge Mario García La Guardia, La Constitución de Cádiz y su influencia en
América: Años 1812–1987 (1987); Daniel A. Moreno, Las Cortes de Cádiz y la Constitución de
1812 (1964); and Mario Rodríguez, The Cádiz Experiment in  Central America, 1808 to 1826 (1978).

Additional Bibliography

Chust Calero, Manuel. La cuestión nacional americana en las Cortes de Cádiz (1810–1814) . Valencia:
Centro Francisco Tomás y Valiente UNED Alzira-Valencia, Fundación Instituto Historia Social, 1999.