HIST362: Modern Revolutions

The collapse of the Spanish Monarchy in 1808 led to a revolution that resulted in the dissolution of that world wide polity and the creation of new nation states, among them Spain itself. In the wake of the French invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, three broad movements emerged in the Spanish world, the struggle against the invaders, a great political revolution that sought to transform the Spanish Monarchy into a modern nation state with one of the most radical constitutions of the nineteenth century, and a fragmented insurgency in America that relied on force to secure local autonomy or home rule. These three over lapping processes influenced and altered one another in a variety of ways. None of them can be understood in isolation. Unfortunately, historians have largely ignored the revolutionary political process preferring to concentrate instead on Spain's War of  Independence against the French invaders or on the armed struggles in Spanish America, distorting our understanding of the formation of the nations that emerged from the breakup of the Spanish Monarchy.

Although the governing elites in Spain capitulated to the French in 1808, the people of the Peninsula and the New World were virtually unanimous in their opposition to the French. The external threat underscored the factors that united them: one monarchy, one faith, one general culture, and one society in crisis. They were members of what soon came to be known as la Nación Española, a nation consisting of the Peninsula and the overseas kingdoms. The people of both areas drew upon common concepts and sought similar solutions to the evolving crisis. Inspired by the legal foundations of the Monarchy, most agreed that in the absence of the king, sovereignty reverted to the people who possessed the authority and the responsibility to defend the nation¹.

Napoleon's invasion of Spain galvanized Americans to defend the Monarchy and expand their rights within that system. Throughout most of their history, the possessions in America constituted part of the worldwide Spanish Monarchy – a confederation of disparate kingdoms and lands which extended throughout portions of Europe, Africa, Asia, and America ². The residents of these kingdoms exercised a high level of political and economic autonomy. Only very late, during the reign of Carlos III (1759-1788), did the Crown attempt to centralize the monarchy and create a modern empire with Spain as the metropolis. That effort, widely known as the Bourbon Reforms, was not implemented fully by the time of Napoleon's intervention in 1808. Americans everywhere opposed the political and economic innovations that restricted their autonomy and modified many to suit their interests. On the eve of independence, the leaders of the New World retained a significant degree of autonomy and control over their regions ³.

News of events in Spain, as well as in other parts of the monarchy, was rapidly and widely disseminated. In the Antiguo Régimen , news and information were spread in a variety of ways. Printed laws, decrees, and official notices were distributed to the relevant authorities who, in turn, informed the people by posting them in public places and by employing town criers to read them to the public. Royal officials and private individuals often wrote letters that contained information or comment about the events of the day to friends and colleagues. The recipients of this mail in turn informed their friends, colleagues, and neighbors. Much information was transmitted orally. Curas often discussed important questions both formally, during mass, and informally outside the church. Public scribes informed the illiterate public of the latest events. Muleteers, merchants, and travelers kept the inhabitants of towns and villages abreast of events occurring in viceregal and Audiencia capitals or in Europe. People talked about the events of the day in social gatherings of all sorts. Thus, even the vast illiterate population was much better informed than is generally believed. Of course, rumor and misinformation were also widespread ⁴. Frequently, the rapidly changing circumstances in the Peninsula confused and disturbed the people of Spanish America.

Public discourse intensified after 1808. The printing press, which became the indispensable instrument of politics, fueled an explosion of political activity in the entire Hispanic world. In the months and years that followed, important notices – particularly about the struggle against the French –, decrees, laws, minutes of special meetings, reports of elections, statements from prominent persons, and other matters of interest were published and distributed rapidly. News from Europe and America circulated widely in viceregal and Audiencia capitals as well as in the provincial capitals and other cities and towns. Politically active Spanish Americans learned of significant events shortly after their occurrence; they quickly received copies of important documents; and they learned to exercise their rights ⁵. The people of Spanish America possessed a vibrant and public political life.

The establishment of the Junta Suprema Central y Gubernativa del Reino, which first met on September 25, 1808, appeared to be a solution to the crisis of the Monarchy. However the body, formed by representatives of the juntas of the Peninsula, soon realized that it needed the support of the American kingdoms to conduct the war against the French. The Junta Central was particularly concerned about countering French overtures to America. In July 1808, José I had invited the New World kingdoms to send six representatives – one for each virreinato and one each for Guatemala and Cuba – to a constitutional convention in Bayonne, France. Although the Americans rejected the proposal, the Junta Central believed it was prudent to accede to the New World's desire for representation ⁶. On January 22, 1809, it decreed:

Considerando que los vastos y preciosos dominios que España posee en las Indias no son propiamente colonias o factorías como los de otras naciones, sino una parte esencial e integrante de la monarquía española…, se ha servido S. M. declarar… que los reinos, provincias e islas que forman los referidos dominios deben tener representación nacional inmediata a su real persona y constituir parte de la Junta Central… por medio de sus correspondientes diputados. Para que tenga efecto esta real resolución, han de nombrar los Virreynatos de Nueva España, Perú, Nuevo Reyno de Granada y Buenos Aires, y las Capitanías Generales independientes de la isla de Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Chile, Provincia de Venezuela y Filipinas un individuo cada cual que represente su respectivo distrito⁷.

Thus, the Junta Central acknowledged the Americans' claims that their lands were not colonies but kingdoms, that they constituted integral parts of the Spanish Monarchy, and that they possessed the right of representation in the national government. The act was profoundly revolutionary. Thereafter, Americans had to be recognized as the equals of the Spaniards. In ways that were difficult to imagine at the time, that recognition of equality transformed the relationship between Spain and America and granted the people of the New World the rights they had demanded but had not actually expected to receive. It created a relationship between metropolis and the overseas territories that no other European monarchy ever granted its overseas possessions ⁸.

In 1809, the kingdoms of Spanish America held the first elections for representatives to a monarchy-wide government, the Junta Central. The complicated and lengthy elections constituted a profound step forward in the formation of modern representative government for the entire Spanish Nation. Moreover, the process explicitly recognized the ancient putative right of the provincial capitals of America – the ciudades cabezas de partido – to representation in a congress of cities. However, the degree of regional representation varied widely since New World authorities differed in their interpretation of the election decree. New Spain, with nearly half the population of Spanish America, granted fourteen cities the right to hold elections, whereas, in the much smaller Kingdom of Guatemala, an equal number of cities enjoyed that privilege. The situation also varied widely in South America: twenty cities held elections in New Granada, seventeen in Peru, sixteen in Chile, twelve in the Río de la Plata, and six in Venezuela ⁹.

The electoral process – the use of the terna and the sorteo, for example – clearly relied upon existing electoral procedures to corporate bodies. In that respect, the elections followed traditional Hispanic principles and practices ¹⁰. Traditional electoral processes were being adapted for new political purposes. The elections in Guadalajara provide an example of the electoral process at the regional level. The members of the ayuntamiento de Guadalajara, like those in other capitals with the right to elect a deputy, consulted broadly and received recommendations from representatives of other cities and towns in the intendancy. The Ayuntamiento de Guadalajara met on the April 24, 1809 to hear the reading of the election decree. After discussing the importance of the event, the regidores agreed "que se difiera esta elección para el día de mañana, a fin de que los regidores refleccionaran sobre tan importante asunto, y se convoque a la sesion, a los regidores, Alférez Real y Fiel Ejecutor que no concurrieron a esta". The following day, after attending a mass de Espiritu Santo, the members of the ayuntamiento met with the intendant to elect their representative. Three ballots were held to select the members of the terna. The three finalists enjoyed great prestige and power: Juan Cruz Ruiz de Cabañas, bishop of New Galicia; José María Gómez y Villaseñor, gobernador provisor vicario general, juez de testamentos, capellanías y obras pías del obispado, and rector of the university; and José Ygnacio Ortiz de Salinas, lawyer of the Real Audiencia and asesor de la intendencia y comandancia general. Slips of paper with their names were placed in a bowl from China and an "innocent child" selected one. Bishop Ruiz de Cabañas won the election ¹¹. He was among the eight Europeans and six American selected by lot in the fourteen cities eligible to elect candidates. Their names were sent to Mexico City; the Real Acuerdo met on Wednesday October 4, 1809 to elect the deputy from New Spain to the Junta Central ¹².

Before the newly elected delegates from America could join the Junta Central, the French renewed their drive to conquer the Peninsula. French armies reoccupied Madrid and during 1809 defeated Spanish forces throughout the country. They occupied Sevilla at the end of 1810 forcing the Junta Central to retreat to Cádiz and then to the Isle of León, the last corner of Spain free from French control, thanks to the guns of the British navy. News of these calamities frightened Americans, many of whom believed that the Spanish Monarchy would not survive as an independent entity. They feared that the authorities in Spain might surrender America to the French. It was a fear that profoundly influenced New World actions. It is not surprising, therefore, that in 1809, even as they were electing their representatives to the Junta Central, movements for autonomy erupted in the two South American kingdoms that had not been granted individual representation to the Junta Central, the Audiencia of Charcas in May and July and the Audiencia of Quito in August 1809. Both movements were rapidly controlled by the royal authorities.

In an attempt to create a more effective government, the Junta Central which had been unable to halt the French invasion decreed on January 1, 1810, that elections be held for a national Cortes. It subsequently appointed a five member Council of Regency that included an American representative and dissolved itself at the end of January 1810. As its last act, the Junta Central charged the Regency with convening a Cortes. Although some members of the Regency questioned the need for a national assembly they eventually ordered that the Cortes convene in September 1810 ¹³.

In Spain, each provincial junta and each city that was entitled to representation in earlier Cortes could select a deputy. In addition, a deputy was to be elected for every 50,000 inhabitants. The elections in the Peninsula were based on the municipal elections of diputados del común and síndicos personeros introduced by Carlos III in the municipal reforms of 1766. At the parish level, vecinos elected compromisarios who then selected parish electors; these in turn met in the capital cabeza de partido to select partido electors. The latter met in the provincial capital to choose provincial electors who finally elected the deputies from the province by lot ¹⁴. That complex indirect electoral process, which provided for widespread representation, would be enshrined subsequently in the Constitution of 1812.

The Council of Regency approved an entirely different electoral process for the New World. According to the decree issued by the Council of Regency February 14, 1810: "Vendrán a tener parte en la representación nacional de las Cortes extraordinarias del Reyno Diputados de los Virreynatos de Nueva España, Perú, Santa Fe y Buenos Aires, y de las Capitanías generales de Puerto Rico, Cuba, Santo Domingo, Guatemala, Provincias Internas, Venezuela, Chile y Filipinas. Estos Diputados serán uno por cada Capital cabeza de partido de estas diferentes provincias".¹⁵ Once again the besieged government in Spain focused on the four virreinatos and the capitanías generales. This time, however, it identified eight capitanías generales instead of the five that participated in the elections to the Junta Central in 1809. Moreover, it continued to rely on the partido , a vague and undefined term, as the regional unit for elections. No provision was made for representation based on population ¹⁶. The electoral decree also indicated that: "Su elección [that of the deputies] se hará por el ayuntamiento de cada Capital, nombrándose primero tres naturales de la Provincia , dotados de probidad, talento e instrucción, y exentos de toda nota; y sorteándose después uno de los tres, el que salga a primera suerte será diputado a Cortes". ¹⁷ Thus, the requirements for election and the electoral process were to be similar to those used in 1809 for elections for deputies to the Junta Central. There were, however, two major differences. The candidates had to be "naturales de la Provincia", thus eliminating españoles europeos residing in America, and a deputy would be elected for each ayuntamiento rather than for each reino.

The Regency's failure to provide for equal American representation based on population became a focus of discontent in the Cortes and subsequent scholarly debate that has obscured the revolutionary nature of the government's action ¹⁸. No other European metropolis granted its overseas territory comparable representation. The English parliament, generally believed to be the most advanced in the world, never considered granting its North American colonies anything but virtual representation.

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Source: Jaime E. Rodríguez O., https://journals.openedition.org/lerhistoria/1848
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