3 - The Cortes of Cádiz and the Spanish Liberal Revolution of 1810–1814: Atlantic and Spanish American Dimensions

Summary

This chapter deals with the importance of the Cortes of Cádiz from several perspectives. In the first place, it considers its role in the history of Hispanic and Western liberalism. Secondly, it covers its Atlantic dimension, that is, the larger geographical and ideological context in which it took place. Thirdly, it delves into the role the Cortes played in the history of Spanish America, not only through the participation of the numerous Spanish American deputies that participated in the assembly during the four years during which it was in place, but also regarding its application and influence on several of the territories that had constituted the Spanish empire in America for almost three centuries. Considering all the aforementioned elements, the author gives a fairly complete idea of the importance of the Cortes de Cádiz in historical, political, and intellectual terms. Taken altogether, the chapter suggests that the last of the Atlantic revolutions (that is, the Peninsular liberal revolution that Cádiz represents, along with the Spanish American independence movements) has not received the historiographic attention it deserves; a situation that has changed in the last couple of decades.