Cádiz Cortes: Liberal Revolution and Constitution of 1812
The Cortes of Cádiz: A Revolution in Liberalism. The Supreme Central Board acted as the provisional government until 1810 and was dissolved due to internal problems and inefficiencies caused by its smear against the invaders. Instead, the more conservative members were able to appoint a Board of Regencia. This Board was that finally brought a Cortes in Cadiz. The first problem to solve was how to convene the Cortes: for separate estates, as in the ancien regime, or a single chamber to represent the entire nation. They chose the second alternative, which was revolutionary. The second problem was where to meet the Cortes, for almost the entire peninsula was occupied by the French. The chosen place was Cadiz. The representatives were elected by the Provincial Board, both within the province and among the exiles who lived in Cadiz, where it was difficult to travel. This situation favored the concentration of liberals in the courts. So, the Liberals managed to impose their principles and self-constituted the courts in the National Constituent Assembly, assuming national sovereignty.
Decrees of the Courts. The courts remained together for three years. The first meetings were held with hundreds of members, but numbers increased up to three hundred approximately. The work of the Cortes of Cadiz was aimed at destroying the foundations of the old regime and to implement the ideas of enlightened intellectuals. The piece of legislation passed a series of decrees. The first was establishing freedom of the press. Months after, the decree was passed that ended the great debate Inquisición. Another put an end to the feudal courts. Two decrees of the day allowed owners to exercise freedom of contract in the fields and factories.
The Constitution of 1812. On March 19, 1812, the Constitution was proclaimed, designing a state based on parliamentary democracy. The State was seen as the guarantee of citizens’ rights, civil liberty, property, and other legitimate rights of all individuals (article 4) and not as the patrimony of any family or monarch. The king may veto temporarily a law so that courts cannot re-nominate the same matter to the legislature the following year. If the courts insist, the king can still keep his negative, but if the third time the courts again raised the question, the king is obliged to approve it. Courts were composed of a single chamber that met for three consecutive months each year. The deputies were renewed every two years and were elected by indirect universal suffrage. The Electoral Boards were organized into parishes, parties, and provinces. Citizens gathered at the parish church appointed an elector. Parochial Electors met in the towns and chose the electors. Finally, the electors chose the provincial members. The estate society was, in fact, destroyed in the establishment of equality of individuals before the law. Finally, they created a militia, and they put the foundation of a general education plan. All the legislative work of the Cortes of Cadiz was voided by the return of Fernando VII, in the spring of 1814. The Liberals and the key drivers of reform were pursued. Irrigation was introduced three years after the official pronouncement.