Constitution

1561 · réf. 63610 — México. March 15 - November 6 1813. Rare Mexican Printings of Twenty-One Decrees from Spain's First Constitutional Government A substantial and significant collection of twenty-one rare Mexican printings of Spanish decrees issued by the short-lived but deeply influential constitutional government established in 1812. Each of these decrees was promulgated in Mexico by the Viceroy of New Spain Félix María Calleja del Rey y de la Gándara primer conde de Calderón in 1813. Drafted and ratified in the absence of any monarch Joseph Bonaparte had been rejected by the Spanish and the ousted Ferdinand VII had yet to return the constitution of 1812 followed a period of great political upheaval and married the liberal ideals of the French Revolution with an abiding fear of its outcome resulting in Spain's first ever constitutional monarchy. While the constitution left some power in the hands of the King his absence at the time of its implementation meant that Spain was effectively ruled by a constituent congress and regency council which notably included for the first time representatives from all of Spain's overseas dominions as well as the provinces on the Iberian Peninsula. The considerable majority of the proclamations in this group deal with the repercussions of this dramatically new form of government including clarifying details of the constitution publicly printing some of its laws and regulations and organizing programs meant to protect its legitimacy and longevity. While changes in home government and the Napoleonic Wars were certainly relevant to colonies in the New World a handful of these decrees also relate more materially to the Western Hemisphere including some related to colonial trade and the ongoing war for independence in Venezuela. All of the present documents were promulgated in Mexico City and are signed in type and most of them rubricked in manuscript by the Viceroy Félix María Calleja. Calleja was a general sent to New Spain in 1810 to put down the early rumblings of Mexican independence which he did with ruthless efficiency. He was Viceroy from 1813 to 1816 when he was replaced for fear that his merciless stamping of the insurrection would only further stoke the fires of anti-Spanish sentiment. The full list of decrees in this group ordered by the date they were promulgated by Calleja and accompanied by brief notes on their contents is as follows: All twenty-one documents share the same caption title: Don Felix Maria Calleja del Rey Bruder Losada Flores Campeño Montero de Espinosa Mariscal de Campo de los Exércitos Nacionales Virey Gobernador y Capitan General de Esta N.E. Presidente de Su Audiencia Superintendente General Subdelegado de la Hacienda Pública Minas Azogues y Ramo del Tabaco Juez Conservador de Éste Presidente de Su Junta y Subdelegado General de Correos en el Mismo Reyno. 1 El Orden de las Cortes Generales y Extraordinarias Comunicada…Que en los Papeles de Oficio Usen Siempre el Gobierno y Todas las Autoridades del Mismo Lenguage Que Usa la Constitucion.first lines of main text. March 15. Decrees that all official government papers should follow the language of the new constitution. 2 La Regencia del Reyno Se Ha Servido Levantar el Riguroso Bloqueo en Que Se Hallaba Puerto Cabello en la Provincia de Caracas. March 31. Lifts the Spanish blockade of Caracas now that a peace arrangement had been made with the insurgents in Venezuela. While the Royalists took back the province and the "First Republic of Venezuela" was officially ended in late 1812 it would only be a few months before Simon Bolívar returned and Caracas changed hands once again in the ongoing war for independence. 3 El Consejo de Estado y el Supremo Tribunal de Justicia Que Con Arreglo à la Constitution Política de la Monarquía Española Se Sirvieron Crear las Córtes Generales. March 31. Announcing that the Córtes Generales created by the new constitution and which was effectively the new governing body of the empire is officially in effect and performing duties as described in that document. 4 Las Córtes Generales y Extraordinarias Convencidas de la Necesidad y Utilidad de Que los Expedientes Sobre Infraccion de la Constitucion Sean Determinados Con la Mayor Prontitude Decretan. April 27. Declares that courts will prioritize cases regarding constitutional infractions above all others—one of many decrees particularly concerned with maintaining loyalty to the constitution. 5 Las Córtes Generales y Extraordinarias Queriendo Fixar Por Todos los Medios Posibles en la Memoria de los Españoles la Feliz Época de la Promulgacion de la Constitucion. May 22. In celebration of "the joyous event of the promulgation of the constitutional monarchy" this decree renames the public plaza in which the document was promulgated in every city in the empire to the "Plaza de Constitucion" and orders that a stone marker or monument be built to commemorate the event. When Ferdinand VII was reinstated as absolute monarch in 1814 monarchists tore down many of these monuments in celebration. Others remain to the present day including one in St. Augustine Florida which was still in Spanish hands in 1813. 6 Las Córtes Generales y Extraordinarias Con el Justo Fin de Redimir los Montes y Plantíos de Dominio Particular. May 25. 17 × 12 inches. A notable law removing all regulations on the use of private lands. Land owners would now be allowed to farm collect lumber hunt fish or otherwise profit from their land however they choose. The body of the decree begins our translation: "All laws and ordinances of forests and plantations are repealed and annulled in all their parts insofar as they concern those of private ownership and as a consequence the owners are left in full and absolute freedom to do with them what best suits them without subjection." 7 Las Córtes Decretan Que Ecsen los Individuos Que Actualmente Coponen la Regencia del Reyno y Que Se Encarguen de Ella Provisionalmente los Tres Consejeros de Estado Mas Antiguos Que en el Dia Se Hallan en Deicho Consejo Que Son. July 2. 17 × 12 inches. Appointing a new provisional regency to replace the regency which preceded the constitution to consist of Pedro Agar Gabriel Ciscar and the Archbishop of Toledo. 8 Atendiendo las Córtes Generales y Extraordinarias à la Importancia y Necesidad de Que No Solo los Individuos del Supremo Tribunal de Justicia Sino Tambien los Demas Magistrados y Jueces de Qualquiera Otro Tribunal. July 8. Establishes qualifications for judges and magistrates at all levels. In an attempt to reduce nepotism and ensure the proper enforcement of the new constitution all employees of the judiciary "must enjoy a positive public reputation be accredited in their field possessed of selflessness and good morals dedicated to the Constitution and to have proven themselves in reality to be friends of independence and the political freedom of the nation" our translation. 9 S.M. C D. Fernando VII Rey de España y de las Indias y S.M. el Emperador de Todas las Rusias Igualmente Animados del Deseo de Restablecer y Fortificar las Antiguas Relaciones de Amistad Que Han Subsistido Entre Sus Monariquías. July 13. 16 × 12 inches. The Mexican printing of this treaty between Spain and the Russian Emperor Nicolas I. It is a treaty of amity and commerce as well as a formal military alliance "with the express intention of waging a vigorous war with the Emperor of France their common enemy." 10 La Clase de Guerra Que el Enemigo Comun de los Pueblos de Europa Ha Heco y Hace a Esta Heroycion: Los Exquisitos Pero Siempre Pérfidos Medios Que Ha Puesto en Practica Para Dominarla. August 5. 17 × 12 inches. A solemn and dramatic public warning about the perfidious effects of disloyalty and internal division. Other governmental decrees are referenced including specific reference to numbers four and eight described above. 11 Deseando S.A. Dar un Testimonio Indudable de Su Religiosa Puntualidad en el Cumplimiento de Quanto Prescribe la Constitucion Politíca de la Monarquía. August 11. States that the secretary of state does not have the authority to pardon deserters who present themselves for trial. They will be sent to their respective companies to be judged by them in accordance with the severity of their crime notwithstanding special cases where an individual might be pardoned by the Regency. 12 Las Córtes Generales y Extraordinarias Decretan: El Supremo Tribunal de Justicia Debe Conocer de los Recursos de Nulidad Que Se Interpongan de las Sentencias Dadas en Última Instancia. August 21. Decrees that the supreme court will hear appeals from the previous session's special courts. 13 Las Córtes Generales y Extraordinarias Considerando Que la Reduccion de los Terrenos Communes á Dominio Particular Es Una de las Providencias Que Mas Imperiosamente Reclaman el Bien de los Pueblos. August 23. 21½ × 16¾ inches printed in two columns. A monumentally important law decreeing that all publicly owned lands in Spain the outlying islands and all of her colonies in the New World would be converted to private property. The broadside prints the full text of the law and begins: "The Córtes Generales.considering that the reduction of common lands to private ownership is one of the provisions that most imperiously demand the good of the people and the promotion of agriculture and industry and wanting at the same time to provide with this type of land an aid to public needs a reward for worthy defenders of the country and relief for non-proprietary citizens." Despite the lofty language realistically this law formed part of an ongoing program of confiscation of lands in order to defray mounting debts from the internal and external conflicts of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The law divided the confiscated property into two even portions: one would be sold at auction and the proceeds contributed directly to the national debt the other would be divided into lots and apportioned to veterans or sold for a fee to landless citizens. 14 Las Córtes Generales y Extraordinarias…Se Propusieron Abrir la Carrera del Honor y Da la Gloria á los Hijos de las Familias Honradas de la Monarquía. September 2. 17 × 12 inches. In order to sustain the "positive feelings and equality" won by the war the government decrees that college university and military admissions cannot take into account whether or not someone is nobility even if that information is offered voluntarily. Along the same lines they also are not allowed to "permit expressions or distinctions which contribute to the fomentation in their ranks of the perfidious ideals of legal inequality or class rivalry." 15 Las Córtes Generales y Extraordinarias Considerando Que el Aniversario del Diez y Nueve de Marzo en Que Se Publicó la Constitucion. September 7. With Calleja's manuscript rubric but not signed. Outlines ceremonies for the upcoming first anniversary of the constitution. Every church is to sing a solemn Te Deum and an artillery salvo is to be fired in the public square of each city. 16 Las Córtes Generales y Extraordinarias Decretan: 1. La Regencia Actual de las Españas Compuesto Del. September 8. Decrees that the provisional regency is no longer provisional but actual and appoints the Archbishop of Toledo as its president. 17 Debiendo las Córtes Generales y Extraordinarias Fixar los Términos en Que la Regencia del Reyno Ha de Exercer Su Autoridad. September 10. 22¾ × 16 inches printed in two columns. Prints the rules and regulations related to the now official Regency council its composition and the extents of its power. The Regency's chief mission is described as to "Uphold the Constitution and its laws protect the individual liberty of the citizens and to elevate these over both the conservation of public order within and the security of the nation without." 18 Habiendo Ocurrido á la Regencia del Reyno el Diputado en Córtes Por Maracaybo D. José Domingo Rús. September 28. No rubric or signature. Responding to a petition by a citizen of Venezuela the Regency grants free import and export of all tools machines and artifacts for agriculture and industry to the province of Maracaybo. 19 Hemos Dado Cuenta á las Córtes Generales y Extraordinarias de la Consulta. September 30. No rubric or signature. Decrees that all persons involved in cases regarding a constitutional infraction should be suspended from employment and duties for the duration. 20 Las Córtes Generales y Extraordinarias Enteradas de Que Quasi en Todos los Puertos de la Península Se Cobraba Por Cuenta de la Inquisicion. October 20. No rubric or signature. Repeals certain duties levied by the Inquisition which was abolished by the new constitution. The text begins our translation: "The General Courts aware that in almost all the ports of the Peninsula vessels were charged on behalf of the Inquisition upon entering them and when they were foreigners or coming from foreign ports a right known as the Right of Inquisition and tax on on boxes of books assortments of prints handkerchiefs and printed fabrics boxes of tobacco and other effects." 21 Las Córtes Generales y Extraordinarias Decretan Por Punto General: Que la Facultad Que Segun la Pragmática de Matrimonios. November 6. In an unusual move for the generally liberal new government this text states that the Real Pragmática Sanción de Matrimonios continues in effect. The Pragmática required all males under the age of twenty-five and all females under the age of twenty-five of any class or race to secure formal consent from their fathers in order to marry and applied to Spain as well as all of its overseas possessions. As of 1803 the father was not required to supply any reason whatsoever for denying a marriage proposal and the law was generally seen as a tool to maintain strict class divisions. These broadside decrees printed in Mexico at an important moment in Spanish constitutional history are rare in the market and institutionally. We locate only a few copies of each in OCLC. A remarkably thorough and continuous set of rare Mexican printings of Spanish decrees from this time of great political and military turmoil and clearly demonstrating the direct influence of affairs in Europe on colonies in the Western Hemisphere. Old folds. Varying degrees of edge wear. Scattered tanning and staining. Very good. unknown