The United States in the constitutional cultures of Spanish postrevolutionary liberalism (1834-1848)

Abstract

The article studies the impact of American constitutionalism on the thought of the two main ideological tendencies of post-revolutionary Spanish liberalism: liberal progressives and liberal conservatives. To this end, the work focuses on the years that framed the first conflicts between both tendencies to define the constitutional architecture of the liberal State (1834-1848). We address the processes of translation, editing, selection, and argumentative appropriation through which both political cultures built their stories regarding Anglo-American constitutional development. The paper analyzes the performative dimension of these stories, inspecting the influence they exerted on the definition of the doctrinal principles and horizons of expectation that supported the constitutional cultures of progressives and conservatives. To this end, the paper will use a very diverse battery of sources that can provide valuable information on the presence of the Anglo-American system in the constitutional thought of the two tendencies: essayistic and historiographical works; translations and editions; parliamentary speeches, newspaper articles; and legal treaties.

Enviado el (Submission Date): 01/02/2021

Aceptado el (Acceptance Date): 9/04/2021