The Spanish Constitution of 1837: A Historical Analysis

The Constitution of the Government, 1837

During Mendizábal's time, there was tension between the Moderates and Progressives. The Moderates wanted to maintain the Royal Statute but desired a constitution. The Regent, sympathizing with the Moderates, dismissed Mendizábal in May 1836, giving the government to a Moderate. A month later, the Regent dissolved the Estate of Solicitors, which led to protests from urban Progressives. Finally, in August 1836, the sergeants of the Royal Palace, where the Regent was staying, mutinied and obliged her to give the government to José María Calatrava and to swear in the Progressive Constitution of 1812. The Progressive government of Calatrava called a Constituent Assembly, which would draw up and approve a new constitution: the Constitution of 1837, with the goal of reaching a compromise between Moderates, Progressives, and the Crown.

Key Features of the Constitution of 1837

• National Sovereignty (Progressive)
• Separation of Powers, where the Crown had more power than in "La Pepa". It sanctioned and promulgated laws, dissolved courts, and appointed and dismissed ministers (Moderate).
• The Courts were bicameral, consisting of the Congress and the Senate (Progressive, Moderate).
• It had an average of urban bourgeois Progressives and some urban working classes, while the Moderates were of high nobility, had a senior position, had an army, and were high-ranking bourgeois.
• Suffrage: The Progressives favored a broader census suffrage, while the Moderates preferred a more restricted one. Another characteristic is that they had a male census suffrage, a little wider than the Royal Statute, where 2% of the population voted (Progressive).
• The State agreed to maintain the Catholic clergy (Progressive, Moderate).
• It also guaranteed freedom of the press, association, and opinion (Progressive).
• Finally, the appearance of the National Militia, an army of volunteers to defend the constitutional state (Progressive).

Aftermath and the Rise of Espartero

After the 1837 Constitution, elections were held, and the Moderates won. The Moderates, in government from 1837 to 1840, attempted to alter the Constitution with the help of the Regent:

• To adopt a more restricted electoral law.
• They put limits on freedom of the press.
• They tried to stop the seizure.
• They proposed to submit the provincial councils to the central government so that the governor would appoint the mayors and provincial governors.

The Progressive councils and the National Militia organized an insurrectionary movement in 1840 against the Regent and the revolutionaries. The Regent attempted to bring in the most famous general of the moment, Baldomero Espartero, but he was a supporter of the Progressives, and Maria Cristina was forced to flee to France.