Professor M.C. Mirow has published “The Constitution of Cádiz in Cuba and Florida” in The Rise of Constitutional Government in the Iberian Atlantic World: The Impact of the Cádiz Constitution of 1812 (Scott Eastman & Natalia Sobrevilla Perea eds. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2015).
While Havana and St. Augustine were both part of Spain’s expansive Caribbean colonies, St. Augustine was militarily, politically, and economically dependent on Cuba during the early nineteenth century. The two locales were socially quite different: Havana was wealthy, closely tied to the peninsula, and replicated the common aspects of Spanish colonial society. Both cities and regions appear to have appropriated the Constitution deeply into their political structures. They both promulgated the Constitution several times and established constitutional institutions in light of the guiding provisions. Only recently have scholars recognized the extent of the second promulgation of the Constitution of Cádiz in St. Augustine in 1820 and of the third promulgation of the Constitution in Santiago de Cuba in 1836. This contribution examines the effect of the decrees of the Cortes, the promulgation and implementation of the Constitution of Cádiz, and the varied responses to revocation and re-promulgation of the Constitution in both locations.
For the text of the work, visit http://ssrn.com/abstract=2129369
Professor Mirow is a member of the founding faculty of FIU Law and a member of the Florida bar.
Faculty Website: https://law.fiu.edu/faculty/directory/m-c-mirow/