La "cuestión americana" y la Constitución de Bayona (1808)

Abstract

The Constitution of Bayonne of 1808 was the first constitutional Spanish text that tried to articulate the bases of a model of political colonial organization on the principle of territorial equality. The study emphasizes the special treatment given by Napoleon to the American problem in Bayonne, and in particular to the representatives of Spanish overseas territories, in order to neutralize potential pretensions of independence in these domains. These circumstances propitiated a relation of symbiotic nature between Napoleon and the group of representatives of Overseas. Both parts extracted profit in favour of their respective interests from this relationship.