About the Latin American Intellectual History Series.....iii
Note on the translation.....v
Foreword to the English Edition, by Genevi¨ve Verdo.....xi
INTRODUCTION. A Unique Revolutionary Process.....1
I. The French Revolution and the Hispanic Revolutions: A Complex Relationship.....9
The Transformations of the Eighteenth Century.....12
Absolutism, Enlightenment, and Revolution.....15
Two Different Rationales.....19
France and the Hispanic World: Similarities and Differences.....24
Echoes of the French Revolution in the Hispanic World.....27
Spanish Revolution and Spanish American Revolutions.....34
American Particularities and Problems.....43
II. Absolutist Modernity.....49
The King and His Kingdoms.....50
Unusual Kingdoms: The Indies of Castile.....56
The American City as the Basic Political Unit.....61
The All-Encompassing Power of the King.....67
American Grievances.....74
III. Another Kind of Modernity.....75
The Individual and Society.....80
The New Forms of Sociability.....86
The Modern Elites.....93
Geography and Circumstances of a Cultural Area.....97
IV. Two Crucial Years (1808-1809).....111
The Clash of 1808.....114
Constituting a Legitimate Government.....118
American Reactions.....122
Uncertainties and Conjunctures.....126
Representing the Nation: The American Problem.....130
The Political Transformations of Peninsular Spain.....136
American Disappointments.....143
V. 1808: Imaginaries and Values.....147
Images of the King and Duties of the Vassals.....148
The Monarchy and the Nation.....155
History and Religion.....162
The Political Frame of Reference: Pactism Reborn.....169
VI. Spanish America's First General Elections (1809).....177
The Necessary American Representation.....178
"An Essential and Integral Part of the Spanish Monarchy".....185
Imaginaries, Actors, and Behaviors.....191
Parties in Conflict.....201
Instructions to the Deputies: The Political Demands.....209
Local Interests.....217
A Mixed Balance.....224
VII. The Political Pedagogy of the Spanish Revolutionary Press.....233
Strategy and Tactics.....236
New Times, a New History, New Virtues.....246
An Original Political Moment.....259
The Defense of the Representative Regime.....266
The Makeup of the National Representation.....273
The Rule of Opinion.....279
VIII. The Spread of Modernity: Literacy, the Printing Press, and Revolution in New Spain.....285
A Cultured Society of the Ancien R©gime.....287
The Development of Printing.....293
Reading, Culture, and Sociability.....298
From the "War of Words" to the Reign of Opinion.....309
Center and Periphery.....318
IX. Mutations and Victory of the Nation.....333
Rival Conceptions of the Nation.....334
Victory of the Modern Nation.....341
American Pactism.....353
The Failure of the Plural Monarchy.....356
Uncertainties of the Nation in America.....362
X. The Sovereign People: Uncertainties and Opportunities of the Nineteenth Century.....367
Defining the People.....371
Mobilizing the People.....380
Redefining the People.....385
The Return of the People.....392
About the Author.....399
Bibliography.....401
Index.....413
About LASA Press.....441
