Revolution of 1820: an ideal developed in adversity (1820-c.1870)

Abstract

The essential aspirations of the Revolution of 1820 were ensured mainly in later decades and in terms different from those initially  thought. The article identifies three lessons learned by liberals, reflected in constitutional texts: that of the principle of the sovereignty of the nation with which they gave the 1822 Constitution the supremacy of Parliament, somewhat disconnected from reality; that of pragmatism with which they accepted the supremacy to the royal power in the Constitutional Charter of 1826, thus  defeating the absolutist regime in military terms and in socioeconomic and administrative reforms; and that of the consensus with  which they won serious internal disagreements, translated into the reform of the Charter (Additional Act of 1852). With all this  experience they were able to consolidate the liberal regime and finally fulfil the dream of the revolutionaries of 1820.