The Cádiz spring: Freedom of expression and public opinion in Peru (1810-1815)

This article studies the impact of political freedom of the press, which was decreed by the general and extraordinary Cortes (parliament) in November 1810 and was released in the Gaceta de Gobierno de Lima five months later. Along with the history of the pasquines (wall posters) and the enlightened press of the late eighteenth century, it examines the contours of the issuance of that decree in the Cortes. From this event onwards, new versions, even opposed to the official ones, were able to be read and discussed in public, although they were eventually censored. Freedom of the press not only promoted the proliferation of new journals, but also of many pamphlets, manifestos and leaflets dedicated to the defense of freedom and the Constitution. During the period known as the Cádiz "spring" a total of fourteen newspapers, of unequal importance, appeared in Peru.among which El Peruano, given its relative duration and doctrinaire and political approaches, was undoubtedly the most qualified.