Three Moments of Speculative Freedom in the Age of the Atlantic Revolutions

Abstract In 1808, Spain’s King Ferdinand abdicated the throne during the Napoleonic invasion. The sovereignty of the “nation” was then invested in a democratically elected parliament, the Cortes de Cádiz, composed of representatives from Spain, the American viceroyalties, and the Philippines. TheCortes de Cádiz and its 1812 Constitution, for the first and only time in history, fashioned an inclusive, representative democracy spanning twocontinents and the Philippines. This transoceanic “nation” was theorized by the Cortes through vigorous debates that were meticulously recorded.This essay examines three moments in these debates during which a “speculative freedom” emerges. It argues the Cortes and its constitution theorized a transoceanic sovereignty—an affective nation made up of racially, culturally, and linguistically distinct citizens—through Indigenous difference. The Cortes debates over the inclusion of Indigenous peoples as free citizens articulated a principle of equivalence that refused abstraction and the suppression of difference. The failure of the Cortes to include Afromestizos as citizens, after acrimonious debate, led to the demise of the Spanish Empire. This exclusion was at once political, psychic, and racial. Indigenous difference enabled peninsulares and Creoles to bridge political gaps between them, while Afromestizos were too close, triggering disidentification.