De la palabra a la acción: Oradores, editores, abogados y conspiradores en el virreinato del Perú, 1780-1808

Abstract

This article analyzes the transformation of men of letters into political actors in the Viceroyalty of Peru in the years 1780-1808. It aims to contribute to the discussion on the rise of liberalism in the Spanish world. A key aspect in this process that has been insufficiently studied in the historiography on this topic was the emergence of new political actors during the first liberal era of the Cortes de Cadiz (1810-1814). This was not a sudden phenomenon, but the consequence of a long process of Bourbon reforms, during which the crown promoted the rise of a new kind of orators, writers, and lawyers. They were expected to reform the administration and modernize traditions. What the crown did not foresee was that these same individuals could rise to express their individual voices in public, criticize different forms of government, and imagine new social orders that would bring them to power.