The Questionnaire of the Cortes of Cádiz: notes and Reflections on the Ethnographic Potential of its Responses

This article aims to spark academic interest in exploring and analyzing the responses to the questionnaire issued by the Cortes of Cádiz in 1812. This questionnaire was designed to collect detailed information about the lives, customs, and traditions of the indigenous people in overseas colonies. To...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Quiñones Martínez, Cynthia Teresa, Gatta, Massimo
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2024
Country:México
Institution:UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO
Repository:Estudios de Historia Novohispana
Language:Spanish
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/77822
Online Access:https://novohispana.historicas.unam.mx/index.php/ehn/article/view/77822
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:indigenous people
culture
parish priests
Gaditan General Courts
citizenship
indígenas
cultura
párrocos
cortes gaditanas
ciudadanía
Description
Summary:This article aims to spark academic interest in exploring and analyzing the responses to the questionnaire issued by the Cortes of Cádiz in 1812. This questionnaire was designed to collect detailed information about the lives, customs, and traditions of the indigenous people in overseas colonies. To this end, a historiographical balance is presented that brings into dialogue the works carried out on the questionnaire, as well as an exposition of the geographical and cultural distri- bution of the responses found and their potential for the construction of ethnographies of Amer- ican peoples at the end of the Colonial period. Emphasizing the significance of examining the corpus of responses to this questionnaire, the article underscores its role in understanding the ethnic and cultural diversity of Spanish America at the beginning of the nineteenth century, within the context of the Gaditan constitutional project. One of the key conclusions reached, based on a comprehensive review of the 58 responses identified so far, highlights the enduring nature of ethnic and cultural diversity in Spanish America during the twilight of the colonial era.