The Constituent of 1842: Moderate Liberalism and Religious Tolerance

Abstract

The article studies the tolerance of cults in private spaces provided by the three constitutional projects of the Congress of 1842. Based on the brochures, the newspapers and the constituent documents, it analyzes some of its characteristics and implications. It mentions some of its origins and contextualizes the proposal within a time of new leading coalitions and strong regional interests, clear commercial demands, and evident generational changes. The objective is to identify the specificity of domestic tolerance within moderate liberalism. Thus, it clarifies a supposed dichotomous struggle between tolerance and intolerance and shows some of the alternatives considered by Mexican legislators. The assembly was dissolved but nevertheless began the attempts weighed by the moderate spectrum throughout the 1840s to allow some confessional diversity. Finally, this article outlines some conceptual edges of the “public” and the “private” following the drafting of the constitutional documents.