Civics
21
On March 19, 1812, the Spanish Parliament in Cadiz wrote the first Spanish Constitution and issued a Royal Decree ordering Spanish towns throughout the empire to build monuments and rename their main plazas La Plaza de la Constitucion in honor of the new constitutional government in Spain. In 1813, St. Augustine, capital of the Spanish colony of Florida, constructed the Constitution Monument to celebrate that government. On September 15, 1814, news arrived from Havana that Spain's constitutional government had been overthrown and the monarchy restored, and a second Royal Decree ordered the destruction of constitution monuments across the Spanish empire. St. Augustine's officials resisted and refused to tear down what they had sacrificed much to build. The Constitution Monument in St. Augustine is believed to be the only surviving, unaltered monument in the world from this campaign.
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St. Augustine, Florida · United States
