| Summary: | This article analyzes some of the strategies utilized by colonial authorities to circumvent the freedom of the press in New Spain, despite the fact that it had been mandated for the entire Hispanic world by the Cortes of Cádiz. By analyzing events at the Cortes of Cádiz and the Viceroyalty of New Spain’s state of war, it examines the process by which the freedom of the press took on a constitutional character. Due to their inability to prevent the appearance of a critical press, whether of an insurgent or independent nature, the colonial authorities published written responses as a method of mitigating the effects of the dissemination of the political ideas of their adversaries. In the end, this article shows how the decision to respond to political writings fomented a new way of doing politics through the press that had no precedents in New Spain.
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