The Liberal Triennium (1820–1823): Bentham and Radical Liberalism

In stark contrast to the dreary absolutist period, the almost four years of a constitutional regime, during the Liberal Triennium (1820–1823), involved a revitalisation of the Spanish political and cultural life. Mora wasted no time in making the most of the new opportunities for participating in public life opened up by the Spanish Revolution of 1820, as a political activist, as an educator and, above all, as a journalist. Between 1820 and 1823 Mora immersed himself fully in journalism in Madrid, playing a major role in the radical transformation of the press: in all likelihood, he was involved in the establishment, edition or contribution to at least ten newspapers, all of which were biased towards the radical currents of liberalism during that turbulent period. In these newspapers, Mora further extended his support for the principles of classical economics —including free trade— and although he took a broad approach which encompassed a wide range of authors to these principles, what especially stands out during the Liberal Triennium is the pervasiveness of Bentham, who with Smith and Say completes the triad of core authors in Mora’s life prior to his exile.