Mier and Freedom of Thought in the Late New Spain and Early Mexico

Mier and Freedom of Thought in the Late New Spain and Early Mexico

Alejandro Quintana, PhD

St. John’s University

Dr. Quintana’s paper analyzes the political writings of Fray Servando Teresa de Mier, a patriot creole, a leading intellectual, and a nationalist priest condemned a number of times to imprisonment and exile by both the Spanish Inquisition and the Mexican Empire. By focusing on Mier, this paper illustrates the nature, changes and continuities of the legal system in regards to freedom of thought in late New Spain and early Mexico (1794-1824). Mier was always a critical voice of the regime in power and this, not surprisingly, always placed him at odds with the authorities. His unrestrained pen resulted in him spending most of his life either imprisoned, exiled or on the run. In the end he managed to portray his troubled existence as his personal fight for the fatherland, and thus be recognized as a hero of independence and become one of Mexico’s first leading legislators. By analyzing Mier’s writings and persecutions this paper argues that the legal system practiced during the last years of the Spanish inquisition in Mexico offered reasonable protections and restrictions to freedom of thought not that different from those offered by the early republic in Mexico or elsewhere in Europe. Persecution and abuses against critical thinkers like Mier was rather the product of abuse of the authority in a highly hierarchical society. Mier also demonstrates that this did not change much after independence.