This monument in Plaza de la Constitucion was erected in 1812 to celebrate the first written Spanish Constitution. King Ferdinand IV was crowned in 1814 with a promise to uphold the constitution. Not long after his coronation, Ferdinand and the Catholic Church repudiated the Constitution and began ferocious reprisals. In 1823 The Battle of Trocadero eliminated the liberal threat and Ferdinand prevailed with absolute monarchy. As historian Howard Zinn said, "Politicians lie".

News traveled slowly to St. Augustine in those days. The residents here were of a liberal bent and these monuments were by Royal decree to be destroyed. "Hola! Tell the stinkin' King that we worked hard building this monument and we're gonna to keep it , Senor ", said the St. Augustine residents ( loosely paraphrased) Fortunately for the residents, the Spanish Monarchy paid little attention to the albatross colony of Florida. The first time a Spanish King arrived in St. Augustine was five years ago with a visit from King Juan Carlos. All of the "Swells" were out in force. No one mentioned great great grandfather's duplicity. Besides ,he is perhaps still stinging over Generalissimo Franco. We are polite with our guests. SEE PICS Take a look at Florida's own , Katherine Harris toadying up to everyone in sight.

In 1821 St. Augustine became the capital of East Florida with Indian hater Andrew Jackson as governor. If you click onto the photo you can see that the "Constitucion" has been crudely changed to "Constitution." This is done on all four sides. The De La had to remain probably because the rough chisel was not sufficient to change it to "..OF The...". Exactly when it was done we do not know. This could have been done last week for all we know. This could have been the work of Minutemen.