The reform commission, created by a Spanish royal decree of November 25, 1865, of 12 Creole and 4 Spanish-born members, elected March 25, 1866, met in Madrid, adopting reforms, which included representation in the Cortes, equality of access to civil employment, freedom from arbitrary arrest and search, and revised civil and criminal codes. The commissioners also favored gradual slave emancipation.
Spain suffered an army revolt in the summer of 1866 and on April 28, 1867 the Narváez government disbanded the commission, dismissing all of its recommendations and imposing new and irritating taxation. The failure of the Junta gave new impetus to Cuba’s independence movement.
