The Cantonal Rebellion was a Spanish insurrection that began on this day in 1873, initiated by Republicans who wanted to establish a federation from the bottom up, without waiting for the national legislature to draft a constitution.

The rebellion began in Cartagena, Spain under the First Spanish Republic, and spread in the following days through the regions of Valencia, Murcia and Andalusia. In these areas, cantons were formed, whose federation would constitute the base of the Spanish Federal Republic. Although the federalists defied the authority of the Cortes, some historians do not consider the movement separatist in character.

The Cantonal Rebellion was put down by force from the First Spanish Republic, which justified its actions as maintaining the rule of law. When the last canton, Cartagena, surrendered, thousands of people were deported to the Philippines, Cuba, and the Marianas Islands on charges of being a federalist.