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Partial Independence Undermined Legitimacy
- The Caracas congress declared independence in July 1811 but represented only part of Venezuela and lacked support from western cities like Maracaibo and Coro.
- That fragmentation turned independence into a localized project, limiting legitimacy and inviting royalist resistance from excluded regions.
Racial Exclusion Cost Republican Support
- The elite criollo leaders abolished the slave trade but kept racial hierarchies, offering political rights only to property-holding whites.
- That exclusion alienated pardos and free blacks, turning potential allies into recruits for royalists and uprisings on plantations.
Miranda's Abolitionist Influences
- Francisco de Miranda had more radical, reform-minded views influenced by contacts like William Wilberforce and did not own slaves at this time.
- Simón Bolívar was less consistent, still a slave owner but open to reform when it served legitimacy concerns.