1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:18,600 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. This is the second part 4 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:24,440 Speaker 1: of our episode on Francisco de Miranda. Where we left off, 5 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: he had been convicted of desertion and sentenced to exile 6 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:31,280 Speaker 1: from Spain, and then had spent about a year and 7 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:36,239 Speaker 1: a half touring the newly established United States. So if 8 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: you're thinking I should probably find out what that was 9 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,839 Speaker 1: all about, because I didn't listen to part one, go 10 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: do that first. From there, after touring the United States, 11 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:51,159 Speaker 1: he set off for London, and that would become his 12 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: primary home for a big chunk of his adult life. 13 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: Francisco de Miranda left the United States on December fifteenth, 14 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty four, arriving in England on February first of 15 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: the following year. He reconnected with people he had known 16 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: during his earlier time in Europe, including the merchant John Turnbull, 17 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: who he had previously met in Gibraltar. Turnbull became something 18 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,319 Speaker 1: of a patron to Miranda, helping to finance his life 19 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:23,400 Speaker 1: in exile. Miranda also introduced himself to the Spanish ambassador 20 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: in London, Bernardo del Campo y Perez de la Cerna, 21 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 1: to explain himself for his actions back in the Caribbean. 22 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: But the ambassador had already heard from Jose Moninho, the 23 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,319 Speaker 1: first Count of Florida Blanca, chief Minister to King Carlos, 24 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: the third of Spain, Chief Minister, had already told the 25 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: ambassador to be on the lookout for Miranda, and if 26 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: Miranda arrived in London, the ambassador was expected to try 27 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: to gain his trust with the goal of eventually capturing him. 28 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 1: I think there were legal and diplomatic reasons not to 29 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: just shut the door behind him when he came into 30 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: the office and say you're captured now, but I don't 31 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:11,360 Speaker 1: have the specifics of what those reasons were. One of 32 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:14,919 Speaker 1: Miranda's core character traits, which we mentioned in the first part, 33 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:18,359 Speaker 1: really seems to have been hubris, and with Bernardo del 34 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: Campo's help and encouragement, he wrote a letter to the 35 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: King not only asking to be released from his military service, 36 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 1: but also asking to be paid wages that he had 37 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: never collected for that service, as well as repayment of 38 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: his purchase of his commission, who he does not lack 39 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: for bravado. The ambassador intercepted this letter and other letters 40 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: that Miranda sent to friends and family asking for money 41 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:47,679 Speaker 1: as he tried to put together a plan to try 42 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,919 Speaker 1: to take him into custody. Not knowing that the ambassador 43 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: had orders to try to capture him, thirty four year 44 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: old Miranda also let him know helpfully that he was 45 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: leaving London. He embarked on a year European tour, much 46 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:04,959 Speaker 1: like the Grand Tours of the Continent that were commonly 47 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: undertaken by upperclass young men in Europe in the seventeenth 48 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: through about the nineteenth centuries. He traveled for a time 49 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 1: with Colonel William Stevens Smith, who had been an officer 50 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and was 51 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: George Washington's aide de camp during the Battle of Yorktown. 52 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 1: While in London, Smith also started courting Abigail Amelia Adams, 53 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: known as Nabby, daughter of John and Abigail Adams. Miranda 54 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: and Smith traveled first to Prussia, making their way there 55 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: through Holland. This was fortunate for Miranda since the Spanish 56 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: had been expecting him to travel through France and had 57 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: been working on a plan to capture him en route, 58 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: as he'd done. While traveling through the United States, Miranda 59 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,680 Speaker 1: observed how different governments worked and how their rulers and 60 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: leaders did things. He and Smith also toured a lot 61 00:03:56,360 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 1: of historical, religious, and cultural sites, as well as education institutions. 62 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:03,360 Speaker 1: In a lot of ways, this tour was more like 63 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: an intentional study and learning experience than a casual sight 64 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,640 Speaker 1: seeing trip. Smith went back to London in September of 65 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty five, where he took up formal duties as 66 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:17,600 Speaker 1: secretary to the American legation, and he married Nabbie Adams 67 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:21,679 Speaker 1: there on June eleventh, seventeen eighty six. Not long after 68 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: Smith returned to London, Miranda had an encounter with Marie 69 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 1: Josef paulives Rouche Guilbert de Mortier, Marquis de Lafayette while 70 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: observing military maneuvers by the Prussian Army. Lafayette had been 71 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: instrumental in the Revolutionary War, serving on George Washington's staff, 72 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: working with Benjamin Franklin's delegation to secure aid from France, 73 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: and commanding an army at Yorktown. Lafayette both offered his 74 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:53,839 Speaker 1: services should Miranda ever visit Paris, and also asked him 75 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: whether he thought there might be a similar uprising in 76 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:02,279 Speaker 1: the Spanish colonies. Miranda does not seem to have liked 77 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 1: or trusted Lafayette, for reasons that aren't fully clear. He 78 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:10,360 Speaker 1: suspected that Lafayette had been involved in one of the 79 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: many capture attempts, though so in this one case, Miranda 80 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:20,479 Speaker 1: was uncharacteristically evasive. He told Lafayette that he had heard 81 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:25,040 Speaker 1: of no such revolutionary activity in Spanish America, even though 82 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 1: he himself was thinking about this a lot. Miranda was 83 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: a wanted man, but he was also charming and resourceful, 84 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: and with some exceptions like the Marquis de Lafayette, he 85 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,520 Speaker 1: had no trouble finding friends to help him out or 86 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:40,920 Speaker 1: to make introductions to people that he wanted to meet. 87 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: He spent roughly four years traveling through Europe, learning and 88 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,039 Speaker 1: exploring and trying to get support for his plan to 89 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: start that aforementioned but denied to Lafayette revolution in Spanish America. 90 00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: He wanted to liberate all of the territory that Spain 91 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: was holding in the Americas, which was from Cape Horror 92 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:02,839 Speaker 1: at the far southern tip of Chile, all the way 93 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:06,559 Speaker 1: north to the forty fifth parallel for context, The forty 94 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: fifth parallel north forms much of the border between Montana 95 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: and Wyoming. From west to east, this liberated empire would 96 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:17,240 Speaker 1: stretch from the Pacific Ocean to the borders of Guyana 97 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: and Brazil. In South America, those were under the control 98 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: of Britain and Portugal, and in North America it would 99 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 1: extend to the Mississippi River. Miranda had written a constitution 100 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: for this massive empire he envisioned, which he wanted to 101 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,560 Speaker 1: call Columbia. He said this would be founded under the 102 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: principles of freedom and independence. In the words of an 103 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:44,840 Speaker 1: early English language biography of him quote, the executive power 104 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:48,359 Speaker 1: in this vast state was to be vested in an inca, 105 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,360 Speaker 1: who was to be styled Emperor. His power was to 106 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:55,880 Speaker 1: be hereditary. The legislative power was to be placed in 107 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 1: a bicameral legislature. The upper House or Senate, was to 108 00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:03,280 Speaker 1: be composed of a fixed number of senators or ki chiks, 109 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:06,679 Speaker 1: who were to be chosen by the Inca for life, 110 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: from citizens who had honorably occupied the first offices of 111 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: the empire, such as General, Admiral, Chief Justice and questor. 112 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: The members of the Lower House or Chamber of Communes 113 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: were to be chosen by all the citizens. They were 114 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: to hold office for five years, and their persons were 115 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 1: declared to be inviolable for that period, except in case 116 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: of capital crimes, reelection was possible. The members of the 117 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 1: judiciary were to be chosen by the Inca from the 118 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: most distinguished members of the judicial corps. These federal judges 119 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: were to hold office for life, unless deprived of their 120 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,560 Speaker 1: positions by a judgment of forfeiture. They were the only 121 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: officers mentioned in the Constitution regarding whom it was specified 122 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: that they were to receive a salary. So the role 123 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: of Inca here is terminology that he was appropriating from 124 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: the Inca Empire that had flourished in South America in 125 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. He was not necessarily envisioning 126 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 1: installing someone from one of the Catchewes speaking peoples still 127 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: living in this region of the world in this hereditary office. Tracy, 128 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 1: who did the research on this, honestly found this sort 129 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: of very foggy regarding who exactly he thought should step 130 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: into this hereditary new role. Yeah, I also think he 131 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: was conceiving this nomenclature as honorific, but like this adds 132 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:37,240 Speaker 1: to the things that he just hasn't thought about very 133 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: very clearly, like what it means to liberate and use 134 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 1: this title for the people who really were descendants of 135 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:47,920 Speaker 1: that empire but are maybe not going to be part 136 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: of the ruling elite of this newly liberated organizational plan. 137 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,839 Speaker 1: This was one of several frameworks that Miranda envisioned for 138 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,959 Speaker 1: a liberated Spanish America over the course of his lifetime, 139 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:06,559 Speaker 1: and he drafted and revised other proposed constitutions in addition 140 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: to this one. Some of them were closer to like 141 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:14,200 Speaker 1: a constitutional monarchy, some of them were closer to a republic. 142 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:18,320 Speaker 1: All of them, though, were focused on ideals like liberty 143 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:21,680 Speaker 1: and freedom, although, as we said in Part one and 144 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: a few moments ago, I think without really wrestling with 145 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:30,000 Speaker 1: how that would be achieved given the context of colonization 146 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 1: and enslavement and genocide in these places that he wanted 147 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: to liberate, I have a theory we'll discuss by the 148 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:43,200 Speaker 1: same on Friday. One of the people Miranda spent the 149 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 1: most time and effort trying to win over to his 150 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 1: plan was the Empress of Russia, Catherine the Great. He 151 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:52,319 Speaker 1: spent almost two years in Russian territory making his case 152 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,680 Speaker 1: and trying to gain her support. There were rumors that 153 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:58,120 Speaker 1: the two of them were lovers. It is known that 154 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: Miranda had a lot of lovers during his life time, 155 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:05,679 Speaker 1: but there's no substantiation for this particular relationship. Although Miranda 156 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: couldn't get Catherine to commit to backing his revolution, she 157 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:12,120 Speaker 1: did give him some money, and she ordered Russian embassies 158 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 1: to assist him where they could. Being under the Empress's 159 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:19,000 Speaker 1: protection also helped him evade yet more attempts to take 160 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:23,200 Speaker 1: him into Spanish custody. Miranda returned to London in seventeen 161 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: eighty nine. When he had first arrived there four years before, 162 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:31,920 Speaker 1: he had not found much support for his revolutionary ideas. 163 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:36,200 Speaker 1: This was really not surprising since Britain had just been 164 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 1: through the Revolutionary War. But in seventeen ninety he thought 165 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:44,920 Speaker 1: he might be able to take advantage of an international 166 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:50,400 Speaker 1: dispute over the Nuka Sound off Vancouver Island. Britain and 167 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:54,959 Speaker 1: Spain were both claiming to control this sound, and Miranda 168 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:58,720 Speaker 1: hoped to convince the British that a revolution in Spanish 169 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 1: territory would work out in their favor. In this dispute. 170 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 1: He had at least two meetings with the British Prime Minister, 171 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:11,559 Speaker 1: William Pitt the Younger about these plans, much to Miranda's frustration, 172 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:15,600 Speaker 1: though Pitt was a lot more focused on Spain, not 173 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:20,960 Speaker 1: on like a hypothetical situation involving Spain's colonies in the Americas. 174 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,040 Speaker 1: In June of seventeen eighty nine, Miranda also followed up 175 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:29,120 Speaker 1: with Spain's ambassador to Britain, Bernardo del Campo, pointing out 176 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 1: that he had never heard anything back about that letter 177 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:34,680 Speaker 1: that he'd sent to King Carlos the Third, explaining why 178 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:37,160 Speaker 1: it was totally reasonable for him to have deserted the 179 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:40,280 Speaker 1: Spanish army, and also asking for back pay and a 180 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,400 Speaker 1: refund on the money he paid for his commission. The 181 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:46,840 Speaker 1: ambassador had never sent the letter after intercepting it, but 182 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 1: said that he'd had no idea where Miranda was for 183 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,160 Speaker 1: the last four years. He thought he'd just settled this 184 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:56,760 Speaker 1: situation with Spain himself. So Miranda wrote to Count Florida Blanca, 185 00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 1: Minister to the King, saying that he had been offered 186 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 1: all of positions with other governments and had to refuse 187 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: them because he was still tied to Spain. He again 188 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:09,720 Speaker 1: wrote directly to the king, which was now King Carlos 189 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 1: the Fourth, who had come to the throne after his 190 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:15,440 Speaker 1: father's death in seventeen eighty eight. Miranda seems to have 191 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:19,080 Speaker 1: been holding out hope for some kind of reconciliation with 192 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:23,760 Speaker 1: the Spanish crown, one which somehow would involve the crown 193 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 1: coming to agree with him that Spanish America deserved to 194 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:31,000 Speaker 1: be independent. Bernardo del Campo eventually did send a letter 195 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:34,679 Speaker 1: on his behalf that requested he be given safe conduct 196 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:38,880 Speaker 1: to Madrid so that he could vindicate his honor. Instead, 197 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 1: though Miranda was ordered to just return to Spain so 198 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,160 Speaker 1: that he could face trial. Mirenda knew that if he 199 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:49,319 Speaker 1: returned to Spanish territory after this, he would immediately be imprisoned, 200 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:52,760 Speaker 1: so in April of seventeen ninety he wrote another letter 201 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:54,960 Speaker 1: to the King in which he said that he must 202 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,200 Speaker 1: quote renounce the pleasant society of my parents and other 203 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 1: relatives in order to see a country that would at 204 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: least treat me with justice and assure me civil tranquility. 205 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:08,320 Speaker 1: His next move after this was to France, and we'll 206 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:20,040 Speaker 1: have more after a sponsor break. We set up at 207 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: the top of part one of the episode that Francisco 208 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: de Miranda had fought in three revolutions. We already talked 209 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,400 Speaker 1: about the Revolutionary War. Now we have reached the second 210 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:34,440 Speaker 1: of them. After renouncing his ties to Spain, he spent 211 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:37,360 Speaker 1: a couple of years in London and then decided to 212 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 1: visit France. He set sail on March nineteenth, seventeen ninety two. 213 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: In the timeline of the French Revolution, I'm laughing because 214 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:50,040 Speaker 1: I'm just like, this just seems like a time to 215 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:52,280 Speaker 1: decide that you're going to go to France. This was 216 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:56,320 Speaker 1: after the storming of the Bastille. It was before the 217 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:59,360 Speaker 1: monarchy was abolished and France was proclaimed to be a republic. 218 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 1: So Louis the sixteenth still king, but under the French 219 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: Constitution of seventeen ninety one he was sharing power with 220 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: the Legislative Assembly. Although Mirenda had an obvious affinity for 221 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:15,680 Speaker 1: the French revolutionary ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity, he 222 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: didn't immediately join up with the revolutionary movement. He spent 223 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 1: some time basically sightseeing around Paris, while also meeting various 224 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:28,040 Speaker 1: officials and political leaders. This included members of the Revolutionary 225 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 1: Giron d'in faction, but even then his focus was on 226 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:36,160 Speaker 1: revolution in Spanish America, not in France. But then came 227 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:40,160 Speaker 1: the French Revolutionary Wars. That's the series of wars between 228 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 1: France and other European nations that started in seventeen ninety two, 229 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 1: eventually morphing into the Napoleonic Wars after Napoleon's rise to power. 230 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,040 Speaker 1: The first phase of these wars became known as the 231 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:57,600 Speaker 1: War of the First Coalition, and the French national anthem 232 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 1: La Marseillees was written as a rally cried during its 233 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 1: initial stages when things were not going all that well 234 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:08,320 Speaker 1: for France. When the war started, France was dealing with 235 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:12,200 Speaker 1: an economic crisis, food riots, and all the social and 236 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 1: political upheaval connected with the French Revolution. Other European monarchies 237 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: saw the revolutionary events in France as alarming and considered 238 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: whether to intervene to protect King Louis the sixteenth and 239 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette, or to try to prevent similar revolutions within 240 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:31,400 Speaker 1: their own kingdoms and empires. Some monarchs wanted to put 241 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: down the revolution entirely, while others were more focused on 242 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 1: keeping it confined just to France. So in April of 243 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:42,640 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety two, King Louis's ministry was made up primarily 244 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 1: of Girondin, who were advising him to go to war 245 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:49,680 Speaker 1: with Austria, where they believed that French nationals were planning 246 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 1: a counter revolution, and then various factions within France all 247 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 1: thought that a war would work out to their benefit 248 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:01,360 Speaker 1: for a range of reasons, like the revolutionaries thought that 249 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 1: it would make it obvious that the king was not 250 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 1: acting in good faith, while the royalists and supporters of 251 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: the constitutional monarchy that had been established in seventeen ninety 252 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:15,720 Speaker 1: one thought that a war could help solidify the king's power. 253 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:19,480 Speaker 1: But this quickly spiraled away from what most people had 254 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 1: anticipated or hoped for, with Prussia declaring war on France, 255 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:27,040 Speaker 1: the King dismissing his general, damn ministers and installing a 256 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:31,000 Speaker 1: more moderate faction, and other nations threatening to declare war 257 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,920 Speaker 1: as well if the French monarchs came to any harm. 258 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 1: Tensions escalated between the king and the Legislative Assembly, and 259 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:43,160 Speaker 1: on August tenth, seventeen ninety two, revolutionary storm Tuilirie's palace, 260 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 1: killing the King's Swiss guard. The royal family was arrested 261 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,840 Speaker 1: and the monarchy was suspended. Trying to figure out a 262 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:52,440 Speaker 1: way to sum all that up in this amount of 263 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 1: space was one of the big challenges of this episode. 264 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:59,760 Speaker 1: The French Revolution is always a big challenge. As all 265 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:04,360 Speaker 1: this was happening, on August eleventh, the mayor of Paris 266 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 1: asked Francisco to Miranda why he had not joined the 267 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,960 Speaker 1: army to fight for France. Miranda pointed out that he 268 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 1: had seen foreign soldiers being treated pretty poorly during the 269 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: Revolutionary War and that had made him reluctant. But on 270 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:22,720 Speaker 1: August twenty second, he was offered the rank of major 271 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:27,760 Speaker 1: general in the French Revolutionary Army. He ultimately accepted this 272 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:31,399 Speaker 1: under the conditions that after the war he would be 273 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,560 Speaker 1: given a position that would provide him enough income to 274 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:38,879 Speaker 1: live comfortably in France, and that his project for the 275 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: liberation of Spanish America would be given due consideration. Not 276 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:47,560 Speaker 1: long after, he got a letter from Gerome Petien de Villeneuve, 277 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:52,480 Speaker 1: president of the National Convention, who expressed his pleasure at 278 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,760 Speaker 1: hearing that Miranda had joined, and said that his service 279 00:17:55,800 --> 00:18:00,280 Speaker 1: would ensure the triumph of liberty in France and the 280 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:05,640 Speaker 1: liberty of the entire world. Miranda was assigned progressively more 281 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 1: responsibility over the next several months, ultimately winding up with 282 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 1: the Army of the North under General chaus Lacois de Marie. 283 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:17,240 Speaker 1: At various points he talked to high ranking officers about 284 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:20,480 Speaker 1: how France could benefit in the Caribbean by supporting a 285 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:24,159 Speaker 1: revolution on islands that were under Spanish control, or that 286 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:26,920 Speaker 1: war in parts of Europe could be winnable only if 287 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:31,159 Speaker 1: a revolution started among the people there. In February of 288 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety three, Murier had divided his army with a 289 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:39,639 Speaker 1: plan to take several forts and then ultimately to march 290 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:44,720 Speaker 1: on Amsterdam. Miranda's force of about thirty thousand men was 291 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:49,600 Speaker 1: to besiege the city of Maestricht. The city was well fortified, 292 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 1: but the force defending it was pretty small, so Miranda 293 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,880 Speaker 1: was expecting to be able to take the city fairly quickly. 294 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:01,240 Speaker 1: But on March second, an Austrian force attacked a detachment 295 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 1: that was covering this siege. This attack came by surprise, 296 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 1: and it involved an army that had been moved into 297 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:12,320 Speaker 1: the area without the French knowing about it. So Miranda 298 00:19:12,359 --> 00:19:14,520 Speaker 1: thought that he had no choice but to lift the 299 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:19,560 Speaker 1: siege and withdraw After this, French detachments combined to face 300 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:22,400 Speaker 1: the Austrian army at near Venden, a village in what's 301 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:26,680 Speaker 1: now Belgium, on March eighteenth. This battle stretched through most 302 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:29,800 Speaker 1: of the day, with Miranda's force attacking a well defended 303 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 1: Austrian line led by Archduke Charles of Austria. Miranda's army 304 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: faced huge losses before being attacked by Austrian cavalry, which 305 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: ultimately drove Miranda's forces across the Meuse River. This played 306 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:47,080 Speaker 1: a key role in France's defeat in the battle. The 307 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: Austrians continued to press the French intil late March, and 308 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 1: Marie met with them to try to negotiate a retreat. 309 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: By this point, King Louis the sixteenth had been executed, 310 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:02,960 Speaker 1: and Mourier was apparently very alarmed by the way that 311 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 1: the revolution had progressed in France, so he proposed not 312 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:12,400 Speaker 1: just a retreat, but a return to Paris to overthrow 313 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 1: the revolutionaries and restore the monarchy. Miranda heard about this 314 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:20,280 Speaker 1: and left his unit to return to Paris ahead of 315 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:22,119 Speaker 1: the rest of the army and try to raise the 316 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:27,440 Speaker 1: alarm ultimately, rather than rallying the army to march on Paris. 317 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,760 Speaker 1: D Mourier and some of his supporters wound up defecting 318 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:34,720 Speaker 1: to the Austrian side. But Miranda was blamed for the 319 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:38,920 Speaker 1: French defeat at Nirvenden and called up before the Revolutionary tribunal. 320 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 1: He argued that he was the victim of character assassination 321 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:46,320 Speaker 1: by de Maurier, who at that point was a known traitor. 322 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:50,480 Speaker 1: The prosecution's evidence was contradictory, and a number of high 323 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:55,400 Speaker 1: profile witnesses spoke in Miranda's defense, including people like Thomas Paine. 324 00:20:55,960 --> 00:21:01,440 Speaker 1: The tribunal ultimately cleared Miranda on all charges. France considered 325 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:05,240 Speaker 1: Miranda's military service to be over as of June first, 326 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety three, but since now he was a former 327 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:12,400 Speaker 1: officer in the French Army and France was at war 328 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:15,399 Speaker 1: with the Britain, he could not just go back to London. 329 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 1: He remained in Paris and he wrote an account of 330 00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:21,640 Speaker 1: his trial and spent some time hanging out with some 331 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:26,119 Speaker 1: notable people, including Thomas Paine. But this was during the 332 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:29,320 Speaker 1: period when the French Revolution was evolving toward the reign 333 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,680 Speaker 1: of terror, and in July the Committee of Public safety 334 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:37,080 Speaker 1: ordered Miranda's arrest. He was incarcerated at La Fort's prison 335 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:40,240 Speaker 1: on suspicion of being part of a Royalist plot or 336 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:43,800 Speaker 1: perhaps a spy for British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger. 337 00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:48,439 Speaker 1: His previous association with the Girondins was also a strike 338 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:52,439 Speaker 1: against him. They had been succeeded by more radical factions, 339 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:57,119 Speaker 1: and many were executed in a purge. Maximilian Robespierre, a 340 00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:00,840 Speaker 1: central figure in the Reign of Terror, also apparently just 341 00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:05,720 Speaker 1: did not like him. This was obviously a horrific time 342 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:10,640 Speaker 1: for France and for Miranda. In addition to being imprisoned, 343 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:14,280 Speaker 1: he watched as his friends that he made or reacquainted 344 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 1: with in prison were either taken to the guillotine or 345 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: took their own lives. But he avoided execution and was 346 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:26,159 Speaker 1: finally released in seventeen ninety five, after the Reign of 347 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:30,880 Speaker 1: Terror had ended and French politician Jean Pauliers had argued 348 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:33,199 Speaker 1: for his release on the grounds that he was a 349 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:37,560 Speaker 1: friend of liberty and an enemy of slavery. After being released, 350 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:40,760 Speaker 1: he wrote to Henry Knox saying, quote, I take up 351 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,880 Speaker 1: the pen only to tell you that I live and 352 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 1: that my sentiments for our dear Columbia, as well as 353 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:49,639 Speaker 1: for all my friends in that part of the world, 354 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,359 Speaker 1: have not changed in the least in spite of the 355 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 1: events which are bound to ruin France. And much like 356 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:00,000 Speaker 1: he had done in regards to his service in Spain, 357 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:03,439 Speaker 1: he wrote to the Committee for Public Safety asking for 358 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 1: unpaid wages for his service in the French Revolutionary Army, 359 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:10,800 Speaker 1: as well as reimbursement for various property that had been 360 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 1: confiscated and other money that he felt he was owed. 361 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:16,960 Speaker 1: This went better than his letter to the King of 362 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,800 Speaker 1: Spain had The Committee did agree to reimburse him, although 363 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 1: he alleged that this matter was never fully settled. I 364 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:27,040 Speaker 1: think he might have continued to allege it like up 365 00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: until his will. At some point, while living in France, 366 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:37,280 Speaker 1: Miranda joined the Freemasons. He also continued to advocate for 367 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,359 Speaker 1: revolution in Spanish America, and he published all kinds of 368 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 1: pamphlets detailing what he saw as threats to France's status 369 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 1: as a free nation. He was again arrested in seventeen 370 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:55,360 Speaker 1: ninety five after being accused of conspiring against the expansion 371 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:59,760 Speaker 1: of France. He was released, but after this just continued 372 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:07,399 Speaker 1: to face suspicion. Even so, for reasons I don't totally understand, 373 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 1: he was still in France by the time the Coup 374 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:14,600 Speaker 1: of eighteen Fructador happened. That was on September fourth, seventeen 375 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:19,199 Speaker 1: ninety seven. After this coup, his name was included on 376 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:22,960 Speaker 1: a list of royalists and counter revolutionaries that were to 377 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 1: be deported to Guiana. It seems like this is what 378 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:31,560 Speaker 1: finally prompted him to leave France, and he departed in 379 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:35,440 Speaker 1: secret in January of seventeen ninety eight. And when he 380 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:38,040 Speaker 1: left France, he returned to England, and we will get 381 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:50,719 Speaker 1: into that after we pause for a sponsor break. Francisco 382 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:53,639 Speaker 1: de Miranda continued to try to build support for a 383 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: revolution in Spanish America after arriving back in London. To 384 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:02,080 Speaker 1: that end, he made connections with Rufus King, US Minister 385 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 1: to London. He continued his ongoing correspondence with Alexander Hamilton. 386 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:10,840 Speaker 1: In late eighteen hundred, he made a trip to France 387 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:14,560 Speaker 1: with the hope of securing some support there based on 388 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:17,679 Speaker 1: his earlier service to the French army. Honestly, this seems 389 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:22,640 Speaker 1: like a real weird decision to me, considering how he 390 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:25,920 Speaker 1: had left France and the state of his status there. 391 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:28,439 Speaker 1: Then he was arrested when he got there, but he 392 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:31,439 Speaker 1: was released and he went back to England. He tried 393 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:36,520 Speaker 1: to take advantage of just the continually shifting international situation. 394 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:40,080 Speaker 1: At this point. The French Revolutionary Wars gave way to 395 00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 1: the Napoleonic Wars, so France, Spain, and England were variously 396 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: at war with each other at some points and not 397 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:51,120 Speaker 1: at others, and he just was trying to work this 398 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,480 Speaker 1: to his advantage, like finding the people who would most 399 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:58,560 Speaker 1: be benefited by a revolution to make that case. And 400 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,640 Speaker 1: somewhere along the way he met and married an English 401 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: woman named Sarah Andrews. Their first child together, a son 402 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:09,840 Speaker 1: named Leandro, was born in eighteen oh three. He continued 403 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 1: to have affairs with other women after his marriage, including 404 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:17,360 Speaker 1: writer and adventurer Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope, in a relationship 405 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 1: that lasted about a year. Ongoing wars in Miranda's status 406 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:26,560 Speaker 1: as a Spanish expatriate and also that time in France 407 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:29,399 Speaker 1: meant that he was not able to get permission to 408 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:33,679 Speaker 1: leave England until eighteen oh five. He drew up a 409 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,800 Speaker 1: will before his departure, leaving much of his property to 410 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:41,400 Speaker 1: his son Leandro, and specifying that his personal papers related 411 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:46,080 Speaker 1: to his revolutionary activity, which were extensive, were to be 412 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 1: returned to the city of his birth at such time 413 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:52,639 Speaker 1: that it was part of an independent nation. With the 414 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,680 Speaker 1: help of Rufus King, he got passage to New York. 415 00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:58,800 Speaker 1: He also carried a letter of credit for eight hundred 416 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:02,840 Speaker 1: pounds sterling from a fictitious George Martin, and once in 417 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:06,440 Speaker 1: the US, he tried to get additional aid, as he 418 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:08,800 Speaker 1: had done in his earlier time. In the US, he 419 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:12,879 Speaker 1: met a number of high profile people, including physician Benjamin Rush, 420 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:15,080 Speaker 1: who was impressed enough with him that he wrote a 421 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:19,800 Speaker 1: letter of introduction to Secretary of State James Madison. The 422 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:23,880 Speaker 1: US kind of reluctant to get into a big international 423 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:28,120 Speaker 1: revolution situation, and a lot of Americans were reluctant as 424 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:32,199 Speaker 1: well to give Miranda any kind of visible support. This 425 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:35,440 Speaker 1: was in part due to the Neutrality Act of seventeen 426 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:39,440 Speaker 1: ninety four. This law had roots in the French Revolution 427 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:44,520 Speaker 1: and disputes between figures like Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton 428 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:48,439 Speaker 1: about whether to aid the revolutionaries, as well as the 429 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:53,000 Speaker 1: activities of French Minister Edmund Charles Jennet, who had tried 430 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: to support revolutionary efforts in France from his position in 431 00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:59,960 Speaker 1: the United States. This act was tried to cut down 432 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:04,120 Speaker 1: on people getting involved in foreign wars. Under the Neutrality Act, 433 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 1: it was illegal for US citizens to participate in a 434 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:12,720 Speaker 1: war against nations that the US itself was not at 435 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:17,560 Speaker 1: war with, So Miranda used his personal library as collateral 436 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:20,800 Speaker 1: to get a loan for two thousand dollars. He rallied 437 00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:23,600 Speaker 1: a force of two hundred men, boarded a ship, and 438 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,840 Speaker 1: set sail from New York to Venezuela in eighteen oh six. 439 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:30,480 Speaker 1: They chartered two more ships in the Caribbean and then 440 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:34,960 Speaker 1: continued on to Venezuela to start a revolution. As has 441 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:37,600 Speaker 1: come up at other points in the episode, Miranda often 442 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:41,400 Speaker 1: was not very discreet when he talked about his revolutionary 443 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:44,840 Speaker 1: goals or really any other military thing he was doing. 444 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:48,960 Speaker 1: So the Spanish knew that he was coming, and due 445 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:51,880 Speaker 1: to illnesses and deaths along the way, by the time 446 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 1: he got to Venezuela, he only had about one hundred 447 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:57,760 Speaker 1: and fifty men. In April of eighteen oh six, they 448 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:01,520 Speaker 1: tried to make landfall near where to Cambayo which is 449 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:04,840 Speaker 1: on the coast north of Valencia, and in the ensuing 450 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:08,760 Speaker 1: battle he lost two of his ships and about sixty 451 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:12,520 Speaker 1: of his men. Miranda and some of his officers fled, 452 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:16,760 Speaker 1: others were captured and imprisoned. Ten of his officers were 453 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:20,200 Speaker 1: sentenced to death by hanging, and those who were executed 454 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:24,360 Speaker 1: were then beheaded with their heads placed on pikes. Many 455 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:27,160 Speaker 1: of the rest who were captured were sentenced to prison terms. 456 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:31,920 Speaker 1: Between eight and sixteen years, Miranda went to Barbados, where 457 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:35,080 Speaker 1: he was able to rally a somewhat larger fleet of 458 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:39,360 Speaker 1: ten ships than about five hundred men. They returned to Venezuela, 459 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 1: this time landing north of the city of Kloro. While 460 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:45,479 Speaker 1: they managed to take the city, they weren't able to 461 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:48,280 Speaker 1: rally the support of the local people, and when they 462 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:53,800 Speaker 1: were attacked by the militia, Miranda's force retreated. Remember William 463 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:57,000 Speaker 1: Stephen Smith, whom Miranda had traveled with during his tour 464 00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:00,360 Speaker 1: of Europe. He was caught up in all of this pcuting, 465 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:03,480 Speaker 1: helping Miranda to raise funds for it, and his son, 466 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,160 Speaker 1: William Steuben Smith, was one of the men who had 467 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:10,240 Speaker 1: sailed from New York with Miranda after this failed expedition, 468 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,720 Speaker 1: William Stephen Smith was stripped of his position as Surveyor 469 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:16,760 Speaker 1: of Customs for the Port of New York and charged 470 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 1: with violating the Neutrality Act, but he was ultimately acquitted. 471 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,440 Speaker 1: William Steuben Smith was ultimately released and returned home in 472 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:27,920 Speaker 1: eighteen oh seven. Although all of this reportedly caused quote 473 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:33,240 Speaker 1: great grief for his grandfather John Adams, Miranda left to 474 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:36,800 Speaker 1: go back to England again in eighteen oh seven, arriving 475 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,560 Speaker 1: on New Year's Day eighteen oh eight. After returning home, 476 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:43,520 Speaker 1: he met his second son, Francisco, who had been born 477 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:47,760 Speaker 1: while he was away his home in London. This is 478 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:51,280 Speaker 1: already the case before, but it increasingly hosted people from 479 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:56,720 Speaker 1: Spanish America who were dissatisfied with Spain's colonial rule. For 480 00:30:56,800 --> 00:31:00,000 Speaker 1: a time, he also focused on publishing a lot more 481 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:04,920 Speaker 1: material calling for the liberation of South America, including starting 482 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:11,000 Speaker 1: a pro revolution journal called Il Colombiano that outraged Spanish authorities, 483 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:16,440 Speaker 1: and he established a Masonic lodge specifically for Spanish Americans. 484 00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:21,280 Speaker 1: In the continuing international chaos of the Napoleonic Wars, in 485 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:24,600 Speaker 1: eighteen oh eight, Spanish King Fernando the Seventh was forced 486 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:29,160 Speaker 1: to abdicate the throne and Napoleon imprisoned him. A governing 487 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:32,480 Speaker 1: body called the Supreme Central Junta had been established to 488 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:36,400 Speaker 1: govern Spain and its colonies in the king's absence. This 489 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:39,280 Speaker 1: was a crisis in Spain and in its colonies, and 490 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:44,200 Speaker 1: on April nineteenth eighteen ten, revolutionaries in Caracas overthrew the 491 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:49,320 Speaker 1: colonial government and proclaimed Venezuela to be a republic. Within weeks, 492 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 1: word of this had reached Miranda in London, and he 493 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:54,360 Speaker 1: started trying to make plans to go and help with 494 00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:58,480 Speaker 1: a revolution. In July of that year, a party of 495 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:03,480 Speaker 1: revolutionaries from the Venezuela arrived in London to seek support 496 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:06,240 Speaker 1: for their efforts and try to get an alliance with 497 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:10,760 Speaker 1: the king. One of them was Simon Bolivar. Of course, 498 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:14,440 Speaker 1: officials in London were in a difficult position with this. 499 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:19,160 Speaker 1: England and Spain were allied against France at this point 500 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:23,600 Speaker 1: in the Napoleonic Wars, but if France were victorious in 501 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:28,120 Speaker 1: those wars, it would probably start claiming Spanish territory in 502 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:32,760 Speaker 1: the Americas for itself. So independence for Spanish America could 503 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:36,360 Speaker 1: mean that that territory would not fall into the hands 504 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:38,920 Speaker 1: of the French in the case of a French victory. 505 00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:43,600 Speaker 1: At the same time, though, encouraging a revolution in the 506 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:47,240 Speaker 1: Americas at that moment would draw the ire of Spain, 507 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:50,760 Speaker 1: while Spain and Britain were both engaged in fighting a 508 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:53,800 Speaker 1: common enemy. So and the end, the British took an 509 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:57,880 Speaker 1: official policy of neutrality, and it also seems like they 510 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:00,640 Speaker 1: took some steps to just try to keep Francisco to 511 00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:05,719 Speaker 1: Miranda from meeting this Venezuelan delegation. That didn't work out, though, 512 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:08,560 Speaker 1: and Miranda met with Bolivar to both talk about his 513 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:12,960 Speaker 1: own ambitions for an independent Spanish America and to suggest 514 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,280 Speaker 1: strategies for dealing with British officials based on his many 515 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:20,000 Speaker 1: years of experience with that. Miranda also tried to secure 516 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:23,040 Speaker 1: passage and assistance for them to get back to Venezuela, 517 00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:26,560 Speaker 1: making it clear that he intended to go to something 518 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:31,880 Speaker 1: British authorities actively tried to prevent. The Venezuelan delegation left 519 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:37,040 Speaker 1: England in September, carrying volumes of Miranda's papers with them. 520 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:41,480 Speaker 1: In October of eighteen ten, Miranda updated his will again 521 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:46,680 Speaker 1: and he and his secretary left for Venezuela. When Miranda 522 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:50,360 Speaker 1: arrived there, he got a generally warm welcome. On December 523 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:53,920 Speaker 1: twenty first, the Caracas Gazette published an article that called 524 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:58,960 Speaker 1: him quote a citizen of Venezuela whom the deserved distinctions 525 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:02,840 Speaker 1: and honors contrived by impartial Europe to his merit had 526 00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 1: not cause to forget his native land. For those whose 527 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:11,200 Speaker 1: happiness he has made very frequent and efficacious attempts. I mean, 528 00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:13,520 Speaker 1: it's also Flora, who the hell knows what it means. Yeah, 529 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:14,920 Speaker 1: I don't know it would have actually said that. It 530 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:20,520 Speaker 1: sounded again. On July first, eighteen eleven, the Venezuelan National 531 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:23,280 Speaker 1: Congress issued the Declaration of the Rights of the People 532 00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:26,120 Speaker 1: and the Declaration of the Rights of Man in Society, 533 00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:30,080 Speaker 1: and then declared its independence on July fifth, But this 534 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:34,279 Speaker 1: was not met with immediate or unanimous support. People had 535 00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 1: seen what had happened after the monarchy was abolished in France, 536 00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:40,319 Speaker 1: and there were concerns that the same thing could happen 537 00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:43,960 Speaker 1: in Venezuela. There were also people who were dissatisfied that 538 00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:47,200 Speaker 1: much of the emphasis was on how Spain's attention had 539 00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:51,160 Speaker 1: been focused elsewhere due to the Napoleonic Wars, and not 540 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:54,359 Speaker 1: on Spain's treatment of the colony for centuries before that. 541 00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:59,360 Speaker 1: Soon a counter revolution was developing, with royalist forces taking 542 00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:04,160 Speaker 1: up arms against the revolutionaries. In March of eighteen twelve, 543 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:08,960 Speaker 1: a massive earthquake struck Caracas in the surrounding area. At 544 00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:12,760 Speaker 1: least ten thousand people were killed in the capitol alone. 545 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:17,360 Speaker 1: Many clergy in the Catholic Church were Royalists and saw 546 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:22,920 Speaker 1: this earthquake as divine punishment for the revolution. Others simply 547 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:26,000 Speaker 1: saw the Royalists as more likely to be the people 548 00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:28,600 Speaker 1: who would keep the country together in the face of 549 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:34,120 Speaker 1: such a devastating natural disaster. So large numbers of revolutionaries 550 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:37,759 Speaker 1: started to desert and join the Royalists' side, and the 551 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:42,840 Speaker 1: royalists also saw a flood of new recruits. In April, 552 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:47,120 Speaker 1: Miranda was appointed Generalissimo of the remaining Venezuelan army, with 553 00:35:47,239 --> 00:35:50,360 Speaker 1: full power to take whatever steps he thought necessary to 554 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:54,040 Speaker 1: save the nation and its independence. In other words, he 555 00:35:54,239 --> 00:35:59,160 Speaker 1: was given dictatorial powers. Miranda's diaries framed this situation as 556 00:35:59,239 --> 00:36:03,120 Speaker 1: temporary but necessary, as a step toward achieving the independent 557 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:07,160 Speaker 1: Spanish America, something he'd been talking about for literal decades. 558 00:36:07,719 --> 00:36:10,319 Speaker 1: But by this point he was in his early sixties 559 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:12,959 Speaker 1: he had left Venezuela at the age of twenty one, 560 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:16,360 Speaker 1: and aside from his ill fated eighteen oh six, efforts 561 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:18,600 Speaker 1: had not been back in decades, and he had lived 562 00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:21,919 Speaker 1: in London longer than he had lived in South America. 563 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:24,759 Speaker 1: He has been characterized as out of touch and as 564 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:28,040 Speaker 1: too stringent in how he disciplined the men under his command, 565 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:32,920 Speaker 1: with some of his decisions just causing unnecessary bloodshed. In 566 00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:36,040 Speaker 1: a manifesto that he issued after he was given these 567 00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:39,960 Speaker 1: dictatorial powers, Miranda said he would be fighting for liberty 568 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:43,680 Speaker 1: and independence, and that the immense power he had been 569 00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:49,399 Speaker 1: given increased his responsibility by the same proportion. He tried 570 00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:52,480 Speaker 1: to recruit more men into the army to fight off 571 00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:55,600 Speaker 1: the Royalists' advances, and he wrote letters to all of 572 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:58,680 Speaker 1: his contacts in England and the United States to try 573 00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:03,200 Speaker 1: to get some international assistance. But in late June, while 574 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:06,040 Speaker 1: the commanding officer was away, a lieutenant at one of 575 00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:10,360 Speaker 1: the forts being held by the revolutionaries released Royalist prisoners 576 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:14,080 Speaker 1: and sided with them, raising the Spanish flag over the fort. 577 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:18,399 Speaker 1: This had a cascading effect, with more officers at more 578 00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:22,440 Speaker 1: forts doing the same. Some of the freed Royalist soldiers 579 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,760 Speaker 1: attacked Porto Cavello, which was being held by Simone Bolivar, 580 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:30,200 Speaker 1: who had previously asked Miranda for reinforcements and been denied. 581 00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:34,880 Speaker 1: Bolivar eventually retreated quote abandoned by all the world, and 582 00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:39,520 Speaker 1: followed only by eight officers. After all of this happened, 583 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:44,080 Speaker 1: Miranda concluded that the only possible option was to sign 584 00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:47,520 Speaker 1: an armistice with the Royalists, one that he thought would 585 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:53,080 Speaker 1: avoid further bloodshed, with terms that specifically protected the lives 586 00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:57,719 Speaker 1: and property of the revolutionaries. He signed this armistice with 587 00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:01,200 Speaker 1: Domingo de Monteverde, the leader of the Royalist forces, on 588 00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:04,800 Speaker 1: July twenty fifth, eighteen twelve, and that date is marked 589 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:09,200 Speaker 1: as the end of the First Republic of Venezuela. Many 590 00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:12,640 Speaker 1: of the revolutionaries deeply disagreed with this course of action, 591 00:38:13,239 --> 00:38:15,480 Speaker 1: which was made worse by the fact that the Royalists 592 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:18,720 Speaker 1: did not stick to those terms of protecting the revolutionari's 593 00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:23,120 Speaker 1: lives and property. Miranda started preparing to return to London, 594 00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:25,479 Speaker 1: expecting to live out the rest of his days there, 595 00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:29,160 Speaker 1: having failed in his lifelong mission to free the Americas 596 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:33,120 Speaker 1: from Spain, but some of his detractors considered his signing 597 00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:35,960 Speaker 1: of the armistice to be treasonous, and they kept him 598 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:39,200 Speaker 1: from leaving, making sure that he was instead taken into 599 00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:43,680 Speaker 1: Spanish custody. One of those detractors was Simon Bolivar, who 600 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:48,480 Speaker 1: later described Miranda as quote possessed by ambition and violent passions, 601 00:38:48,719 --> 00:38:51,640 Speaker 1: who either did not realize the risk or who wished 602 00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:55,719 Speaker 1: to sacrifice the liberty of his native land. Miranda was 603 00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:58,799 Speaker 1: imprisoned in Puerto Rico for a time before being sent 604 00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:02,160 Speaker 1: to Cadiz, Spain, where he spent the rest of his life. 605 00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:07,160 Speaker 1: In La Caraca prison, he tried to negotiate his own release, arguing, 606 00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:10,200 Speaker 1: among other things, that the terms of that armistice meant 607 00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:13,480 Speaker 1: he should not have been arrested in the first place. 608 00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:17,600 Speaker 1: He faced a series of chronic illnesses and health issues 609 00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:19,680 Speaker 1: toward the end of his life, and in kind of 610 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:24,200 Speaker 1: a romantic coincidence, he died on July fourteenth, eighteen sixteen, 611 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:28,839 Speaker 1: which is Bastilde. He's the only person known to have 612 00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:33,680 Speaker 1: fought in the American, French and Spanish American revolutions during 613 00:39:33,719 --> 00:39:36,840 Speaker 1: his lifetime. Miranda got a lot of comparisons to Miguel 614 00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:41,360 Speaker 1: de Sarventi's fictional character don Quixote, including by both Napoleon 615 00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:46,160 Speaker 1: and John Adams. Today, he's sometimes called El Precursor or 616 00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:49,600 Speaker 1: the Great Precursor, because while his efforts to liberate Spanish 617 00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:53,520 Speaker 1: America were unsuccessful, they did help set the stage for 618 00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:58,640 Speaker 1: later revolutions and eventually independence for Venezuela and other former 619 00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:03,640 Speaker 1: Spanish colonies. Venezuelan Independence Day is marked on July fifth, 620 00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:07,919 Speaker 1: the day independence was declared in eighteen eleven. The Venezuela's 621 00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:11,359 Speaker 1: war for independence did not end until eighteen twenty three. 622 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:15,880 Speaker 1: There is a portrait of Francisco de Miranda in Versailles 623 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:19,960 Speaker 1: in France, and he's the only Hispanic American person whose 624 00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:24,560 Speaker 1: name is inscribed in the Arc de Triumph. The tricolor 625 00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:28,760 Speaker 1: part of the Venezuelan flag is patterned after Miranda's eighteen 626 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:32,919 Speaker 1: eleven flag design, and the flags of Ecuador and Colombia 627 00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:36,960 Speaker 1: both also have similar bars of yellow, blue, and red. 628 00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:41,680 Speaker 1: Miranda's exact burial place is not known because his remains 629 00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:44,960 Speaker 1: were moved to a mass grave when La Carraca Prison 630 00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:48,319 Speaker 1: was torn down, but there is an empty tomb for 631 00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:52,040 Speaker 1: him at the National Pantheon of Venezuela, with its lid 632 00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:55,880 Speaker 1: held slightly open for him by an eagle. In nineteen 633 00:40:55,920 --> 00:40:58,520 Speaker 1: eighty one, a plaque to his wife, Sarah Andrews was 634 00:40:58,600 --> 00:41:01,719 Speaker 1: unveiled by the Venezuelan and bastor to the UK at 635 00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:05,359 Speaker 1: Market Wheaton, All Saints Church, which is where she was baptized. 636 00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:09,280 Speaker 1: She lived until eighteen forty seven. Both of her sons, 637 00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:12,600 Speaker 1: with Francisco, later went to South America. Leandro with a 638 00:41:12,640 --> 00:41:16,600 Speaker 1: letter of recommendation to Sumon Boulevar written by Jeremy Bentham. 639 00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:20,680 Speaker 1: Leandro had a long career in military and foreign service, 640 00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:24,960 Speaker 1: and he died in eighteen eighty six. His younger brother, Francisco, 641 00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:28,600 Speaker 1: seems to have had his father's temper but not his charm, 642 00:41:28,719 --> 00:41:31,040 Speaker 1: and he got into a number of fights and at 643 00:41:31,080 --> 00:41:34,280 Speaker 1: least one duel before dying in combat in eighteen thirty 644 00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:38,160 Speaker 1: one at the very young age of twenty five. Miranda 645 00:41:38,239 --> 00:41:43,400 Speaker 1: left an extensive diary and personal library. I have some 646 00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:47,800 Speaker 1: curiosity about how some of the volumes of that library 647 00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:50,960 Speaker 1: were retained in all of his various needing to flee 648 00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:55,280 Speaker 1: and escape over the years. A lot of this library 649 00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:58,640 Speaker 1: was scattered after his death, but the works in Greek 650 00:41:58,719 --> 00:42:02,400 Speaker 1: and Latin were given to the University of Caracas. His 651 00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:07,440 Speaker 1: diaries were eventually digitized about one hundred years after his death. 652 00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:12,560 Speaker 1: I'm serious. This collection of diaries and personal papers is huge, 653 00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:17,400 Speaker 1: a total of sixty three volumes totaling more than nine 654 00:42:17,440 --> 00:42:22,319 Speaker 1: thousand documents and more than thirty thousand pages. These were 655 00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:28,120 Speaker 1: digitized by the government of Venezuela in twenty eleven. I 656 00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:32,560 Speaker 1: find him complicated and fascinating. Eh. Yes, indeed, do you 657 00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:35,319 Speaker 1: have listener mail to take us out? I knew this 658 00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:39,200 Speaker 1: is from Bob and Pat who wrote to say, Dear 659 00:42:39,239 --> 00:42:43,080 Speaker 1: Tracy and Holly. Stuffumous and history Classes the only podcast 660 00:42:43,200 --> 00:42:46,279 Speaker 1: my wife listens to. She discovered it on a long 661 00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:49,200 Speaker 1: drive while searching the list of podcasts on my phone. 662 00:42:49,719 --> 00:42:52,919 Speaker 1: I now save the podcasts for drives with her. Your 663 00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:57,360 Speaker 1: podcast on Gertrude Jekyl spoke to our avid gardening hearts, 664 00:42:57,760 --> 00:43:01,600 Speaker 1: but it was the development of cultivars that on our 665 00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:06,239 Speaker 1: screen porch table sits two plants that provide aromatherapy, a 666 00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:10,600 Speaker 1: rosemary plant for me and a munstead lavender for Pat. 667 00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:13,440 Speaker 1: The Gertrude Jeicle gardens at the Glebe House are currently 668 00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:16,080 Speaker 1: under renovation, but it's only an hour away and we 669 00:43:16,120 --> 00:43:20,120 Speaker 1: will visit next spring. Thank you for another amazing podcast. 670 00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:22,680 Speaker 1: As a pet tax, we offer a picture of one 671 00:43:22,719 --> 00:43:25,880 Speaker 1: of the many bunnies who frolic in our yard. In 672 00:43:25,960 --> 00:43:30,600 Speaker 1: exchange for keeping our fenced vegetable gardens, we employ feeding 673 00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:34,480 Speaker 1: stations to keep them happy and nearby. Look closely, this 674 00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:38,480 Speaker 1: bunny is tiny yours, bottom Pat. Thank you so much, 675 00:43:38,560 --> 00:43:42,399 Speaker 1: Bottom Pat Bunnies. Let me see if I can get 676 00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:45,880 Speaker 1: the bunny picture to download. Does not want to download 677 00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:48,480 Speaker 1: for me at this specific moment, but I'm just gonna 678 00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:51,280 Speaker 1: guess that it is a teeny teeny cute bunny based 679 00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:55,719 Speaker 1: on the description. I just love that you know somebody's 680 00:43:55,760 --> 00:44:00,160 Speaker 1: got the Munstead lavender at their home. I'm sure some 681 00:44:00,200 --> 00:44:03,719 Speaker 1: people do, but that made me happy. I also think 682 00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:06,080 Speaker 1: I forgot to mention in the episode that those gardens 683 00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:08,560 Speaker 1: at the Glebe House, which is the only remaining Gertrud 684 00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:11,799 Speaker 1: Jekyl garden in the United States, they are being renovated. 685 00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:16,320 Speaker 1: And I don't know how extensive that renovation is, whether 686 00:44:16,440 --> 00:44:19,200 Speaker 1: parts of the gardens are still open with that renovation 687 00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:22,240 Speaker 1: going on or not. So if you're in that area 688 00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:24,200 Speaker 1: and you want to go check it out, just check 689 00:44:24,239 --> 00:44:28,120 Speaker 1: into that beforehand. If you'd like to send us a note, 690 00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:32,480 Speaker 1: where a history podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. And if 691 00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:35,600 Speaker 1: you have not subscribed, maybe somebody just downloaded this on 692 00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:37,960 Speaker 1: a long drive for you and you've never heard it before. 693 00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:42,480 Speaker 1: You can subscribe on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you 694 00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:50,600 Speaker 1: like to listen to podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History 695 00:44:50,600 --> 00:44:54,959 Speaker 1: Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 696 00:44:55,160 --> 00:44:58,720 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 697 00:44:58,800 --> 00:45:03,200 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.