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Rh parte nor the Spanish juntas as having authority over them, but wished to govern themselves through the medium of juntas of their own creating, during the captivity of the king. This was obnoxious to the Spanish officials in the new world and was looked upon as treasonable by the junta of Seville and the Cadiz regency. The Creoles, or American born subjects of Spanish descent, established juntas, or governing boards composed of three or more leading citizens, and began the reform of institutions and abuses. The Spanish party resisted and war followed. By the time Ferdinand VII. regained his crown the revolution had taken from him his American colonies. Perhaps the Holy Alliance, which the monarchs of the old world formed upon the fall of Napoleon, to crush out republicanism and restore absolutism, would have aided Spain in her contest with her provinces had not the United States announced its famous Monroe doctrine about that time, declaring that "America was for Americans." It was a significant warning, sufficiently emphasized by Yorktown in North America and Ayacucho in South America, to be respectfully heeded.

The abuses which led to the revolt of Spain's South American colonies, and, in the end, to their declaration of independence, were long endured. These abuses can be summed up in the words, oppression, extortion and corruption. Such men as Morillo, Morales, Tristan, Marco and Osorio brought on the final crisis. Their names are written in blood and their memories held in execration. But these men are only exaggerated examples of the Spanish viceroys and governors from Pizarro to Lascerna. The greed and corruption of the civil and military men sent out by Spain to govern the natives, with few exceptions, from the time of the conquest to the revolution, tended to alienate