The example was quickly followed by most of the smaller divisions of the province.

Then when Miranda returned from England to head the revolutionary movement, a Congress, on July 5, 1811, declared Venezuela independent of Spain.

Carried away, also, by the enthusiasm of the moment, and forgetful of the utter unpreparedness of the country, the Congress promulgated a federal constitution modeled on that of the United States, which set forth all the approved doctrines of the rights of man.
Neither Miranda nor his youthful coadjutor, Simon Bolivar, soon to become famous in the annals of Spanish American history, approved of this plunge into democracy.

Ardent as their patriotism was, they knew that the country needed centralized control and not experiments in confederation or theoretical liberty.

They speedily found out, also, that they could not count on the support of the people at large.