It was not until the autumn of 1807 when Napoleon moved French troops through Spain to invade Portugal and with Spanish authority already fatally weakened, that the prospect of independence re-emerged in the native imagination. The United States’ independence in 1776 was certainly an inspirational example of empowered colonists deposing a despotic foreign rule. With Spanish authority deteriorating, as Charles IV renounced the throne in favor of Ferdinand VII (with the furious Carlists vs. Fernandists turmoil that ensued), and he in favor of Joseph Bonaparte, it was ripe for revolution.