Image courtesy of Nuestro Stories.
Sebastian Francisco de Miranda, a dashing, romantic hero, is a name most people in the United States wouldn’t recognize. Still, they should because he was an important figure in the United States revolution.
Miranda’s name has been written down in history as the precursor to the Liberator Simon Bolivar and deserves the accolade — he led a fascinating life.
He was friends with pivotal American historical figures such as James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. He also served as a General in the French Revolution and was Catherine the Great of Russia’s lover.
Miranda did not see South America free from Spanish rule in his lifetime. Still, his contribution to the cause was nonetheless significant.
In search of recognition
He began life in a privileged position, born into an upper-class Caracas family. His father, Sebastián de Mirando Ravelo, emigrated to the Venezuelan capital from the Canary Islands. His mother, Francisca Antonia Rodríguez de Espinosa, came from a wealthy Creole family.
Miranda had everything his heart desired and got a first-rate Catholic education. But the one thing he could not have, nor money could buy, was acceptance. The Spaniards did not accept him because he was born in Venezuela, and the Creoles rejected him because of his family’s wealth. This rejection would mark him for life.
The spokesman for freedom
In 1772, Miranda joined the Spanish army and was commissioned as an officer. He fought in Morocco and later against the British in Florida. Francisco de Miranda helped send assistance to George Washington before the Battle of Yorktown.
He traveled extensively in Europe, Prussia, Germany, Austria, and other countries. In Russia, this handsome man had a torrid affair with Catherine the Great – there are tales of his escapades from her bedroom. Back in London in 1789, he began to try to get British support for an independence movement in South America.
On one of his trips to London, Francisco de Miranda passed through the United States, where he met George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Paine, among other American leaders. There, the revolutionary fervor of the time took hold of Miranda. Naturally, it did not sit well with the Spanish crown.
When he arrived in London in 1789, Miranda tried to convince the British crown to support an independence movement in South America. He found vocal support but nothing in terms of tangible aid.
Miranda’s life reads like a Hollywood movie script. He dedicated that life to furthering the cause of independence. He aided the liberation of the U.S. Nonetheless, his doings were anathema to the cause, and Bolivar turned him into the Spaniards.
But, history has a way of correcting itself. Today, Miranda is a respected figure. He has a magnificent tomb in the National Pantheon of Venezuela (although he is buried in a Spanish mass grave, and his remains have never been found.)
Even Bolivar didn’t escape the twists of history — today, he is loathed for turning Miranda over to the Spaniards.
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