Laws were enforced taxing the People heavily, closing their ports to foreign trade, and forbidding them to manufacture commodities which Spain herself wished to make and sell to the Colonists at exorbitant prices. Not even the rich Creoles were allowed to travel abroad without permission from the Crown. When in Spain they were treated with contempt. Their education was limited, higher education is not for Americans, decreed the Spanish King. And they might not read books forbidden by Spain. And at that time, the Roman Catholic Church was exercising its power in Spanish America, in much the same fashion as the Established Church of England was misusing its function at the time of the Pilgrim Fathers, Roger Williams, and William Penn. If any of the Colonists raised their voices in protest, their property was confiscated, and they were arrested. The slightest rebellion was mercilessly punished. Many of the captured rebels were either flung into filthy dungeons to die or were executed. Large numbers of Indians, negroes and people of mixed blood, perished miserably in the mines and on the plantations, or while deep-sea diving for pearls,--all this to fill the Spanish Galleons with treasure. III Then came the _Liberators_, facing death or cruel imprisonment. But they were strengthened by the justice of their cause, and by the fact that the United States of America had succeeded in separating from her Mother Country, and had established a Republic in which the citizens, rich and poor alike, had a voice in their own government. It is the story of some of these _Liberators_ that is told here, the Washingtons and Lincolns of their native lands, who freed their countrymen from the curse of the Spanish Treasure-Ships, and who established the Latin American Republics. THE ROMANCE OF MIRANDA This is the romance of Francisco de Miranda of Venezuela, the Flaming Son of Liberty, the Knight-Errant of Freedom, who made Spain tremble. Romance was in his blood, for Alvaro, his great Spanish ancestor, had won the family coat-of-arms, by rescuing five Christian maidens from pagan Moors. And Miranda’s father, an adventurous, bold Spaniard, had crossed the Atlantic in those dangerous days of pirates to seek his fortune in Venezuela. So the boy, who was to make Spain tremble, was born in Venezuela, and grew up in the City of Caracas. He liked to read and study. He was given a classical education. But the call of romance and adventure was too loud for him to remain quietly at home. When he was sixteen, he sailed for Spain to try his own fortune. His father was wealthy, and the boy bought a captain’s commission in the Regiment of the Princess. He studied military science and fought valiantly against Spain’s enemies. He collected books. In fact, he spent a great deal of money bringing books from many countries; only to have some of his precious volumes burned by the Spanish Inquisition, because they taught of _Equality, Fraternity, and Liberty_.