So Latin America's independence movements began not with Brazil, but in Mexico, when Napoleon put his brother on the Spanish throne in 1808. Napoleon wanted to institute the liberal principles of the French Revolution, which angered the ruling elite of the Peninsulares in what was then called New Spain. They were aristocrats, and they just wanted to go back to some good old-fashioned divine-right monarchy with a strong church. So the Mexican Creoles, seeking to expand their own power at the expense of the Peninsular elite, saw an opportunity here. They affirmed their loyalty to the new king, who was French even though he was the king of Spain. I told you this was complicated. Then a massive peasant uprising began, led by a renegade priest, Padre Hidalgo, and supported by the Creoles because it was aimed at the Peninsulares, even though they weren't actually the ones who supported Spain.