The First Republic of Venezuela (Primera República de Venezuela in Spanish) was the first independent government of Venezuela, lasting from 19 April 1810, to 25 July 1812. The period of the First Republic began with the overthrow of the Spanish colonial authorities and the establishment of a junta in Caracas, initiating the Venezuelan War of Independence, and ended with the surrender of the republican forces to the Spanish Captain Domingo de Monteverde. The congress of Venezuela declared the nation's independence on 5 July 1811, and later wrote a constitution for it.