Juntas emerged in Spanish America as a result of Spain facing a political crisis due to the abdication of Ferdinand VII and Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion. Spanish Americans reacted in much the same way the Peninsular Spanish did, legitimizing their actions through traditional law, which held that there was a retroversion of the sovereignty to the people in the absence of a legitimate king. The majority of Spanish Americans continued to support the idea of maintaining a monarchy under Ferdinand VII, but did not support retaining absolutism.