The Texas Declaration of Independence was the formal

declaration of independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in the

Texas Revolution The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the Centralist Republic of Mexico, centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of ...

. It was adopted at the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2, 1836, and was formally signed the next day after mistakes were noted in the text.

Background

In October of 1835, native Tejanos and new settlers in Mexican Texas launched the

. However, amongst the people of Texas, many struggled with understanding what the ultimate goal of the Revolution was. Some believed that the goal should be total independence from Mexico, while others sought the reimplementation of the Mexican Constitution of 1824. To settle the issue, a convention was called for in March of 1836. This convention differed from the previous Texas councils of 1832, 1833, and the 1835

Consultation Consultation or consultative may refer to: * Public consultation, a process by which the public's input on matters affecting them is sought * Consultation (Texas), the 1835 Texas meeting of colonists on a proposed rebellion against the Republic of ...

. Many of the delegates to the 1836 convention were young citizens of the United States, who had only recently arrived in Texas, in violation of Mexico's immigration ban of April 1830. Not only that but many of them had fought in battles during the Texas Revolution against Mexico in 1835. Of the 60 men to sign, the only two known native Texans to sign are Jose Francisco Ruiz and Jose Antonio Navarro. Most of the delegates were members of th
War Party
and were adamant that Texas must declare its independence from Mexico.Roberts and Olson (2001), p. 142. Forty-one of these delegates arrived in Washington-on-the-Brazos on February 28.

Development

The convention was convened on March 1 with Richard Ellis as president.Davis (1982), p. 38. The delegates selected a committee of five to draft a declaration of independence; this committee was led by George Childress along with Edward Conrad, James Gaines, Bailey Hardeman, and Collin McKinney. The committee submitted its draft within a mere 24 hours, and this led historians to speculate that Childress had written much of it before he arrived at the Convention.Roberts and Olson (2001), p. 144. The document closely mirrors the United States Declaration of Independence in both structure and tone. It reflects Enlightenment principles, particularly the idea of the right to revolution when a government becomes tyrannical. Among the listed grievances were the failure to establish a system of public education, the denial of civil liberties such as trial by jury, and the imposition of a military dictatorship under Santa Anna. The declaration was approved on March 2 with no debate. Based primarily on the writings of

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 28 October 1704 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thi ...

and

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

, the declaration proclaimed that the Mexican government "ceased to protect the lives, liberty, and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived"Roberts and Olson (2001), p. 145. and complained about "arbitrary acts of oppression and tyranny."Roberts and Olson (2001), p. 146. Throughout the declaration are numerous references to the United States laws, rights, and customs. Omitted from the declaration was that the author and many of the signatories were citizens of the United States, occupying Texas illegally, and therefore had no legal rights in the governance of Mexico. The declaration clarifies that the men were accustomed to the laws and privileges of the United States, and were unfamiliar with the language, religion, and traditions of the nation that they were rebelling against. The declaration officially established the

, although it was not officially recognized at that time by any government other than itself. The Mexican Republic still claimed the land and considered the delegates to be invaders, and the United States didn't recognize it since that would be an act of war against Mexico. The declaration's adoption was followed by the Battle of the Alamo and ultimately the decisive Texian victory at the Battle of San Jacinto in April 1836. Among others, the declaration mentions the following reasons for the separation: * The

1824 Constitution of Mexico The Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1824 () was the first constitution of Mexico, enacted on October 4 of 1824, inaugurating the First Mexican Republic. Background During the Mexican War of Independence, the liberal domin ...

establishing a

federal republic A federal republic is a federation of Federated state, states with a republican form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means a country that is governed by elected re ...

had been overturned and changed into a centralist

military dictatorship A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which Power (social and political), power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a Polit ...

by Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna. * The Mexican government had invited settlers to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and promised them constitutional liberty and republican government, but then reneged on these guarantees. * Texas was in union with the Mexican state of Coahuila as Coahuila y Tejas, with the capital in distant Saltillo. Thus the affairs of Texas were decided at a great distance from the province and in the

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

, which the immigrants called "an unknown tongue." * Political rights to which the settlers had previously been accustomed in the United States, such as the

right to keep and bear arms The right to keep and bear arms (often referred to as the right to bear arms) is a legal right for people to possess weapons (arms) for the preservation of life, liberty, and property. The purpose of gun rights is for Self-defense#Armed, self ...

and the right to trial by jury, were denied. * No system of

public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

had been established. * Attempts by the Mexican government to enforce import tariffs were called "piratical attacks" by "foreign desperadoes." * The settlers were not allowed

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

. All legal settlers were required to convert to Catholicism. Based upon the

United States Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America in the original printing, is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the Second Continen ...

, the Texas Declaration also contains many memorable expressions of American political principles: *"''the right of trial by jury, that palladium of civil liberty, and only safe guarantee for the life, liberty, and property of the citizen.'' *"''our arms ... are essential to our defense, the rightful property of freemen, and formidable only to tyrannical governments.''"

Signatories

Sixty men signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. Three of them were born in Mexico, those being José Antonio Navarro, José Francisco Ruiz, and Lorenzo de Zavala. Fifty-seven of the sixty moved to Texas from the United States,and ten of them had lived in Texas for more than six years, while one-quarter of them had been in the province for less than a year.Scott (2000), p. 122. This is significant, because it indicates that the majority of signatories had moved to Texas after the Law of April 6, 1830. This law, banning immigration, had taken effect and this meant that the majority were legally citizens of the United States, occupying Texas illegally. *" Fifty-nine of these men were delegates to the Convention, and one was the Convention Secretary, Herbert S. Kimble, who was not a delegate. *Jesse B. Badgett *George Washington Barnett *Thomas Barnett *Stephen W. Blount * John W. Bower * Asa Brigham * Andrew Briscoe * John Wheeler Bunton *John S. D. Byrom * Mathew Caldwell * Samuel Price Carson * George C. Childress * William Clark, Jr. * Robert M. Coleman * James Collinsworth * Edward Conrad * William Carroll Crawford *

Lorenzo de Zavala Manuel Lorenzo Justiniano de Zavala y Sánchez (October 3, 1788 – November 15, 1836), known simply as Lorenzo de Zavala, was a Mexican and later Tejano physician, politician, diplomat and author. Born in Yucatán (state), Yucatán under Vicero ...

* Richard Ellis, President of the Convention and Delegate from Red River *Stephen H. Everett *John Fisher * Samuel Rhoads Fisher *Robert Thomas 'James' Gaines *Thomas J. Gazley *Benjamin Briggs Goodrich * Jesse Grimes *Robert Hamilton * Bailey Hardeman *Augustine B. Hardin * Sam Houston *Herbert Simms Kimble, Secretary *William D. Lacy * Albert H. Latimer * Edwin O. Legrand * Collin McKinney * Samuel A. Maverick (from Bejar) * Michel B. Menard *William Menefee *John W. Moore *William Mottley * José Antonio Navarro * Martin Parmer, Delegate from San Augustine *Sydney O. Pennington * Robert Potter * James Power *John S. Roberts * Sterling C. Robertson * José Francisco Ruiz * Thomas Jefferson Rusk *William. B. Scates * George W. Smyth *Elijah Stapp, ancestor of Brown family * Charles B. Stewart *James G. Swisher *Charles S. Taylor * David Thomas *John Turner * Edwin Waller *Claiborne West *James B. Woods

Notes

References

* * * * * *

External links

Washington on the BrazosThe Declaration of Independence, 1836
fro
Gammel's Laws of Texas, Vol. I.
hosted by th
Portal to Texas History

and origina

at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas Independence Day, March 2
including Samuel A. Maverick's broadside copy of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

* ttp://texana.texascooking.com/texasindependenceday.htm Special Report: Texas Independence Day by Texas Cooking*
School Lesson: Texas Declaration of Independence

Descendants of the Signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence

Texans' Struggle for Freedom and Equality Exhibit - Tejano Voices , Texas State Library

War Party

Southwestern Historical Quarterly (SHQ)
{{Authority control Declarations of independence Texas Revolution 1836 in law 1836 in the Republic of Texas Sam Houston Separatism in Mexico March 1836 1836 documents