Texas Declaration of Independence

In October 1835, native Tejanos and new settlers in Mexican Texas launched the Texas Revolution. However, amongst the people of Texas, many struggled with understanding what the ultimate goal of the Revolution was. Some believed that the main goal should be total independence from Mexico, while others sought for a reimplementation of the Mexican Constitution of 1824 which had included freedoms, such as the treatment of slaves as property, that were not in the 1835 constitution of Mexico, Siete Leyes. (Seven Laws) To find a compromise, a convention was called for on March 1, 1836. This convention differed from the previous Texas councils of 1832, 1833, and the 1835 Consultation. Many delegates were young U.S. citizens who had recently arrived in Texas, by violating Mexico’s April 1830 immigration ban. Moreover, many of them had fought in battles during the Texas Revolution against Mexico in 1835. Of the 60 signers, only two were native Texans, Jose Francisco Ruiz and Jose Antonio Navarro. Most of the delegates were members of the War Party and were adamant that Texas must declare its independence from Mexico. 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. 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. The document closely mirrors the United States Declaration of Independence in both structure and tone. The declaration was approved on March 2 with no debate. Based primarily on the writings of John Locke and Thomas Jefferson, 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" and alleged that it committed "arbitrary acts of oppression and tyranny." The declaration also formally states that Texas "is, and of right ought to be, a free sovern and independent republic." Throughout the declaration are numerous references to the United States laws, rights, and customs. Omitted from the declaration was the fact 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 Republic of Texas, 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 establishing a federal republic had been overturned and allegedly been changed into "a consolidated central military despotism" by Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna. • The Mexican government had invited settlers to Texas but then allegedly reneged on a "constitutional liberty and republican government to which they had been habituated in the land of their birth, the United States of America." • 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, 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 and the right to trial by jury, were denied. • No system of public education had been established. • The settlers were not allowed freedom of religion. All legal settlers were required to convert to Catholicism. • Attempts by the Mexican government to enforce import tariffs were described as "piratical attacks" by "foreign desperadoes" to "convey the property of our citizens to far distant ports for confiscation." • The central government of Mexico was accused of invading "our country", to "drive us from our homes." Modeled after the United States Declaration of Independence, 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." In the claim that Mexico had invited settlers, the declaration did not mention that many settlers, including the author and majority of signatories, were factually uninvited, illegal immigrants who failed to comply with settlement laws. From Mexico's viewpoint, lawful elections of 1835 seated many conservative politicians who intended to strengthen Mexico's republic form of government and defend their nation from what they described as an invasion of illegal immigrants. Mexican legislators had lawfully amended the 1824 constitution by passing the Seven Laws. ==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. 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 • 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 ==See also==