The Making of a Declaration of Independence, A Nation is Born

The Republic of Texas Was Born Here

We are going to take a short hiatus from "Remembering the Alamo!" to concentrate for a day or so on the Texas Constitutional Convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos. Delegates, which were elected by Texians in November, 1835 following the start of the Texas Revolution in the previous month at Gonzales, were meeting in what could only be described as a shack to hammer out a constitution for the would-be Republic of Texas. Forty-one men gathered to undertake this enormous task and after four days of debate, a final document was completed on March 2, 1836. It is here that Texas was born.

Here's a Cliff's Notes version of what was happening at the Consultation, "The Texas Revolution began October 2, 1835 with the Battle of Gonzales. The following month, previously elected delegates convened in a body known as the Consultation. These delegates served as a temporary governing body for Texas, as they struggled with the question of whether Texians were fighting for independence from Mexico or the reimplementation of the Mexican Constitution of 1824, which offered greater freedoms than the current dictatorship. Many Consultation members wished to defer independence until the United States was convinced to support their struggle.^[1] The Consultation quickly degenerated into near anarchy, with the interim legislature indicting the interim Governor, who promptly disbanded the legislature.^[2] By early February 1836 most of the members had gone home, and there were not enough delegates left for a quorum.^[3] A convention had been previously scheduled for March, and one Consultation member wrote to Sam Houston, "I sincerely hope that the Convention will remedy the existing evils and calm the Public mind. If not Texas must be lost." Thanks, Wikipedia! 

Five months to the date after the first shot of the Texas Revolution at Gonzales, Texas declared herself free of the dictatorship of Santa Anna. The Republic of Texas was a reality. However, there was still much bloodshed to come over the next six weeks, until independence was assured at the Battle of San Jacinto. We'll touch more on this tomorrow as the Revolution comes to its logical end. Until then, God bless Texas!