Texas Declaration of Independence

On a cold first day of March in 1836, even as a handful of brave Texas were desperately fending off General Santa Anna and his troops at the Alamo, a convention of delegates sent by the provisional Texas government huddled in an unfinished building in Washington (today better known as Washington-on-the-Brazos), where by March 2 they had drafted and adopted a Declaration of Independence from Mexico.

During the next couple of weeks, the delegates signed the Declaration, hurriedly cobbled together a new Constitution (which incorporated large chunks of the U.S. Constitution, along with a few Mexican laws), and elected a few ad interim government officials. Then, during the early morning of March 17, with no time to lose, they skedaddled, joining the mass exodus known as the Runaway Scrape.

The battle for independence continued until April 21, when the Mexican army was defeated and Santa Anna captured. For the next decade Texas existed as an independent republic, until on December 28, 1845 it was admitted into the United States as the 28th state of the Union.

Here are some ways you can celebrate the anniversary of Texas Independence:

Article by Bobby Griffith.

Banner image of the Texas Declaration of Independence from the Texas State Library and Archives Web site.

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