Chapter 10The Texas Revolution

February-May 1836

Essential Questions• Did the change in the government of Mexico

justify the rebellion of the Texans?• Were the Texans justified in declaring

independence from Mexico?• Was the Texas Revolution inevitable?

Section 1The Battle of the Alamo

After the Texans’ victory at San Antonio, Santa Anna led his army into Texas. He fought the

Texas defenders at the Alamo in the most famous battle in Texas History

Vocabulary

• Fortify: to make stronger with military defense

• Garrison: troops stationed at a military post

• Bombard: to attack often with artillery

http://www.travispark.org/clientimages/42710/williambtravis.jpg

William Barrett Travis

http://jayssouth.com/texas/alamo/bowie.jpg

Jim Bowie

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Fannin

James Fannin

http://libraries.risd.org/ljhlib/myimages/houston.jpg

Sam Houston

http://www.realmagick.com/james-c-neill-texas-revolution/

James Neill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_L%C3%B3pez_de_Santa_Anna

Santa Anna

http://theundergroundconservative.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/remember-the-alamo/

The Alamo

Remember the Alamo• In December 1835, most Texans thought the centralist

threat to Texas had ended

• After Battle of San Antonio, Burleson turned over command of forces to Francis Johnson

• After Johnson left to go to Matamoros, Colonel James Clinton Neill took over in San Antonio

• Colonel James Walker Fannin commanded troops at Goliad

• After Cos retreated, no Mexican troops remained in Texas

Remember the Alamo, con’t• Santa Anna was furious when Tenorio was

forced to leave Anahuac and Cos was forced to leave San Antonio

• When Cos was leaving Texas, Santa Anna started north with his army– Felt a driving need to regain control of Texas and

get rid of rebels in Texas who defied him

Remember the Alamo, con’t

• The Texans didn’t know that Santa Anna was bringing his army to Texas in December…they thought he would wait till spring to attack

• As a result, the Texas forces were unorganized and scattered…not prepared for battle at all– Result: loss of life and loss of battle at Alamo

Remember the Alamo, con’t• The Battle of the Alamo– Most famous battle in Texas history– Subject of many books and movies

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/FalloftheAlamo.jpg/250px-FalloftheAlamo.jpg

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/texas/battle-alamo.htm

Movement of the Mexican Troops

• 2 main roads led into Texas from Mexico– The Atascosito Road• Entered Texas at Matamoros and continued north through

Goliad and Victoria• Passed close to Houston and continued on to Louisiana

border• James Fannin’s men met up at La Bahia in Goliad and

defended Atascosito Road

Movement of Mexican Troops, con’t

• 2 Main Roads, con’t– The Old San Antonio Road (El Camino Real)• Entered Texas at Eagle Pass and continued northeast

to San Antonio and then on to Nacogdoches• James Neill’s men guarded route through San Antonio

BATTLES OF THE TEXAS REVOLUTION FEBRUARY throughAPRIL, 1836

Movement of Mex Troops, con’t• Santa Anna sent his troops to Texas– January 1836 sent General Jose Urrea up the Atascosito

Road– Santa Anna and his remaining troops up the El Camino

Real

• (Texan) Colonel Neill realized that the El Camino Real Road and San Antonio needed more protection– Strengthened walls of Alamo (with help of engineer

Green B. Jamison) and turned old mission into a fort– Texans fortified Alamo with 21 cannons

Wanted: Volunteers to Fight

• Colonel Neill knew he didn’t have enough men to defend the Alamo– Most of the Army of the People had returned

home by this time– Other men went with Dr. James Grant and Colonel

Francis Johnson to Matamoros to reclaim land that had been taken from him by Santa Anna’s government

– After all of these people left, there were only 30 or so men left

Wanted: Volunteers to Fight, con’t• Sam Houston (who was commander of all Texas troops) sent

James Bowie and his men to destroy the Alamo because he thought Alamo was impossible to defend

• But, Bowie and Neill didn’t want to destroy the Alamo but wanted to stay and fight

• Bowie agreed to serve under Neill– Bowie’s men were considered rebels and not regular soldiers in Texas

army

• Provisional Texas Governor Henry Smith asked William Barrett Travis to recruit 100 men to get them to fight at the Alamo

Wanted: Volunteers to Fight, con’t• Travis was only able to recruit 29 men …they all arrived at the

Alamo on February 3, 1836

• Davy Crockett (former volunteer colonel and member of Congress from Tennessee) arrived with about 12 men on February 8, 1836… they were willing to fight for Texas (Read pages 220-221 The Life of Davy Crockett Himself)

• Middle of February: Neill had to leave San Antonio and return to Bastrop due to a family emergency– He put Travis (26 years old) in charge of Alamo– Travis was a colonel in Texas army

http://sunnytennessee.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/davy-crockett-debunking-the-myths/

Wanted: Volunteers to Fight, con’t• Jim Bowie and his men were not happy… Bowie

was older and a more experienced fighter (but he wasn’t an officer)– They wanted an election of officers• Volunteer soldiers wanted Bowie as commander

• Regular soldiers wanted Travis as commander

• But both agreed to form a joint command

• 2 weeks later, Bowie got very sick (typhoid pneumonia) and turned command of Alamo over to Travis

Wanted: Volunteers to Fight, con’t• Travis tried to recruit more volunteers to fight– Juan Seguin and James Bonham took letters to Goliad,

Gonzales, etc to ask for help– James Fannin didn’t want to abandon his post at Goliad

to join troops at Alamo• By the time he changed his mind to help, it was too late

• February 23, 1836: Santa Anna’s troops arrived in San Antonio– Began a 13 day siege of the Alamo– Travis was getting desperate for help…sent scout John

William Smith out with a letter to Gonzales begging for help

Travis’ Letter“Victory or

Death”Page 217

Considered most heroic

document in Texas History

Commandancy of the Alamo Bejar Fby. 24th 1836

To the People of Texas & all Americans in the world - Fellow citizens & compatriots- I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna - I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man - The enemy has demanded a Surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken.

I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the wall - I shall never Surrender or retreat Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid,with all dispatch - The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country.

Victory or DeathWilliam Barret Travis Lt. Col. Comdt

P. S. The lord is on our side- When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn -We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels & got into the walls 20 or 30 head of Beeves.

Travis

Stone Rooms Built Against Wall

Protected Portico

SouthBarracks

MainGateway

Entrenchmentand Earthworks

Entrance

Chapel

Old MissionPlaza

Old Convent Courtyard

Cattle Pens

Picket Fence

Long Barracks (Two stories)

Break in Wall

Mission Square

Cannon

Fall of the Alamo• Why did Santa Anna attack the Alamo?

– The small garrison at the Alamo was not a threat to Santa Anna

– Most experts think that Santa Anna attacked the Alamo for political instead of military reasons• Santa Anna wanted to completely get rid of any Anglo

American and Tejano rebels in Texas• Santa Anna didn’t want to look weak

Fall of the Alamo, con’t• For 13 days, Mexican cannonballs bombarded the

Alamo while Mexican troops prepared for battle

• By March 5, 1836 about 1800 Mexican troops surrounded the Alamo

• To warn the Texans of their fate, Santa Anna raised a blood-red flag…symbol of No Mercy

• Battle began on March 6, 1836 …Mexican buglers played “Deguello”—tune played to start an attack

Deguello

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKD5TgHWyxM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSOwWDEtkh0

Fall of the Alamo, con’t• The battle started between 5:00- 6:30 am

– Travis was awakened and raced up the north wall of the Alamo; he was one of the first to die

– Texans fired cannons at advancing wall of Mexican soldiers – So many Mexicans allowed them to reach the Alamo walls and go up ladders and

get inside– Fighting continued inside the walls– Bowie was killed on his deathbed…some historians think he fought even on his

deathbed

• The battle lasted 90 minutes– The battle was over by 8:00 am

• All 189 Texans were killed

• About 600 Mexicans were killed

Casualties and Survivors

• No one knows exactly how many casualties there were for either side…numbers are an estimate

• Most people thought that Davy Crockett was killed in battle but a man named Jose Enrique de la Pena wrote in his diary that Crockett and 6 others attempted to surrender but Santa Anna had them executed

Casualties and Survivors, con’t

• 9 Tejanos defended the Alamo• Santa Anna let the Texas women and children

and a slave go (to Gonzales)– Famous survivors: Susanna Dickinson (husband

was Almeron Dickinson who was in charge of artillery),

– their 15 month old daughter (Angelina)– Travis’ slave, Joe,

Casualties and Survivors, con’t

• These survivors told others about the destruction and horror they witnessed

• Their message: Santa Anna is coming to drive the Texans out of Texas

• Where was Sam Houston during the battle?– At the Convention of 1836 in Washington-on-the-

Brazos– Not with the army at all

Battle of the Alamo Links• http://www.thealamo.org/battle/battle.php

• http://www.lsjunction.com/events/alamo.htm

• https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/treasures/republic/alamo-01.html

• http://www.sonofthesouth.net/texas/battle-alamo.htm

• http://www.lnstar.com/mall/texasinfo/alamo-battle.htm

• http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qea02

Links, con’t

• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/monuments/alamo/

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Alamo_(1960_film)

Section 2The Battle of San Jacinto

The Texas Revolution intensified after the Battle of the Alamo. Mexican and Texan troops

continued to clash as Santa Anna marched across Texas. The final battle occurred at San Jacinto, where Sam Houston and Santa Anna

faced off.

Vocabulary

• Reconnaissance: survey made to gather information about an enemy

• Skirmish: small fight

• Cavalry: soldiers on horseback

General Urrea Marches North

• While and before Battle of Alamo was going on, so were some other battles

– Battle of Patricio (Won by Mexico)• Mexican General Urrea took Atascocito Road and

battled 50 Texans under command of Colonel Francis Johnson….only Johnson and 4 men got away; also battled with 50 Texans led by Dr. James Grant…only 6 Texans survived

General Urrea Marches North, con’t• Battles, con’t– Battle of Refugio (Mexico won)

• Urrea’s army continued toward Goliad (where Fannin commanded about 300 men)

• Fannin sent Captain Amon B. King and 30 men to Refugio, TX to help get civilians to safety

• Urrea’s men arrived at Refugio while King’s men were there

• Fannin sent 100 men with Colonel William Ward to help King at Refugio

• When King got there, they went on a reconnaissance mission but Urrea found them and they were killed

• Ward’s troops were then sent to Goliad

• Battles, con’t– Battle of Coleto Creek (Mexico won)

• With Urrea so close, Fannin couldn’t get away to help at San Antonio…even if he could have made it, it was too late

• Then on March 14 General Sam Houston told Fannin to retreat to Victoria (Houston wanted all troops in one place)

• Fannin stayed in Goliad though until he heard about Ward

• Finally, he left to go to Goliad…he stopped for a rest a few miles from Goliad near Coleto Creek

• Urrea’s men quickly surrounded Fannin and his men

General Urrea Marches North, con’t

• Battles, con’t– Battle of Coleto Creek, con’t• Fannin’s men were outnumbered by Urrea’s men

• Fighting lasted several days

• Fannin was wounded

• Fannin finally surrendered on March 20 and he and his men were taken prisoner by Mexican Army

General Urrea Marches North, con’t

Remember Goliad• Fannin and his men thought they would be either sent back to

the US or at least not be killed

• But, Santa Anna ordered them all to be shot– Fannin and his men were marched back to Goliad– After a week, they were divided into 3 columns and shot– A few escaped but everyone else, including Fannin, were

executed– Fannin has a town named after him

BATTLES OF THE TEXAS REVOLUTION FEBRUARY–APRIL, 1836

Sam Houston Assumes Command• Sam Houston had been named commander of

Texas armies by the first Consultation

• He got frustrated when people like Fannin didn’t obey orders…he quit and left Washington-on-the Brazos and went back to East Texas

• Sam Houston signed a peace treaty with the Cherokees so the Texans wouldn’t have to fight the Indians and Mexicans at the same time

Sam Houston Assumes Command, con’t

• Sam Houston was named Commander again when Second Consultation took place in March, 1836

• Went to Gonzales on March 11 and found 374 men who wanted to join the defenders of the Alamo

• No one knew what had already happened at the Alamo, so he stayed with the men in Gonzales

• Houston sent Erastus “Deaf” Smith on a scouting expedition…he returned to Gonzales with Susanna Dickinson, her daughter, and Joe (Travis’ servant)

• They told Houston what had happened at the Alamo

• Texan troops wanted revenge but Houston knew his men weren’t prepared to fight

Sam Houston Assumes Command, con’t

Susanna Dickinson

http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/images/sdickinson.jpg

• He and his men left Gonzales and traveled east

• He briefly stopped at Colorado River and then at the Brazos River

• Went to plantation of Jared Groce and camped there for a couple of weeks and trained for battle

Sam Houston Assumes Command, con’t

• When families of Gonzales learned what had happened at Alamo and at Goliad and that Houston had left Gonzales, they panicked and left also

• Some fled to Louisiana; some fled to Nacogdoches and Galveston

• Because so many people left the area, it became known as the Runaway Scrape

Runaway Scrape

• People left so quickly that they were not really prepared to travel– Used any means of transportation– Conditions were bad: disease, bad weather, not enough food…many

died while traveling and were just buried where they died– The Runaway Scape continued until the victory of the Battle of San

Jacinto

• Dilue Rose Harris– 10 year old little girl whose family left their home and joined the

Runaway Scrape• See Texas Voices page 225

Runaway Scrape, con’t

Santa Anna Closes In

• After Battle of the Alamo, Santa Anna and his troops regrouped and went in search of any other rebel Texas forces

• His group split up– one group went toward Nacogdoches under

command of General Antonio Gaona– Santa Anna stayed with the other group and rode

toward Gonzales (where Sam Houston’s army was)

Santa Anna Closes In, con’t• Santa Anna eventually ordered Gaona’s group to join him

• Mexican army was running low on supplies and wasn’t able to get more

• Sam Houston had been burning houses and fields along the way to Gonzales…so Mexicans couldn’t steal food, etc

• By April, 1836, the Mexican army was very low on food and ammunition

Battle of San Jacinto• No one really seems to know how exactly Sam

Houston’s arrived at the Battle of San Jacinto

• April 20: skirmish took developed between Mexican army and Texas cavalry

• Major battle took place on April 21, 1836– Houston had about 800 men– Santa Anna had about 1300 soldiers

Battle of San Jacinto, con’t• Houston ordered Deaf Smith to burn a bridge

(Vince’s Bridge) to keep Mexican army from retreating

• The Battle—April 21, 1836– 3:00 pm Mexican army was resting (they thought

big battle would occur the next day)– Houston arranged his men on the field and they

marched to a drummer and 3 fifers playing “Will You Come to the Bower?”

Battle of San Jacinto, con’t• The Battle, con’t– Texans attacked right side (flank) of Mexican army

first…pushing the Mexicans back into each other…while they were attacking, they were shouting• Remember the Alamo!• Remember Goliad!

– Mexicans were unprepared for the fight…much confusion

– Battle only lasted 18 minutes—Texans won

Battle of San Jacinto, con’t• The Battle, con’t– Even after battle was over, Texans continued to

capture escaping Mexicans…till too dark to see

– Texans• 2 died• 30 wounded (7 died later)• Sam Houston was wounded in the leg

– Mexicans• 630 killed• 730 captured

Battle of San Jacinto, con’t• The Battle, con’t– Santa Anna disguised himself and hid in a barn

– He was captured the next day and taken to Sam Houston

– Santa Anna called Sam Houston “a man of destiny” because he was the one who defeated/captured Santa Anna

The San Jacinto Monument• Built to honor the heroes of the Battle of San

Jacinto and all others who helped Texas win its independence from Mexico

• Close to the city of Houston

• 570 feet tall

• 15 feet taller than the Washington Monument

• Built from 1936-1939

• Cost $1.5 million dollars to build

http://laportetexas.net/sanjacintomonumentbig.jpg

San Jacinto Monument

San Jacinto Monument

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Jacinto_Monument

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/san_jacinto_battleground/media/images/star275.jpg

http://www.nwwin.com/deerpark.tx/Fullview.jpg

http://www.usstexasbb35.com/FTV-Volunteers/Misc-Photos/Texas-arial-Mon-Ship.jpg

http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/images/sjmap.jpg

San Jacinto State Park

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Jacinto

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Jacinto

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3068/3011863196_3ecebf7e8e.jpg

http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/GONZALES/town_gonzales.htm

Sam Houston Oak

Section 3Texas Gains Independence

The Convention of 1836, held while the battles of the Texas Revolution were being fought,

declared that Texas was independent of Mexico. The Treaties of Velasco marked the end of the

Texas Revolution and the beginning of the Republic of Texas.

Vocabulary

• Ad Interim: temporary

• Annexation: act of adding/joining an existing territory

Time for a Decision• Even while fighting was still going, there were a

group of people meeting to officially decided what Texas should do

• First Consultation of 1835: Texans still wanted to be part of Mexico but be an separate state in Mexico

• Second Consultation on March 1, 1836: had to decide if they officially wanted to be independent from Mexico

The Convention of 1836• (AKA the Second Consultation)….delegates

met at Washington-on-the-Brazos

• On March 2, delegates declared Texas independent from Mexico—Texas Independence Day

• Wrote a constitution

Texas’s Declaration of Independence

• Delegates to the Convention of 1836– Jose Antonio Navarro– Jose Francisco Ruiz– Others were Anglo Americans who had come to

Texas from US– Elected Richard Ellis as chairman– Form a commission (group) to write a declaration

of independence…leader was George Childress

Texas’s Declaration of Independence, con’t

• George Childress– Former newspaper editor from Nashville, TN

– Moved to Texas

– Wrote the Texas Declaration of Independence modeled after the US Declaration of Independence written in 1776

– The first section of the Texas Declaration of Independence declares the right of revolution• See page 230

– The second section lists grievances or complaints against the central government• Arrest of Stephen F. Austin, no public education, military

occupation, denial of rights (trial by jury/freedom of religion)

– The third section proclaims independence and pledges the support of all who sign the declaration

Texas’s Declaration of Independence, con’t

Texas’s Declaration of Independence, con’t

• The Texas Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Consultation or Convention of 1836 on March 2, 1836 by a unanimous vote

March 2, 1836 is Texas Independence Day

Establishing a Government

• After the Texas Declaration of Independence was approved, the delegates created a new nation or republic call the Republic of Texas

• They established an Ad Interim (or temporary) government

Establishing a Government, con’t• The Ad Interim officers were:– David G. Burnet: president– Lorenzo de Zavala: vice president– David Thomas: attorney general– Thomas J. Rusk: secretary of war– Robert Potter: secretary of the Navy– Sam Houston: commander-in-chief of Texas army• He left the meeting on March 6, 1836 to assume

command of the troops

• The convention ended on March 17, 1836 after they heard about fall of the Alamo

The Treaties of Velasco• Ad Interim President of the Republic of Texas,

David Burnet set up his headquarters in Harrisburg….but he fled to Galveston when Santa Anna’s army arrived

• Then the government headquarters was moved to Velasco

The Treaties of Velasco, con’t• April 22, 1836: Santa Anna was captured and

taken to Sam Houston

• Sam Houston had gone to New Orleans for treatment for his leg

• So, David Burnet negotiated armistice with Santa Anna– See note Santa Anna wrote about withdrawal of

Mexican troops page 231

The Treaties of Velasco, con’t• Remainder of Mexican troops left Texas and went back to

Mexico…south of Rio Grande

• Burnet and Santa Anna negotiated 2 Treaties…one public; one secret

• Public Treaty:– Santa Anna agreed to never fight Texans again– Santa Anna agreed to remove all troops from Texas– Provided for exchange of all prisoners of war for both sides

The Treaties of Velasco, con’t• Secret Treaty:– Santa Anna promised to work for Mexico

recognizing Texas’s independence

– Santa Anna agreed that the boundary between Texas and Mexico would be the Rio Grande• This border would greatly increase the size of Texas

lands

– In exchange for agreeing to these 2 things, Santa Anna would be released with no harm done to him

The Treaties of Velasco, con’t

• Even after the treaties were agreed on, Santa Anna wasn’t released quickly

• Many Texans wanted him executed– David Burnet tried to send him back to Mexico on a boat

called Invincible but angry Texans boarded the boat and stopped it from sailing

• Finally, Santa Anna was released several months later by the first elected President of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston

Establishing the Republic• Burnet was Ad Interim president for 6 months

• In July 1836, Burnet called for an election for permanent government officers– Stephen F. Austin, Henry Smith, and Sam Houston

all were interested in being president of the Republic of Texas• Sam Houston: 5119 votes (San Jacinto victory made him a hero)• Henry Smith: 743 votes• Stephen F. Austin: 587 votes

• On same ballot, 3277 Texans voted to be immediately annexed by the US

• 91 people voted against annexation

Establishing the Republic, con’t

Made by the Delegates of The People of Texas in General Convention, at Washington, on March 2nd, 1836.When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and property of the people, from whom its

legitimate powers are derived, and for the advancement of whose happiness it was instituted; and so far from being a guarantee for their inestimable and inalienable rights, becomes an instrument in the hands of evil rulers for their suppression. When the federal republican constitution of their country, which they have sworn to support, no longer has a substantial existence, and the whole nature of their government has been forcibly changed, without their consent, from a restricted federative republic, composed of sovereign states, to a consolidated central military despotism, in which every interest is disregarded but that of the army and the priesthood, both the eternal enemies of civil liberty, the ever ready minions of power, and the usual instruments of tyrants. When, long after the spirit of the constitution has departed, moderation is at length so far lost by those in power, that even the semblance of freedom is removed, and the forms themselves of the constitution discontinued, and so far from their petitions and remonstrances being regarded, the agents who bear them are thrown into dungeons, and mercenary armies sent forth to enforce a new government upon them at the point of the bayonet.

When, in consequence of such acts of malfeasance and abduction on the part of the government, anarchy prevails, and civil society is dissolved into its original elements, in such a crisis, the first law of nature, the right of self-preservation, the inherent and inalienable right of the people to appeal to first principles, and take their political affairs into their own hands in extreme cases, enjoins it as a right towards themselves, and a sacred obligation to their posterity, to abolish such government, and create another in its stead, calculated to rescue them from impending dangers, and to secure their welfare and happiness.

Nations, as well as individuals, are amenable for their acts to the public opinion of mankind. A statement of a part of our grievances is therefore submitted to an impartial world, in justification of the hazardous but unavoidable step now taken, of severing our political connection with the Mexican people, and assuming an independent attitude among the nations of the earth.

The Mexican government, by its colonization laws, invited and induced the Anglo American population of Texas to colonize its wilderness under the pledged faith of a written constitution, that they should continue to enjoy that constitutional liberty and republican government to which they had been habituated in the land of their birth, the United States of America.

In this expectation they have been cruelly disappointed, inasmuch as the Mexican nation has acquiesced to the late changes made in the government by General Antonio López de Santa Anna, who, having overturned the constitution of his country, now offers, as the cruel alternative, either to abandon our homes, acquired by so many privations, or submit to the most intolerable of all tyranny, the combined despotism of the sword and the priesthood.

It hath sacrificed our welfare to the state of Coahuila by which our interests have been continually depressed through a jealous and partial course of legislation, carried on at a far distant seat of government, by a hostile majority, in an unknown tongue, and this too, notwithstanding we have petitioned in the humblest terms for the establishment of a separate state government, and have, in accordance with the provisions of the national constitution, presented to the general congress a republican constitution, which was, without a just cause, contemptuously rejected.

It incarcerated in a dungeon, for a long time, one of our citizens, for no other cause but a zealous endeavor to procure the acceptance of our constitution, and the establishment of a state government.

It has failed and refused to secure, on a firm basis, the right of trail by jury, that palladium of civil liberty, and only safe guarantee for the life, liberty, and property of the citizen.

It has failed to establish any public system of education, although possessed of almost boundless resources, (the public domain), and although it is an axiom in political science, that unless a people are educated and enlightened, it is idle to expect the continuance of civil liberty, or the capacity for self government.

It has suffered the military commandants, stationed among us, to exercise arbitrary acts of oppression and tyranny, thus trampling upon the most sacred rights of the citizens, and rendering the military superior to the civil power.

It has dissolved, by force of arms, the state congress of Coahuila and Texas, and obliged our representatives to fly for their lives from the seat of government, thus depriving us of the fundamental political right of representation.

It has demanded the surrender of a number of our citizens, and ordered military detachments to seize and carry them into the interior for trial, in contempt of the civil authorities, and in defiance of the laws and the constitution.

It has made piratical attacks upon our commerce, by commissioning foreign desperadoes, and authorizing them to seize our vessels, and convey the property of our citizens to far distant parts for confiscation.

It denies us the right of worshiping the Almighty according to the dictates of our own conscience, by the support of a national religion calculated to promote the temporal interest of its human functionaries, rather than the glory of the true and living God.

It has demanded us to deliver up our arms, which are essential to our defence—the rightful property of freemen—and formidable only to tyrannical governments.

It has invaded our country both by sea and by land, with the intent to lay waste our territory, and drive us from our homes; and has now a large mercenary army advancing, to carry on against us a war of extermination.

It has, through its emissaries, incited the merciless savage, with the tomahawk and scalping knife, to massacre the inhabitants of our defenceless frontiers.

It has been, during the whole time of our connection with it, the contemptible sport and victim of successive military revolutions, and hath continually exhibited every characteristic of a weak, corrupt, and tyrannical government.

These, and other grievances, were patiently borne by the people of Texas, until they reached that point at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue. We then took up arms in defence of the national constitution. We appealed to our Mexican brethren for assistance: our appeal has been made in vain; though months have elapsed, no sympathetic response has yet been heard from the interior. We are, therefore, forced to the melancholy conclusion, that the Mexican people have acquiesced in the destruction of their liberty, and the substitution therefore of a military government; that they are unfit to be free, and incapable of self government.

The necessity of self-preservation, therefore, now decrees our eternal political separation.

WE, therefore, the delegates, with plenary powers, of the people of Texas, in solemn convention assembled, appealing to a candid world for the necessities of our condition, do hereby resolve and declare, that our political connection with the Mexican nation has forever ended, and that the people of Texas do now constitute a FREE, SOVEREIGN, and INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC, and are fully invested with all the rights and attributes which properly belong to independent nations; and, conscious of the rectitude of our intentions, we fearlessly and confidently commit the issue to the supreme Arbiter of the destinies of nations.

In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names.

RICHARD ELLIS,President and Delegate from Red River

Albert H. S. Kimble, Secretary

C. B. StewartJames CollingsworthEdwin WallerA. BrighamJohn S. D. ByromFrancis RuisJ. Antonio NavarroWilliam D. LacyWilliam MenifeeJohn FisherMatthew CaldwellJohn S. RobertsRobert HamiltonCollin McKinney

A. H. LatimoreJames PowerSam HoustonEdward ConradMartin PalmerJames GainesWilliam Clark, jun.Sydney O. PenningtonWilliam MotleyLorenzo de ZavalaGeorge W. SmythStephen H. EverettElijah SteppClaiborne West

William B. LeatesM. B. MenardA. B. HardinJohn W. BuntonThomas J. GazleyR. M. ColemanSterling C. RobertsonGeorge C. ChildressBaily HardimanRobert PotterCharles TaylorSamuel P. CarsonThomas J. RuskWilliam C. Crawford

John TurnerBenjamin Briggs GoodrichJames G. SwisherGeorge W. BarnetJesse GrimesE. O. LegrandDavid ThomasS. Rhoads FisherJohn W. BowerJ. B. WoodsAndrew BriscoeThomas BarnettJesse B. BadgettStephen W. Blount

Links• http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/san_jacinto_battleground/mo

nument.phtml

• http://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/

• http://www.visithoustontexas.com/visitors/listing-details?id=23272

• http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/batsanjacinto.htm

• http://www.lsjunction.com/events/jacinto.htm

• https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/treasures/republic/san-jacinto.html

• http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qes04

Links, con’t• http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pfr01

• http://www.sonofthesouth.net/texas/runaway-scrape.htm

• http://historyengine.richmond.edu/episodes/view/2406

• http://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/The_Battle/April_21st_1836/