03/02/2026
Happy Texas Independence Day!
It was cold and blustery on March 2, 1836 in Washington, Texas, when delegates met in a building that had only cloth over the windows. In that small, one-room shack, the delegates gathered to hammer out the final details of the Declaration of Independence from Mexico while the fighting at the Alamo continued.
There would be finally 59 signers of the Declaration plus the Secretary. Among the signers were General Sam Houston, Richard Ellis, the Convention President, Lorenzo de Zavala, who would shortly be elected the Vice President of the newly formed Republic of Texas.
The βConvention of 1836β would continue until March 17 as the delegates worked to form a new government by adopting a Constitution.
The Declaration lists grievances of why such independence was being sought from the Mexican government with the final paragraph concluding:
βWe, 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 decision of the Supreme arbiter of the destinies of nations.β
Today, let us remember that Texas is different than every other state. Borne out of bloodshed and sacrifice.
God and Texas!
Victory or Death!