In a meeting hall at Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texans meet to write the Texas Declaration of Independence, released March 2, 1836; image from Portal to Texas History
So, put some barbecue in the smoker, get a glass of iced tea for you and your pet armadillo, sit back and enjoy the holiday. If you’re near Washington-on-the-Brazos, go to the ceremony. Make sure you’re not out of Blue Bell Ice Cream.
What? You don’t get the day off? You know, Texas schools don’t even take the day off any more.
I thought things were going to change when the Tea Party got to Austin and Washington? What happened?
Original Manuscript, Texas Declaration of Independence - Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Text from the image above:
The Unanimous
Declaration of Independence
made by the
Delegates of the People of Texas
in General Convention
at the Town of Washington
on the 2nd day of March 1836When a government has ceased
to protect the lives, liberty and property
of the people, from whom its legitimate
powers are derived, and for the advance-
ment of whose happiness it was inst-
ituted, and so far from being a guaran-
tee for the enjoyment of those inesti-
mable and inalienable rights, becomes
an instrument in the hands of evil
rulers for their oppression.
[Complete text, and images of each page, at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission site.]
Resources for Texas Independence Day
- Texas Declaration of Independence, at the Online Texas History Handbook
- Portal to Texas History has teacher notes, lesson plans and class exercises
- Historian and author H. W. Brands will be at the Texas Archives in Austin for a lecture (he’s the author of Lone Star Nation, among many other good books), and cake. 11:30 a.m., March 2, 2011.
Resources at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub
- In 2009, some rare documents related to the Texas Declaration of Independence turned up.
- “Yellow Rose of Texas” and the Battle of San Jacinto (true story, really)
- Texas Independence Day 2008
- Teachers, get ready for San Jacinto Day, April 21
[Mostly borrowed, with express permission, from Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub.]
Mr. Darrell's Wayback Machine 
If it wasnt for this would we still be art of Mexico??
By: Yessenia Gomez on March 3, 2011
at 9:10 pm
I mean part* lol
By: Yessenia Gomez on March 3, 2011
at 9:11 pm
There is always the possibility that the U.S. would have taken Texas away from Mexico in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) — but one of the principal causes of that war was the border dispute about where Texas’s southern border is.
Basically, though, you’ve got it: But for Texas independence, Texas, and maybe the southwest all the way including California, would still be part of Mexico.
Strange Maps recently ran a map that shows what that would look like:
By: Ed Darrell on March 7, 2011
at 1:37 am