82R2233 MMS-D
By: Branch H.C.R. No. 175
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Citizens of Texas are marking the 175th anniversary
of the adoption of the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2,
2011; and
WHEREAS, By the fall of 1835, tensions that would culminate
in the Texas Revolution were coming to a head, and in December, a
convention of delegates from every Texas municipality was called to
meet in the new town of Washington on March 1, 1836; and
WHEREAS, On the first day of the convention, George C.
Childress introduced a resolution calling for a committee to draft
a declaration of independence; the measure was approved, and the
convention president, Richard Ellis, appointed a five-member
committee, with Mr. Childress as chair, to prepare the document;
the resulting composition is generally believed to be almost
entirely the work of Mr. Childress, who may have arrived at the
convention with a draft that he had already written; and
WHEREAS, Patterned on the declaration of 1776, the Texas
Declaration of Independence was presented to the convention on
March 2; according to the report of an observer, the declaration was
then "committed to a committee of the whole, reported without
amendment, and unanimously adopted, in less than one hour from its
first and only reading"; the motion to adopt was made by Sam
Houston, whom the convention appointed two days later to take
command of the Texas army; and
WHEREAS, Delegates also adopted a constitution for the new
Republic of Texas and elected an interim government; those chosen
to serve were David G. Burnet, president, Lorenzo de Zavala, vice
president, Samuel P. Carson, secretary of state, Thomas J. Rusk,
secretary of war, Robert Potter, secretary of the navy, Bailey
Hardeman, secretary of the treasury, and David Thomas, attorney
general; the constitution was ratified by voters the following
September, and the interim government served until that October,
when regular elections were held; and
WHEREAS, News that the Alamo had fallen reached the
convention on March 15, and two days later, reports that the Mexican
army had advanced to within 60 miles of Washington prompted the
delegates to hastily adjourn; little more than a month later,
however, the Battle of San Jacinto made Texas independence a
reality; and
WHEREAS, The Republic of Texas endured until December 29,
1845, when Texas officially entered the Union as the 28th state;
those nine years, when Texas enjoyed the status of an independent
country, constitute a remarkable chapter in its history, and more
than a century and a half after annexation, they continue to
engender a special sense of pride and identity among its citizens;
now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby join the people of the Lone Star State in commemorating the
175th anniversary of the adoption of the Texas Declaration of
Independence.