Bill Text: TX HR758 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commemorating the 178th anniversary of the adoption of the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 2014.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Passed) 2013-03-21 - Reported enrolled [HR758 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HR758-Enrolled.html
| H.R. No. 758 | ||
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| WHEREAS, Citizens of Texas are marking the 178th anniversary | ||
| of the adoption of the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, | ||
| 2014; 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 House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas | ||
| Legislature hereby commemorate the 178th anniversary of the | ||
| adoption of the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 2014. | ||
| Branch | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Speaker of the House | ||
| I certify that H.R. No. 758 was adopted by the House on March | ||
| 20, 2013, by a non-record vote. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
