Convention of 1836

The Texas Revolution had begun five months previously, and the interim government, known as the Consultation, had wavered over whether to declare independence from Mexico or pledge to uphold the repudiated Mexican Constitution of 1824.

The Convention was called to order on March 1, and the following day adopted the Texas Declaration of Independence, written by George Childress.

These delegates served as a temporary governing body for Texas, as they struggled with the question of whether Texans were fighting for independence from Mexico or the reimplementation of the Mexican Constitution of 1824, which offered greater freedoms than the current dictatorship.

One of the Consultation delegates wrote to Sam Houston that "I sincerely hope the Convention will remedy the existing evils and calm the Public since if not Texas must be lost.

[6] As early as October, however, Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna had been making plans to quell the unrest in Texas.

There was much disagreement throughout Texas as to whether voting rights should extend to Tejanos or recent arrivals from the United States who had joined the Army of the People.

[10] In an editorial, the Telegraph and Texas Register echoed the concerns of many that the newly arrived recruits "cannot be acquainted either with the state of the country or the character and pretensions of the candidates" and advocated a residency requirement.

Other areas offered no actual choice; in Mina, the only candidates to run for office were the local empresario, Sterling C. Robertson, and his nephew, George C. Childress.

[13] A similar melee was avoided in Bexar, where army commander James C. Neill worked out a compromise with local civilian authorities.

The two men almost unanimously elected by the garrison, Samuel Maverick and Jesse Badgett were staunch supporters of independence.

Soldier Amos Pollard threatened that if the locals did not vote for independence, they might want to rethink the idea of coming home.

[11] Five delegates attended from the Red River district, an area disputed between Texas and the United States (and now considered part of Arkansas).

[15] The delegates were largely new to politics; only 13 of them had taken part in the Consultation, 7 in the Conventions of 1832 or 1833, and only 8 had held local office during Mexican rule.

[11] Potter, Childress, Richard Ellis and Samuel Price Carson each had significant political experience in the United States.

Notable members of the delegates assembled included future president of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston, and Mexican politician Lorenzo de Zavala.

The committee submitted its draft within a mere 24 hours, leading historians to speculate that Childress had written much of it before his arrival at the Convention.

Based primarily on the writings of John Locke and Thomas Jefferson, the declaration proclaimed that the Mexican government "ceased to protect the lives, liberty, and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived"[21] and complained about "arbitrary acts of oppression and tyranny".

The declaration of rights also outlawed unreasonable search and seizure, debtors' prison, and cruel or unusual punishments.

[23] It omitted the Third Amendment to the United States Constitution and instead explicitly authorized the government to quarter troops in private homes and impress property as needed for the war effort.

Free blacks were forbidden permanent residence in Texas without consent of Congress, and citizenship could not be granted to Africans, their descendants, or Native Americans.

[25] The largest debates centered around land policy, as delegates struggled to balance the competing claims of natives, settlers, army volunteers, and colonizers.

Unaware that the fort had already fallen, delegate Robert Potter called for the Convention to adjourn and march immediately to relieve the Alamo.

Speaking privately with many of the delegates, Burnet professed that he would be willing to serve as president of a new republic, even if that made him a target of Santa Anna.

[33] Among the names most commonly circulated for the presidency were empresario Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, and William H. Wharton.

One of Burnet's first acts as president was to transfer the capital of the new state from Washington-on-the-Brazos to Harrisburg, which was located nearer the small Texas Navy at Galveston Island.

The move took on a sense of urgency when the convention received word that Santa Anna was within 60 miles (100 km) of Washington-on-the-Brazos.