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Show - The Lone Star State's States State'slOOY ' lOOY lOOYars ars ; 1836-1936 1836 1936 : - REPUBLIC . , OF TEXAS TEXAS&lid , &lid lid & boyndulU . 'a a ' mt-d mt d , - TeA " from OGeemb.r OGeembr ' , 9 t 030 to toNOYlmbt NOYlmbt ' ' ' 8'0 80 ' GULF OF OF.flIEXICO .flIEXICO flIEXICO . By ELMO SCOTT WATSONI WATSON WATSOND D LXAS L AS . , who Is celebrating this yei ye'1r ye1r ye'1rJ ye'1rher ' ' f her one hundredth annh anniversary ersary as agif J an nn American Amerlcm : commonwealth , Is i'jj ijj I t1 t1unique | ' unique among her sisters In the th t tUmon Union Umon In fact , she Is the 'hlg hlg 'hlgsister ' bl , . < % sister " of ot them all Into her : ! 2G5 Gj SOS SO ; y/f y f / square miles could be dropped n1l n1lof nl of the 6i\ 6i SI\ SI 6iNew SINew \ . New England LDland ; states to- to together to - gcther gether " with "ah ah New Ncw York Yor1 . , New Jerse Jersey . " Ss Deliware Deh\H'lre Deh H'lre Hlre \ ' and nnd Penns lvann IVnDl'l IVnDll ' , find findthere andthere there \ would ould still be room for Cor Ohio Ohioand Ohicand and Illinois I11Inol5 IllinoisAs I11Inol5As As a matter of ot fact , \ when hen she came Into the theI thesIsterhood thesisterhood I htI I sIsterhood of stites st'1tes st1tes ' 90 00 ) years ears ago , , she brou broughtTvitb ht 1\ 1 \ 1Itb Itb her a much ] larger arger territory than tint th1t . Alto Alto- Altogether Altogether - gether thereere there were \\ere ere \ \ 3SflG SSO.IGG SSOIGG ) , . square miles mlJes of It . " Foras 'or or ' , , as the map above abo\e abo e \ shows . , It comprised all aU of thepresent the thepresent present lone Star state , the " western "estern estern Inlf h'1lf h1lf ' of ot thE thepresent ' present state of Oklihoma OII.1'lhoma OII.1lhoma OII1lhoma . ' , the eastern half halt of ofNev ofNew Ne\v Ne v \ Me Mexico lC'o lCo ' , an nn irregulir Irregullr but sizable slk'1hle slk1hle ' chunk chunh of ofWyomIng ofWyoming WyomIng and a larger segment segmE'nt ' of Kansis Kans'ls Kansls KansisBut ' But nut It Is not in the matter of size sl7e alone thatTexis that thatTe Te 1s ' Is unique She Is the only one of tlie the tlie38states 48 48states -38states 38states - states \ who ho was an Independent Independpnt republic before beforeshe beforeBhe she joined the sisterhood of stites st'1tes st1tes ' As sneh suclishe . she had her own o\\n o n \ arm nrm and m\y m y n'l\Y n'l nl ' \ , she sent CD\OS CD OS CDOSto envoisto \ , } to ) Europein Curope'1n Curope1n ' courts and nnd reech received cd ambissadors nmb1ssadors at atber ather ber : capital In return . . Six SI't SIt ' tI'ls tIls ih ' ' : s hive hwe tlO\\ tlO flown tlOn \ n 0\ 0 over 0er \ er her lands . . Spain first firstclaImed firstclaimed claImed sovereignty sO\erelg-nty sO erelg nty \ - , basing ' her clilms cl1lms to Tens Tenstin Tcxison tin the dlsco\ dlsco discovery dlscocry \ cry of America by Columbus , the theconquest tlieconquest conquest of ' Mexico 'Ie"lco Ielco " by Corte Cortex ? , and nnd the e.plora eplora e.ploratlons cxploratlons . tlons by Cjbe7a C.lbenl Clbenl . de Vica V'lca Vlca ' , , Coromdo Coron'1do Coron1do ' and De &oto oto &otoFrance & oto otorrancE France rrancE . ' disputed dlsputetl Spiln's Spilns Sp'1ln's Sp1lns ' ' ' claim beciuse bec'1l1se bec1l1se ' in lfl8-t lfl8 t 108-1'La 108 1'La 1La - - Ln ' Saile al1e , , seirching se1rchlng { for or the mouth of ot the Mls Mississippi ls ls81ppl 81ppl rh river er , , ! ' linded 'lnded lnded on the coast of Te Texas ns nnd nndplanted andplanted planted the " French 'rench rench ' flag tlng there But nut La Salle Snl1e "ns ns "nsnssnsslnated " wasassassinated nssnsslnated by some of bis bls men and rrnnce rrnnceDever Francenever Dever m ide good her ber claimSo claim claimSo So the flag tlag of Spain waved wnved over o\er o er \ Texas until until3821 ] 8'21 821 ' when the Mexicans Me"dcans Medcans " g go lined I1ned tlieir their Independ Independence independcnce ence from the Spiniards Sp'wlards Spwlards ' and for the next few fewyears fewyears years Texas Texns was Voas a part . of the republic ot otlIexlco ofMexico lIexlco . Tlie The year before betore Mexico threw off otT the yoke yol.e yole . or orSpnln olSpain Spnln Stephen Mephen F . Austin , the ' Father ather of Te\ns Te ns Texas'left Texasleft ' \ ' Jeff Missouri 1I"souri 1Isouri " \ with Ith a colony and settled In Texns Texas.Other TexasOther . . Other Americans Amerlcnns followed fol1o\\ed fol1o ed \ and by 1SJ7 187 ] Texashad Texas Texasbnd ' bnd a population Dopulatlon of ot 1000U 10 000 Three ) icars ears Intcr IntcrJt latciIt Jt hid hd , gro\\ gro grown gron \ n to 20000 Mexico Me'tlco Metlco ' be began an to be bealarmed bealarmed ' alarmed at nt this Inrush of settlers . . On Api Apiil II 6 6,1830 61830 , , ] 83U . , the Mexican congress conress , . ; passed a law forbid forbidding forbidding ding further colonization colonlz.ntlon colonlzntlon . . . But that did not nol halt the Americans SHon SHonthere S Krthere ) i there " were "ere ere clashes bet\\ bet between beteen \ een the American pet pettiers . tIers and tlie the Mexican Me'Clcan MeClcan ' officials oJlclnls ( By 18 1835 : > .5 5 . thert thpre thprewas ' was a elate slute of ot openarrare open \ warfare \\arrare arrare for ror the Americins AmerIc'1ns AmerIc1ns AmerIc'1nswho ' who hid h"ld hld " become Texansere Texana Texans \ were \\ere ere resolved to bE btree ' ( ' tree from Mexico as the Mexicans Mexlcuns had rE'solvt'd rEsolvtd rpsolvetto ' ' to be free tree from Spain President Santa Anna of olMexico 1Je"tlco 1Jetlco " came to 'le'Cas1th ' lexas 'le'Cas leCas ' \ with \\1th 1th an army urmy of or 4 4000 aou to tocrush Kcrush crush the revolt re\ott re ott \ On February 22 . , 18.10 1810 18.1Q 181Q . . , he be betieged Ieged Snn Antonio , , "hlchfIS " which "hlch hlch was \\fIS fIS \ \ held helll hy 180 180Te 1STexans ( ) Te ans coniiinndcd comlll'1nded comlll1nded ' by Col William Wllllnm B n TravisOn Trn\ Trn TrnIs \ Is IsQn Qn ' M 1lrch irch 0 G Ssanti bant1 Anna Annas s hosts s\\ s swept sept \ \ ept over the thewalts UK 1 walls walts of the ( lie historic mission , the ALimo AI\DIO AI DIO . \ , awslaughtered nml nmlI5lau I5lau htered its defenders defencJers , . thereby tlu.rehy tlurehy . m'lI.ln mlI.ln mlIln miking ' . 1m 1mmortnt ) mmortal mortnt the n imes of ot ' Iravis 'lra\ls 'lra lra ls \ , Jimes J\mes J mes ' \ Bowie Bo\\le Bo le \ aud audDavy amDavy Davy Crockett Croclett , . , the Tennessee bear be.1r be1r . hunter bueter . In Ie the meantime a group of ot Texas Te\.1s Te.1s Te .1s 1s \ . patriots had hadgnthelel.l haigatheicJ I gnthelel.l gnthelell . at tlie the town to\\n to n \ \ of or \ Washington \ nShlngton on thp thpBrnzos thiBrazos Brnzos river . 1 ' here on March 2 they adopted II IIdocumcnt idocument II documcnt \ which bleh benn be ; an \ with Ith this statement stntunent statement"When . . "When When " a gO\ gO government gOernment \ ernment has .cased cased lcnsed ( . to protect thp thpJives illlives Jives , libel llbcity ty and property prOIJerty of ot the people pcoIle } fror from fromwhom whom Its legltinijte le61llmJte powers Do\\ers Do ers \ are derived derl\ed derl ed \ , nnd nnd10r amfor 10r the nlh advancement anccment of or \ whose hose liupplness hupplness It wa vvaInstituted ' ! instituted ; and BO so far from froll ! being helng a gllar guariniefor IDI'I IDII IDI'Ifor ( ' ( ' for their thclr inestlnnble InlsUmble InlsUm \ble ble \ and nnd Innllennble Inalienable rljits rlo-htS rlo htS - ' . , bc bccornlS IKconies > cornlS an nn Instiumcnl InstLument in the li h mils Inlls of or t-vll t vll t\11 11 . \ - riih rull rfor r for tlioir their oltm oppresslou ! sslon-\\ sslon sslonhen - \ wlicn hen thc ( he ederal Iederal I HlIlllhll HlIlllhllcan Ikpnlcan ) ! | can Constitution of their country lUuntry , . vvlikli whllh t\l t l tliphave \ ( ' , } hl\ hl hle : \ e s\\ s sworn surn \ \ urn to kUpport bUllllort , , no lunger lonner lias hae ; a Q S\h S h siibbliirtLi \ ) llln lllntI.l1 i tI.l1 tIl1 . ) e\istince e istince e\lstl.nce elstl.nce lstl.nce lstlnce \ . , an and tlie the \ whole hole n lUll iiinu e or of tlnlr thllr . , , IV IVernllllnl ! tnerniiiLiil ernllllnl his h is bi-en bi en blen - foK-ibly foK ibly fVlubly - ell cil IlIrill1 IlIrill1lhom iii Ld \ without \\lhom lhom ! thll1 thll1conblllt tin Icoiibuit conblllt , fiom flUm a H icstilctetl sll Iltel1 fell rcdvintlve 11 . ' 11th e rt'lllIhll rtlllIhll rcpulillcomposed ' < ( ( ' 01l1110Seel or of f > ! bovcrLign \erllgn erllgn ferllgn ) \ < st it Ite itcs > . , tu to u coiisuliil cllllclIlicl ; Hi III II IICClitl ( ccnti CClitl CClitl1 \ il \1 1 . , unlit 111llit ny lIY dU'IHltl dUIHltl dti ' > pi > tlsiii ' > llJ In \ wlikli hllh l tviry \ uy In Int lit ) t < ! < * 1 ifM " ' 't t ' Is 11I ( lisit ll . 11 iidcJ lIl hut bllt 111 th it or tlie the 01 uiuiy my unll unllprilblbood tinpritblhood ( prilblbood , both of \ which I1lch .u u . jie e the etu eiciiiul uul euerulls eueiuh , . . , L-- L - LThe . :1:0'1 101 . : ; ' - - . . , The 1\.1.a.Tt1 11a.Tt1 1 .1.a.Tt1 1aTt1 \ . . . . 0 0L of ot civil liberty , the ever ready minions of PQ powcriand \ er , , and the usual Instruments of ot tyrants-when tyrants when tyrants - wlien , long longafter longafter ; after tlie the spirit of ot the Constitution has departedmoderation departe , , , modero.tfon moderotfon . Is at length so ( far ar lost by tliose those In Inpower [ } O\\ O Oer \ er that e\ e even een \ en the semblance of ot freedom frcedom Is Isremoed laremoved remo\ed remo ed \ and tlie the forms even e\en e en \ of ot the Constitution Constitutiondiscontinued ' lscontlnued , and nnd so far from their petitions petitionsand petitionsand ' and remonstrances being re regarded nrded , , the agentsho agents \ who \\ho ho \ bear be r them are Ilre thrown Into dungeons dun eons , nnd nndmercenary andmercenary ! mercenary armies set forth to ( force orce n a new goverllment gov ernment erllment upon them at nt the point of or the ba bayonet , } onet - \ wlien hen . , In < . consequence .onsequence onsequence of ot such acts ncts of at mal malfeasance malfeasancc feasance and abduction nbtluctlon on the part of ot the bOV fcoveminent .fnment fnment ( . , , anarchy nnnrchy prevails pre\lllls pre lllls \ and civil society Is Isdlssohed ' dissolved dlssohed Into Its original elements-In elements In elements - In such acrisis a ' crisis , the tirst IIrst law of ot nature nlture , , the right of ot precerntlon preser precer ; ' - , 'vatlon vatlon -\ntlon ntlon \ , and tlie the inherent Inhuent and nnd Inalienable rl right ht or orthe ( the people to nppeil pr1e'll pr1ell ' to first tlrst principles and nnll tike t'1le t1le t'1letheir ' , ' their political affairs Into their own 0n 0\\ 0 \ \ n hands hnnds in inetreme e\treme e treme \ ' ( , cases lIses , enjoins It as a right rJht ; . : to\\ to toward toard \ ard them themselH selH selvS ( s . , and a sacred sucred obllgitlon obllg'1t1oD obllg1t1oD ' to their posterityto posterity to abolish ahullsh such a Q government gOHrnment ? and nnd cren create tc anotliei unoUler unoUlerIn anotlieiIn In its Blend stend calciilited cnlcllhted to rescue them from Im 1m 1mpentlln pending pentlln : ; lnnoCrB dnnacrs < and nnd to to- tosecure - secure their " welfare "eIrare eIrare and aUll aUllhappIness andhappiness t happiness ' After Aftl.r Aftlr . listing their grievances , 15 In number numberthey tht'y thty they ' cone concluded hilled their " work ort . v\lth v lth "lth " \ this statement statement"Hie "Hie Hie " 1 he necessity nE'cesslty nEcesslty ' of ot self preset presel \ vatlon ntlon . tb .relore relore < . .reloredeci deci ilecices ces an eternal political separation separatfon separatione . . ' \\e e \ \ \ e . , therefore thuerore , the delc del ( > ' < iaieB .ttei ttei ; . with plenary plenar . ) ' PO\\ PO powers POers \ ers of or the people of Texas 're.as re.as reas ' : ! . , In solemn con convClltlon vciillon vClltlon assembled assemhled , . appealing ( } IKnlInJt to tlie the judgment JUlJgment or ora ol a < ( IIndhl IIndhlorlel aiidl l \ world \\orlel orlel as to the necessities necessilies of our condltlon con dition dltlon DO 1)0 10 ) 1Il lllKlBY ; = mUY ; : [ ) DISSOLVE 'OI.Vn OI.Vn OIVn " ' . and nnd declare thnt thntuur our uur polillciil Iw1Jtlcll ; connection connecJlon \ with \ Ith the Me\lcan Me lcan Ie\lcm Ie lcm \ ' : n'ltlon nltlon n'ltlonh'1S ' Ins h'1S h1S ' fore\ fore forever foreer \ er ended and anI ! that thnt the ( people h ollte of ot Te't'1s Tet1s Te't'1sllu ' ' du llu now constiliite cOllstl.ute cOllstlute . a 1 I KLE HLt : , SUVLKLIGN SOVI.HblGN SOVIHblGN . and nnd IN INIII DI III PIt\1 PIt 1 P1MLNT ; : \ > ) Lt\'T Lt 'T T \ ' KLI'UBLIC KLIUBLIC HI.PUBI.IC HIPUBI.IC HIPUBIIC . ' . , and nnd are fully tully Invested Investedllh \ witli \\llh llh \ iill nil ( ihe he rights rlhts , . : and nnd ottilbutes nttIlbutes nttIlbuteshlch \ which \\hlch hlch properlj Ilrolllfl , belon belong , . : to In Independent elll.nll'nt elll.nllnt elllnllnt . ! . ' nations nutlons and , cons conscious .lo\ls .lols .lo lo ls < . \ of ofthe ! the reitltuie rlllltute or our ollr Intentions Intenttons Intenttonsc , we \\c c \ \ confidently conndently am and andfe fe fcirlc fcirlcsly Irll.sly Irllsly . ' : . -sly sly - commit the issue to tlie the decision of the theSUiH tin SUiH siipieinc l > mc mc1 \1 1 ' \ ubite'r ubiter hlter ' of the destinies of ot nations ' 'I I 'llni3 llni3 ' hus tlio tho Uepubllc HqJUbllc of ot ' 1e\us 1e us 'lC\IIS 'lC lC IIS \ came into e lst lstenee cnce enee Hut But llie thc re\ re revolution reolutlon \ olutlon In re\ re fc\ fc reis fcIS \ is did not eml on 1111 lint th'lt thlt ' dite dlte nn nil > ) mole tlinn thnn an > ) earlier el1rller ruolulIeHl revulu ruolu lion lIeHl 'mIllion mIllion ( ' endnJ on Jul Iiib ) 4 4 , 1770 Ijjj ( It rennined rcm\lnld rcm lnld ' \ fur for nil nilIII III ullni hi I IIIID in in to hnhh linl li tht ( lie job tliil th'lt thlt ' tlle tlies y e men tnlll on ontill i till llie . ISrii/os ISrii os Bru/tls Bru tls / hilI h ill st sinliil lI'l\1 lI'l lIl 1 ' \ lUll nnil I buk hid , up lip \ with t\lth t lth IIIJlIII bulli . ' ' tllI111 Hie tllI * \\111 111 \ wDids lis \ wine \ 1111 h 1)'In 1In ) 'III III ' v \ "HI HI " ) i iii \ v\ v vlinen \ linen IllIen Just as ns GI G ( Oll ; : : \ \ ul1lnOlo.1 ul1lnOlo1 us ! ) > hlnglo ; . 1III h 1\ 1 \ id III b tJ Ill.l Illl lekeil . up the \ wonts ollIs of Hi 111 signers In Philadelphia GO O years before . . Thatman That man \ wis 15 ' Sim S'1m S1m ' Houston and he did It on the IJ.1ttlef1eld bat- bat IJ.1t- IJ.1t batticfield . - ticfield tlef1eld of ot Sin S'1n S1n ' Jaclnto Jacinto on April 21 . , 18.1GSo 183G 18.1G 181G 183GSo . So it \ was as only natural thit th'lt thlt ' Houston , lIhe George Washington Washlllton . ; , , should become hecome the first pres- pres presIdent - - Ident of the new republic which whlrh he hid h'1d h1d ' helpedto helped to establish The capital caltal ( } of that nerepuhllc new ne\\ ne \ \ republic repuhllc repuhllcas \ was \\as as named namcd for Stephen 1 < F \ . Austin , the "Father Father " nther ntherof of 1e lexas ns , " and nnd by act nct of ot Its con congress ress In Decem Decem- December December - ber , 1830 183G , , a blue flag with a sln single le golden starIn star in the center became becnme Its official omcinl ( flag Jag . Houston also became the first governor offe of ofFexas fe Fexas > " 3S \ when hen It entered tlie the Union In 184 1S4\ 1S4 1S4In \ ' ) , Inthe In the addition of Texas to the Union by annexation annexa- annexa annexatlon - tlon tion lies another of ot Its claims to being unIQueamong unique among the states stlltCS For or ' Texas 'le\as 'le le as " \ is the only one onewhich \ which hlch e\ e ever eer \ er had hnd the rl ht to subdivide Itself ltselt Into : ' several ( " , ernl sta states tes If It chose to do so . . The treaty of ot annexation anne\atlon anne atlon ' \ provided "for for "tor tor " thefuture the future |