Show Pr exas Inde D a. a I I 4 y mot c eW 4 s rf f T ry aff S Sr r a i Kit ltd Z a c farI i ie e i sr 1 I i t tl i t t I 1 s s r T L x a Ma I t et 4 t's e tt 47 t I t t t t Texas Declaration of Independence ence f t Preamble and Conclusion a s t a M x i a. a d gle t h f d When a government m nt his has ceased to 10 protect th the 4 a l V i lint Un liberty and property of th the po people from whom r p Mow q Iii a l t 4 III Its legitimate powers power are ar r derived and ami 11 1 for the th ed ad d- d al of wh whose when happiness II I w WM was Instituted 0 mil and milso 1 as s fur for their theft v eh so o f tar r from boing a guarantee jb 3 v yr sp In to Inthe and nd nd right becomes com an en Instrument the hindi bands of ot evil 8 for their when when the tha ig az y F r a Ss mh oi t Federal Foda Constitution of ot their country r s p a t Ai kS ti O e w which they Iby have ha sworn orn to support no longer has hns a a b existence and the tho whole who nature of ot their government has hu been bun forcibly changed chanced ha without I t their Hr Iff LL l' l r Or rr 1141 e consent from a federative rv come com- com ot of f sovereign states state to a consolidate central military In to which every Is 10 but that of the army and priesthood both bothof of hl h are the eternal enemies of civil olvil liberty the ver ever minions minion of power and the usual Instruments metre menu ments ot Of tyrants tyrants Ion long lone I after the spirit pint of the tho Coi Constitution has bas departed moderation Is to at length le as t tar fur r lust loll by those thone In to power pow that even eyen the semblance l I of fr freedom i dom Is 10 removed and the forms form even in of ot the discontinued and ond M so far for from their dons and hd remonstrance being regarded tI the agents II who bur beer them ar are er thrown Into Inlo dunt dunk cons eons an and mercenary set oel forth to force a new ne govern I meet ment upon n them at the point of the bayonet h hn n In to con of such uh act ete of ot melt n. n e and Kb nb- Auction o oa 08 the part purl of th government anarchy pret pro pre t valla u ll nod and e clety IU la is Into lt Ito It original elements In such urh a the th Aret I. I law w of of nature tho right of 01 Ir Ares vrem and the Inherent and In- In right t of f the thi p people pl to app appal al to 10 first drat and ami take Uke their political affaire affair Into own hands handi In caws enjoins It as a right toward themselves end and a sacred cred obligation to their posterity to t. such uch a government and create reate another In n Iti e stead r rd to cu them m tr from u m tm Impending Pen d In g d dangers dangar ger and n I to sr pur welfare and ant haDt t n ft ae s writ well 11 a ae Individual In t are aro au for their thi-lr Hits acts to the Ih opinion of cf mankind A nt of ot a pun port t t of our grievances Irlen Is to therefore submitted t to 14 f an Impartial world In Justification of the Ih luu but bul step now taken of ot g our eur political connection with the b Mexican le people and Anil an n attitude among the nation nations if of f I the h. earth 0 e 0 e 0 eNate Note ISo here litre e follow follows the list lilt of grievances In 10 a These Then and 01 other bel grievances wire wre patiently borne born by l the ho of Texas iMa until they ra reached that point at r t h to bo bu a virtue I We tYe t. t then 1 took look up tn arms In d d. d t ft finne nee of the Ibe national We W. appealed 1 to 10 our brethren tor for Resistance Our Ou amiral al lute hlO O bt been n ina luau a h U In vain aln Though month months hue bl In d nl no sympathetic response has hu yet been h. h ard fn trim in the Iho Interior We are re therefore forced to the tho oh eum that the Mexican people h have he e In the destruction of ot their liberty and the Ih lon Ion of a military government they ar nn nt unfit to be free tre and are Incapable of co nt Tho Thu rHolly or of eulf there therefore tore decrees decree l sn Ih eternal 1 political i. i We W fore the delegates with plenary powers power tt t U the Vj o n ot of Te Texas In solemn convention a. a u ap 1 In to 1 the th Judgment of a world as 1 to 10 the Ih of ot our condition DO Db DISSOLVE ant 11 d declare clar that our ur political connection with iii the thu 1 nation has ha forever ended and that th Ih people loIle of T Te do now constitute a rnE and ond 1 INDEPENDENT and ana l are fully i lod In w With h all the Ibe rights and attributes attribute which 1 pt pery belongs t. t to independent nation and t f the ot of our we con ti tit 1 commit the tu 10 Ih de ch nation or t tb he lot of the thee of By ELMO SCOTT W WATSON F BOYS HOTS In other st states only realized It It I they should be envious of ot the boys bos who live UNO In Texas Two Independence days davs to celebrate every year think jear think of ot It t I Fur For Texas as one of the sisterhood of ot Mut's not only observes July 4 as the when till all Americans were freed treed from the yoke foke but It t has tilts au an Independence Inde nce day till all of its own o which Ith it h ell lr on March 2 when Texans were treed freed from th the Mexican yoke Althou Although h March 2 Is an 1111 Independence day which the Lone Star state claims as her own the which brought It about bout are a part of our national heritage anti ana some some of the men men who Played prominent roles In 10 the fight for tor freedom ore ure jre national heroes herol's no less than Texas heroes pt If one ne of f um them tell le lu In hIs own owr words word ds the story of the e document which is iii reproduced In part e e. e Here litre I is III what DIl Davy 1 Cr Crockett clett Tennessee und and former congressman who had ume to 10 the IIII aid uld of or the thc Texans In their fight for liberty wroth wrote in Ids hIs diary In 1830 March U- U a day lay tt the a delegates m mt et In r. r wai on at nt the tho Washington to fl wu of or fronie our of Independence That that J elt fn b instrument may newer never be trampled on by er the bloOd bloo n n of those who have so shed hed i to establish tt ft Is the sincere wish of ot David avid n Universal Independence Is an nn almighty to mighty idea dip far too extensive e for some gorae brains bran o It U Is ls a beautiful seed that rapidly and nd brings forth a large ant and vigorous U trot hut but like the deadly we e some some- limes rn i n n M flan Inde l till the smaller plan plants ts wither and die In Us ton Those ThoRe n VlIs orIs lire are all a the the ra more re remarkable when hen pU rO consider lder the circumstances circumstances' under which they M ire re i i ohi philosopher For lor the they are not the pondering of liberty I cn on an nb abstract tract problem of Ir life w Cro-w situ Pursuit of happiness When the e Ai Wrote those 1089 words word he ho w wis IS a penned Panned 11 In III InV Alamo n the historic church hurh In t V for L hint San Sun Antonio of thai the problem m of life lite liberty and pursuit how holy in i s w Us Its nn gly concrete one of lOul could Iii hI and his comrades In ho nut ut against t t the assaults of more mon thuu hull t D soldiers with l Santa Anna the tho The If hUll hail the fortress Inn e if had U be R nn on February 22 22 Washy Wash Wash- All y It tt would WOUld bo be to know r t I t tI I f t i 1 fly flyS S y r r rr i if f 7 I r e If It the thoughts of these fighters turned to the soldier who ulio Just sixty years ears before had taken charge chargo of the rho first Art American war for freedom from a foreign ruler as they watched the Ilex Ilex- lean Ican horde gather ar around und their fortress In the meantime the patriots of Texas were gathering at Washington on the Brazos for the convention which was WIlS to declare Texas free and Independent Some of ot the delegates were In favor ta of aban aban- do dotting their purpose for gathering there and hurrying Ing to the rescue of Travis Bowie Howie Bonham Crockett and their comrades In the Alamo But nut ButRam Sam Ram Houston and others pointed pointed- out that any force torce th they y could assemble in such suh a short time would be useless against Santa uta Annas Anna's army anny and that their first responsibility was to create a government gov coy with a responsible head which could offer organized resistance to the llIe enemy Their counsels prevailed It wits not of desertIng deserting desert deserting ing their countrymen in peril as that bare statement state stute ment meat of ot fact might Indicate For IFor while the doomed men In the Alamo were fighting against overwhelming odds the little group of men who met at Washington u. u were hazarding their lives too Failure of their enterprise meant death for them If they fell feU into the hands of Santa Anna as liS surely as the fall full of ot the thu Alamo mea meant lit death for Its defenders So the convention wept rot ahead abend with its work and on Mardi March 2 the declaration was signed No word pf of of what had token taken place there got through to the the defenders of ot the Alamo who may mayor or may not have ve realized that they were tl to be the first to III lay down their lives liveR In defense of time tile principles prin set forth In that tint document The final entry In Crocketts Crockett's diary was WOl written on March Marh B. B This Is what It said aid March 5 8 IS Pop POI pop pop pops I Dom Born bom born bum born I Throughout the day No time for memorandums now Oo Go ahead r I Liberty and Independence Inde forever er t I tIt It was a R fitting valedictory The next day the Mexicans Mexican stormed the lime Alamo Then followed One hour lOne One short hort hour filled with such sublime struggle gle as has not ben been witnessed often orLen lu In the brief compass of or sixty minutes The sun Is shining The plaza Is U filled l with light II the light of morning the light t of or heroic c death of self self- sacrifice mind and the tile day breaks a n day of or eternal remembrance Accounts of the last lut desperate hand hand to hand to-hand struggle vary for a as the time monument erected to the heroes of the Alamo at atthe atthe atthe the state capitol l In Austin proudly tells their story Thermopylae had hud Its messenger er of defeat the Alamo had no none none All AU that lint we know Is 18 that they died fighting If the flue story of or the time Alamo were the only tally tale of ruthless slaughter that could be tolt of or Santa Anna history might not remember his name with such loathing I For the men of the Alamo had disdained to for quarter and when hen their fortress W was f taken by hy storm It Is 19 not to be tie won wondered wondered dered at nt that the tie Infuriated enemy should hould put them to death Hut but the years ears cnn can ne never efface the time disgrace which the this Mexican dictator brought himself when he ordered the massacre of lit upon ullon Tannin and hl Iris nun men at nt on en March Co Cot Col J J. J W. W which Is often misused word 27 21 J Massacre I Is a n n O and und many called so-called massacres are not that at atall atall t taU all aU But Dut It only can be applied with all Its shameful shameful shame I ful tul corollaries of treachery and broken wore word of ol honor hOllor to the murder of more than members member of Fannins Fannin's command unarmed prisoners many of ot of them wounded ann and ana helpless who had surrendered stir sur t rendered only upon a solemn convention signed and witnessed by both Texans Texan and Mexicans that they thel would be honorably treated as pr prisoners of war yar Theft That murder was wai 81 committed by b orders of ot ottlie the man who loved to style himself the n of the West Nest but whom Texans Texan remember ai at asSanta Santa Anna Annn the prince of butchers From Prom then theft en n events marched rapidly In fact the shortness and decisiveness of the Texan tru struggle gle is one ono ot of the tote most amazing things about It The war for tor freedom in 70 10 lasted five fi years after lifter Independence had bad been declared The w war r for fr freedom edom In 80 30 lasted less leas than three months after a similar declaration Enter now now another hero which Texas TerM shares hares with the nation the Washington of SO 30 Sam Houston frontiersman lieutenant of Old Hickory Jackson when he crushed hed the Creek Indians at Tohopeka governor of Tennessee and congressman Stephen Stphen F. F Austin the lather father of ot Texas scholar trained business man legislator who vho had planted be first American Amerlan colony In that state in 1820 1520 had returned from front a Mexican n prison at nt the outbreak of the war to organize an array army to defend Texan liberties and assumed Il command of or the army army Not long after the corien conven lion Uon at San SlIn Felipe Felipo In June 1815 Austin was appointed commissioner to obtain money and munitions from th the United States and Sum Houston lions Hous ton became me commander In n chief of the little urmy of less than 1000 men Then this master strategist began the retreat which lured Santa An Anna into dividing his army and pursuing pursuing just just the thing that Houston wanted Finally Houston decided that lie Ite had lured the enemy far enough and prepared to give battle The position he took for tor his army was wa a dangerous l one On one side lay n deep marsh and the tho waters vaters of San Son Jacinto bay Behind them was a n stream tream called Buffalo bayou crossed about eight miles dl distant by bridge the sole avenue of escape In event of disaster And Houston unknown to his men men sent Deaf Smith the famous scout and a companion to chop Iowa down this bridge I On the afternoon of If April 21 ISM 1831 Houston led his little army of men poorly armed d against Santa Anna's Annas ii 1400 1 veterans and their theft artillery As they advanced to attack the enemy Deaf Dent Smith dashed madly up on a horse and swinging his ax Ill over over his III head bead shouted I have Ilave cut down Vinee's bridge Now fight light for fur your lives 8 and renumber remember the tile Alamo I 1 I As the Texans shouting shouting shout shout- ing the battle buttle rr cry cry- rry which near heat Smith had given them swept down upon the Mexican camp the enemy who bud hud not not dreamed of the po possibility of an attack by the Texans fled In dismay In fifteen minutes Santa Annas Anna's army was on the When hen Alamo and run run the battle hattiE was over pr O lolled hut hud been belI revenged Six hundred and ond thirty 1 Mexicans were dead were wounded and were prisoners Houston's Houstons loss was 7 killed and 23 23 wounded wound Id I'd I It was one of the must most crushing defeat ever Inflicted by Americans on munn nn an enemy The Tho next day duX Santa Anna was vall captured and the thew w way war i for fur Independence was wall won although It was not formally acknowledged until May 14 when ben the treaty of ot was signed So It was eminently liltIng fitting that the Washington of the should the first war for freedom In 38 36 become Ire of the time new nel Republic of or Texas I and later the first governor of or the state of or Texas when the Lone Star took Its place on time the blue field nE-lt of or the Stars und and Stripes Although the capital of ot Texas bears the time name dame it uT If Stephen F F. F Austin Austin- the name nam of the hero of ot San Kan Jacinto U is Immortalized In one cm of If Texas Texas' lemI lg cities JUt which stands near the tin site of Ms his great victory There Thre two years ngo the w whole world Joined In to tailoring his memory Iy when 11 delegates tes to JO the the con con- on of the Associated 1 Advertising Ad Clubs of ot the World witnessed time unveiling of the heroic statue latue shown hown above In the time picture Ille appear left lo to rh right lt l tl the life e sculptor lr and threE descendants of or this thin old uld general general David David 1 V Ir Houston former secretary tIt of f and lIe secretary of ot the treasury Heibert Houston note publisher |