March 2, 1836
“We…do hereby resolve and declare, that our political connection with the Mexican nation has forever ended, and that the people of Texas do now constitute a free, Sovereign, and independent republic…”
Thus concludes the Texas Declaration of Independence signed on March 2, 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos. Present at the Convention of 1836 were 59 delegates, each representing a settlement in Texas and each voting in favor of independence. The document, quite similar in spirit to the United States Declaration of Independence, laid bare the grievances that the people of Texas had against Mexico. Among other things, the Declaration accused the Mexican government of failing to protect the lives, liberty, and property of its people, of changing the nature of the governmental system without the people’s consent, of imprisoning anyone who protested against the government, of failing to secure the right of trial by jury and other civil liberties, of failing to establish a system of public education, and of invading the Texas territory. As a result of these failings and issues, the signatory delegates resolved to sever all political ties with Mexico. Five copies of the document were then sent to the towns of Bexar, Goliad, Nacogdoches, Brazoria, and San Felipe. The original document was sent to the United States Department of State and was returned to the state in 1896.
You can find both the text of the Declaration of Independence and the journals of the Convention at Washington in Gammel's The Laws of Texas, a copy of which can be found here at the Law Library. If you want to learn more about the Texas fight for independence and all things Texas, come on down to the law library and have a look at the Texas Almanac. You'll find a wealth of information.