Looking Back - Texas Declaration of Independence

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…”

The Texas Declaration of Independence as seen in Gammel's The Laws of Texas.

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.

Digitized Historical Texas Statutes from the Texas State Law Library

Earlier this month, the Texas State Law Library announced a new collection of digitized historical Texas statutes available on its website. The collection now includes all Texas statutes from 1879 to 1960. The newest content includes works with copyrighted material published between 1928 and 1960, which is now available under an agreement with the copyright holder Thomson Reuters and in collaboration with the Austin Bar Foundation, which provided a grant to fund digitization. Visit the Historical Texas Statutes page on the Texas State Law Library website to learn more and to download copies of these newly-digitized, searchable documents.

Minding the Gap

Despite the Texas State Law Library’s giant leap forward in making historical Texas statutes available online, there is still a gap practitioners must keep in mind. Thomson Reuter’s Westlaw provides access to historical statutes back to 1987, which is likely to cover most researcher’s needs. However, a criminal defense attorney might need to know the language of a 1985 DWI statute to determine its effect on a client's sentence, or a real estate attorney may need to read a probate statute from the 1970s to see how it will impact a title in a pending sale. When research falls into the gap, the Harris County Law Library is here to help. We have historical statutes and legislative history materials to help you reconstruct historical Texas statutes and we provide free access to Westlaw on our legal research computers for your 1987-to-present research needs. Visit the Law Library any time we can assist with your historical Texas statutory research.

Looking Back - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

February 2, 1848 – On this day, representatives from the United States and Mexico, including Nicholas Philip Trist, on behalf of President Polk, signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, officially bringing an end to the Mexican-American War. Named for the Mexican city in which the peace agreement was signed, the treaty established the Rio Grande as the southern boundary of the United States and required Mexico to relinquish and surrender all claims to Texas. The treaty also compelled Mexico to cede Arizona, New Mexico and California and parts of Colorado, Utah and Nevada to the United States. In exchange, the United States agreed to pay $15 million for damage caused to Mexican property during the war and agreed to protect the civil rights of Mexican nationals living within its borders.

If you would like to read more about the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and view some copies of the manuscripts, visit the Library of Congress’ online collection.

First page of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

From the Nicholas Philip Trist Papers, 1795-1873,  Manuscript Division, Library of Congress