Convention of 1836 facts for kids
The Convention of 1836 was a very important meeting in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas in March 1836. Delegates, who were like representatives, came together during the Texas Revolution. This revolution had started five months earlier. Before this meeting, the temporary government, called the Consultation, wasn't sure if Texas should declare independence from Mexico. They also debated if they should support the Mexican Constitution of 1824, which Mexico's current leader had rejected.
The delegates at the Convention of 1836 were younger and newer to Texas than those in past meetings. They were also much more determined to declare independence. As they got ready to meet, Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna led a large army into Texas. His goal was to stop the revolt. The first part of his army arrived in San Antonio on February 23.
The Convention officially started on March 1. The very next day, they adopted the Texas Declaration of Independence. This important document was written by George Childress. The delegates then chose a temporary government, with David G. Burnet as president. They also created a Texas Constitution, which was mostly based on the Constitution of the United States.
On March 6, they received a message from the Texan soldiers who were surrounded at the Alamo. Sam Houston, a delegate and commander-in-chief, convinced the men to keep working on the constitution. He stopped them from rushing to help the soldiers. After the Alamo fell, Santa Anna's army marched towards Washington-on-the-Brazos. This made the new government quickly leave the area.
Why the Convention Happened
The Texas Revolution began on October 2, 1835, with the Battle of Gonzales. The next month, elected delegates formed a group called the Consultation. This group was a temporary government for Texas. They struggled with a big question: Were Texans fighting to be free from Mexico? Or were they fighting to bring back the Mexican Constitution of 1824? That constitution offered more freedoms than the current Mexican government, which was like a dictatorship.
Many members of the Consultation wanted to wait to declare independence. They hoped the United States would support their fight first. The Consultation soon became very disorganized. The temporary legislature even accused the temporary governor, who then quickly ended the legislature.
On December 10, the Council decided to call for a new meeting of delegates. This meeting would start on March 1, 1836. Not everyone agreed on what this new convention should do. Some wanted it to form a new government for Texas. Others insisted on keeping the Mexican Constitution of 1824. One Consultation delegate wrote to Sam Houston: "I sincerely hope the Convention will fix the problems... if not Texas must be lost."
Over the next few months, Texas's temporary government almost completely fell apart. By February, most Consultation members had gone home or joined the army.
By the end of 1835, no Mexican troops were left in Texas. However, Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna had been planning to stop the unrest in Texas since October. He stepped down from being president to lead what he called the Army of Operations in Texas. This army would end the Texas revolt. Santa Anna personally led his forces and crossed the Rio Grande on February 12. He and his main group arrived in San Antonio on February 23. They immediately began a siege of the Texas forces at the Alamo Mission.
Who Were the Delegates?
Elections for delegates were set for February 1, 1836. There was a lot of disagreement across Texas about who should be allowed to vote. Should Tejanos (Texans of Mexican heritage) vote? What about recent arrivals from the United States who had joined the Army of the People?
The Consultation had said that all Tejanos "opposed to a Central Government" could vote. It also said that army volunteers could only vote in their home districts, by sending someone else to vote for them. But the temporary governor, Smith, vetoed this. He thought no Tejanos should vote. The Telegraph and Texas Register newspaper worried that new recruits "cannot be acquainted either with the state of the country or the character and pretensions of the candidates." They suggested that people should have lived in Texas for a certain time to vote. Since the army was in only two main areas, their numbers often outnumbered local residents.
The Consultation also changed the voting districts. San Augustine, Harrisburg, and Gonzales each had four fewer delegates than before. Milam had three fewer. With little clear guidance from the Consultation, voting in each town followed local traditions. In some areas, like the Jackson district, citizens met in January. They decided if they wanted independence or federalism (a system where states have more power). Once they agreed on independence, only candidates who supported that idea were considered.
Other areas offered no real choice. In Mina, the only candidates were the local empresario (a land agent), Sterling C. Robertson, and his nephew, George C. Childress. But in most of the region, candidates had lively debates about the issues or their opponents.
Soldiers who had joined the army were determined to vote. This was true no matter how long they had been in Texas or if they planned to stay. In Matagorda, soldiers who had finished their service voted while on their way back to the United States. There was no clear rule for how active volunteers' votes were handled. In Goliad, soldiers held their own election for two delegates. In nearby San Patricio, locals refused to let soldiers vote. Their election results were later canceled by the Convention. Soldiers turned away in Refugio simply held their own election.
In the Nacogdoches district, soldiers under Sidney Sherman threatened violence when they were turned away from voting. Sherman said he "had come to Texas to fight for it and has as soon commence in the town of Nacogdoches as elsewhere." To avoid a fight, election judges asked the public to vote on whether the troops should vote. The soldiers lost by 30 votes but refused to give up. They insisted the voting was unfair. Finally, one candidate, Thomas Jefferson Rusk, convinced the judges to let the soldiers vote. In Nacogdoches, Rusk and another pro-independence candidate, Robert Potter, became delegates. Two pro-federalist candidates, John S. Roberts and Charles S. Taylor, were also chosen.
A similar fight was avoided in San Antonio. There, army commander James C. Neill made a deal with local civilian leaders. The soldiers held their own election for two delegates. Meanwhile, San Antonio citizens, mostly Tejanos, who promised loyalty to the temporary government could elect four more men. The two men almost everyone in the army chose, Samuel Maverick and Jesse Badgett, strongly supported independence. Some soldiers also got votes in the locals' election, but the final delegates were locals. Soldier Amos Pollard warned that if locals didn't vote for independence, they might not want to come home.
This convention was different from earlier Texas meetings in 1832, 1833, and the Consultation. Many delegates in 1836 were young men who had just arrived in Texas. However, many had fought in battles in 1835. Most delegates were part of the "War Party." They strongly believed Texas had to declare independence from Mexico.
A total of 59 delegates were elected to the Convention. This was 5 more than planned, mostly because soldiers held extra elections. Over one-third of the delegates came from far east or west Texas. These areas were not represented at the Consultation. Five delegates came from the Red River district, an area that Texas and the United States both claimed.
Most delegates were new to politics. Only 13 had been in the Consultation. Seven had been in the Conventions of 1832 or 1833. Only 8 had held local office under Mexican rule. Less than 20% had been in the 1835 Committees of Safety. Neither Governor Smith nor acting Governor Robinson were elected delegates.
However, a few delegates had a lot of public service experience. Lorenzo de Zavala was a former governor of the State of Mexico. Jose Antonio Navarro had served in the Mexican legislature. Potter, Childress, Richard Ellis, and Samuel Price Carson had important political experience in the United States.
The average age of the delegates was 37.4 years old. This was over a year younger than those in the Consultation. They had lived in Texas for an average of 4 years. This is a short time, even though it included two men, Jose Francisco Ruiz and Navarro, who were born in Texas. A full quarter of the delegates had lived in Texas less than a year. 42% had lived there for less than two years.
The army's influence was clear. Forty percent of the delegates (24 men) had served in the army from October to December 1835. Four other delegates were related to men in the army. These numbers meant the army group was almost a majority of delegates. This made sure the army's needs would finally be addressed.
What Happened at the Convention
Forty-one delegates arrived in Washington-on-the-Brazos on February 28. The convention began on March 1 with Richard Ellis as president.
The delegates asked George Childress to lead a committee of five. Their job was to write a Declaration of Independence. Childress, who was the nephew of empresario Sterling C. Robertson, had been elected to the Convention just three weeks after arriving in Texas. The committee presented its draft in only 24 hours. This makes historians think Childress had written most of it before he even arrived at the Convention. The declaration was approved on March 2 without any debate.
The declaration was mostly based on the ideas of John Locke and Thomas Jefferson. It announced that the Mexican government "ceased to protect the lives, liberty, and property of the people." It also complained about "arbitrary acts of oppression and tyranny." This declaration officially created the Republic of Texas.
Soon after adopting the declaration of independence, the delegates started working on a new Constitution. It borrowed many ideas from the Constitution of the United States. It also included a declaration of rights, similar to the Bill of Rights. This guaranteed fair legal processes, the right to own weapons, and freedom of religion, speech, and press. The declaration of rights also outlawed unfair searches, jailing people for debt, and cruel punishments. It did not include the Third Amendment to the United States Constitution. Instead, it specifically allowed the government to house soldiers in private homes and take property for the war effort if needed.
The new Constitution changed the Texas justice system. It required grand jury indictments and quick public trials with juries. However, unlike the United States Constitution, the Texas Constitution included racism. Free black people were not allowed to live permanently in Texas without Congress's permission. Citizenship could not be given to Africans, their descendants, or Native Americans. Also, the Constitution stopped the future Texas Congress from freeing slaves. It also told slaveholders not to free their own slaves without Congress's permission. Citizenship was only given to white men. The new Constitution clearly stated that government power came from the people. This meant the people had the right to revolt to change their government.
The biggest debates were about land policy. Delegates struggled to balance the claims of native people, settlers, army volunteers, and colonizers. Every idea for a new land policy was sent back to committee or rejected until the very last day. The new policy helped settlers and army volunteers. It made sure they would get the land they were promised when they moved to Texas. All land surveys done before November 1835 were made valid. Any done since then, when land offices were supposed to be closed, were canceled. All further surveys were banned until the new Congress could set up a land office. Additionally, three controversial land grants were overturned.
On the morning of March 6, the Convention received a letter from Alamo commander William B. Travis. The letter was dated March 3. Travis begged for supplies and more soldiers. He described the danger he and his men were in. Delegate Robert Potter didn't know the fort had already fallen. He called for the Convention to stop and march immediately to help the Alamo. Sam Houston convinced the delegates to stay in Washington-on-the-Brazos to finish the constitution.
Houston then left to take command of the volunteers. Colonel James C. Neill and Major R.M. "Three-Legged Willie" Williamson had been gathering these volunteers in Gonzales. Soon after Houston arrived in Gonzales, Alamo survivors Susanna Dickinson and Joe, Travis's slave, arrived. They brought news of a Mexican victory. Hearing this, Houston told all civilians in the area to leave. He also ordered the army to retreat. This caused a huge movement of Texans fleeing the Anglo settlements.
The Convention was worried the existing army was not big enough. So, on March 12, they passed a conscription law. This meant all able-bodied white and Tejano men between 17 and 50 years old had to serve in the military. Local authorities would assign two-thirds of the men in their district to fight at any one time. Those who refused to serve would lose their citizenship and half of their property. Tejanos would not serve with the Anglos. Instead, they would have their own separate group.
After finishing their constitution, the delegates created a temporary government. This government would serve until the following October. They chose David G. Burnet as president. Burnet had not been elected to the Convention. He had planned to join the fighting at the Alamo and had stopped at the Convention to find others to join him. However, he became so "inspired by their discussions" that he stayed as a visitor. Burnet spoke privately with many delegates. He said he would be willing to serve as president of a new republic, even if it made him a target for Santa Anna.
Some names often mentioned for president were empresario Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, and William H. Wharton. But they were all absent from the convention. So, the nominees became Burnet and Samuel Price Carson. Burnet won with a vote of 29 to 23 in the early hours of March 17. The delegates chose Lorenzo de Zavala as vice-president. Samuel P. Carson became Secretary of State, and Thomas J. Rusk was Secretary of War. Bailey Hardeman became Secretary of the Treasury, and David Thomas was chosen as Attorney General.
One of Burnet's first actions as president was to move the capital of the new state. It moved from Washington-on-the-Brazos to Harrisburg. Harrisburg was closer to the small Texas Navy at Galveston Island. It was also closer to the United States border, which would make it easier to talk with U.S. officials. The move became urgent when the convention heard that Santa Anna was within 60 miles (97 km) of Washington-on-the-Brazos. Burnet quickly ended the meeting, and the government fled. Burnet personally carried the Texas Declaration of Independence in his saddlebags.
