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The Convention of 1836 was held at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 1 with 59 delegates present. On March 2, they ratified the Texas Declaration of Independence, which was created there. The Texas Constitution, which outlined the participants' vision for the new Republic, was also written during the Convention. -
Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo on March 6, 1836. Under the leadership of William B. Travis and James Bowie, Texas rebels engaged the Mexican army in a bloody conflict. Both sides suffered a lot of casualties, but Santa Anna's army ultimately won. During the assault, the Alamo's defenders were murdered, including renowned frontiersman and former congressman David Crockett. -
The Goliad Massacre took place on March 27, 1836, when the Mexican Army executed 425–445 prisoners of war from the Texian Army of the Republic of Texas. The men thought they would be freed in a few weeks after turning themselves in, but that was not to be. Lt. Colonel José Nicolás de la Portilla carried out the slaughter on orders from General and President of Mexico, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Except for 28 men who pretended to be dead and fled, the whole Texian force was massacred. -
On April 21, Houston gave the order to engage the Mexican army despite being outnumbered. The ragged militia charged the Mexican army while yelling "Remember the Alamo!" and "Remember Goliad!" It is generally accepted that Santa Anna and his soldiers took an afternoon nap and were consequently unprepared to withstand the attack, which lasted around 18 minutes. 630 Mexicans died, and just nine Texans. After the conflict, Santa Anna was taken prisoner. And so the Republic of Texas was founded. -
Sam Houston and Mirabeau B. Lamar were swiftly elected as the first president and vice president of the fledgling Republic of Texas in September 1836. Stephen F. Austin was chosen by Houston to serve as secretary of state. However, at the age of 43, Austin passed away in office on December 27, 1836. -
Austin became the state's capital during the administration of Mirabeau B. Lamar, Texas' second president. The group examined property north of San Antonio between the Trinity and Colorado Rivers because many members of Congress thought Houston was too far from the original Texas colonies. Lamar established a commission to start looking into suitable sites for the new capital. In the end, they settled on the town of Waterloo, which they renamed Austin in memory of Stephen F. Austin. -
On January 25, 1839, the Third Congress of the Republic of Texas adopted the Texas flag on a motion made by William H. Wharton, Oliver Jones, and others. It stated that the flag should have two horizontal stripes of equal length and breadth, the upper stripe being white and the lower stripe being red, both measuring one-third of the length of the entire flag. The flag should also have a blue perpendicular stripe that was one-third of its width and a white star with five points in the center. -
After a protracted and contentious diplomatic battle and almost ten years after achieving independence from Mexico, Texas was annexed by the United States during the presidency of James Polk.