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Origin of the famous words, "Come and take it." 150 volunteers from Gonzales and the surrounding towns 'rout' a detachment of Mexican troops sent to confiscate their cannon.
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Texas' war for independence from Mexico. Sam Houston's Call for Volunteers
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Volunteer troops attack and take the presidio at Goliad.
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Texian troops sent to scout out a position along the San Antonio river are ambushed by 400 mexican troops, but push back the attack using their defensive position and greater-ranged weapons.
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A gathering of Texas delegates met at San Felipe to discuss Texas independence. Formal independence was not declared, but the "right" to create an independent government was declared, if Mexico did not return to its 1824 Constitution. The provisional government created was less than successful, and was plagued by infighting.
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A Texas convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos declares independence from Mexico, naming Sam Houston Commander in Chief of the Army and establishing a provisional government until general elections could be held. Texas Declaration of Independence
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Texas' years as an independent nation.
Texas Declaration of Independence -
150 Texian troops under Travis and Bowie refused orders to retreat from the Alamo. The fort was besieged and eventually fell to the Mexican forces under Santa Anna. Santa Anna's forces took the fort but suffered heavy casualties in the process of a frontal assault on the walls, rather than waiting for their siege cannons to arrive. Travis' letter from the Alamo
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Texian troops under Houston attack and defeat a larger force of Mexicans under Santa Anna, capturing the Mexican president and forcing him to sign a treaty to end the war and order the return of his troops south over the Rio Grande.
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The Texas government compels Santa Anna to sign the Treaty of Velasco, officially recognizing Texas' independence from Mexico, as well as its southern border at the Rio Grande.
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Texas voters elected Sam Houston and Mirabeau Lamar as President and Vice President, respectively. A vast majority also expressed interest in annexation by the United States.
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Sam Houston becomes the first president of the newly formed Republic of Texas.
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Mirabeau Lamar won the presidency after Houston, as Houston could not run for a second term.
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Cherokees and their allies are defeated as they retreated north at the headwaters of the Neches River. Chief Bowl is shot and killed as the last man standing on the field. The rest retreated into the Indian Territory of the United States.
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Houston wins a second term, promising to fix the Republic's crippling debt, make peace with the Indians, and reopen annexation negotiations with the United States.
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Anson Jones, a supporter of Houston, wins the fourth and final term in the office of President of the Republic of Texas.
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Texas becomes the 28th state to join the Union.