Today is Texas Independence Day.
It was March 2, 1836, when 59 delegates signed a document in Washington-on-the-Brazos that declared the Republic of Texas was free and independent of Mexico.
The Texas declaration, written by Tennessean George Childress, was similar to Thomas Jefferson's 1776 American document and contained a statement of the nature of government, listed grievances and ultimately declared independence from Mexico.
Five copies were written and sent to major towns around the state and 1,000 more were ordered printed and distributed.
Texas' declaration occurred while the Mexican army hammered the walls of the Alamo, which fell on March 6, and a little more than a month before the April 21 defeat of the Mexican Army at San Jacinto. Mexican general and dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was captured April 22, ending the revolution.
Texas remained a republic until becoming the 28th U.S. State in 1845.
