The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 13, July 1909 - April, 1910 Page: 161
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Recognition of the Republic of Texas by the U. S. 161
took its place. 'The motives that influenced the Consultation in
making this change were no doubt the same as those expressed
in a report sent in to San Felipe, November 9, by the Jurisdiction
of Liberty. It said:
In behalf of their fellow citizens they [that is, the committee
appointed to make the report] state that a premature declaration
of independence would be inexpedient and injurious, that a tempo-
rary provisional organization of Government with a carefull atten-
tion to the development of events is the best policy; that a pre-
cipitious casesion from the Mexican Republic might incur the rep-
rehension, and wean from us the sympathies of many friends in
the North.2
Another argument in favor of the interpretation of the declara-
tion of November 7 as a measure purely of expediency is the strik-
ing analogy between the present situation and that of 1832. At
that time a struggle was going on in Mexico between Bustamante,
who had set up a tyrannical form of government, and Santa Anna,
then posing as the champion of the Constitution of 1824. In the
meantime hostilities had broken out at Anahuac between the Texan
The Journals of the Consltafion in the printed form in which they
now exist (Gemmel, Laws of Texas. I 507-548) state simply that on
November 4 Wharton. from this committee, "made a report." That this
is an expurgated edition of the Journals there is much internal evidence
to show. But. aside from this, the circumstances under which the Jour-
nals were published would naturally lead one to expect as much. De-
cember 25, 1835, when the quarrel between the governor and the council
-concerning the cooperation with the Mexican Liberals was at i+s height
Barrett, who was perhaps the most radical of Governor Smith's op-
ponents, presented a "corrected copy of the Journals of the Convention"
[Consultationl, and this "revised Journal" was ordered printed (Gammel,
Laws of Texas, I, 507. 693). Yonknm, fistonrr of Texas. TI, 1l, footnote,
is authority for the statement that a deelaration of independence was
first adonted and then reconsidered. He bhses his information upon an-
other copv of the journal, page 51--orohnbly the original. Garrison,
Texas, 19.5. suggests that the declaration of November 4 may be among
the archives in the state house, but it has not vet been discovered.
-Extract from a letter addressed to the Provisional Government by the
Committee of Safety of the Jnrisicefion of Liberiy November 9, 1]R35, in
minutes of the General Council, November 15 (MS), Austin Paners. It
was printed in Proceedings of the General Coucme;l, for November 16 and
appears in Gammnel. Laws of Texas. I, 554. This is another illustration
(see above, note 1) of the revision which took place before printing.
Besides havin_ the spelling and the punctuation corrected, the printed
copy reads, simply, "that a precipitate secession from the Mexicann Re-
public might incur reprehension." Evidently it was 'the desire of the
Council to eliminate anything that would savor of independence.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 13, July 1909 - April, 1910, periodical, 1910; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101051/m1/181/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.