The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 15, July 1911 - April, 1912 Page: 184
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184 Texas Historical Association Quarterly
that all members who were present at its passage should sign it
immediately, while those who were not then present should sign it
later at their convenience.1 We have no original, and the names are
omitted from the printed copy. From the manuscript source we
learn that after the adoption of the declaration nearly the whole
of the 7th was spent in discussing it. This suggests that the
unanimity with which it was passed may have been less hearty
than the laconic record of the printed journal indicates. Perhaps
it was this discussion which prompted Houston's motion that
every member should sign the declaration.
The fact is that the independence party succeeded in giving
the declaration a brusquer tone than their numerical strength in
the Consultation warranted. Though there was probably no in-
tention to make it so, the second article had a patronizing ring
which a sensitive Mexican could hardly fail to resent; and the
fifth article was in effect a conditional declaration of independ-
ence. Stephen F. Austin was disappointed by the ambiguous
character of the document. He thought that it tended "fully as
much to independence as to adhesion to the constitution of 1824,"
and he foresaw that Santa Anna would take advantage of it to
give the war a national, racial character. And in this Austin did
not give full expression to his opinion of the shortcomings of the
declaration.2
1Journals of the Consultation, 22-23.
2Original draft of a letter from Austin to the Provisional Government in
the Austin Papers. This is not dated, but there is a copy in the archives
of the State Department of Texas, Records, Vol. 3, pp. 157-159, dated
December 3. The original so well illustrates the characteristic cautious-
ness of Austin, and at the same time suggests the sensitive nature of the
subject, that two paragraphs are quoted with their erasures and inter-
lineations inserted in brackets:
. . . "Should the Govt. succeed in giving to this war a national
character, as they are attempting, Texas will have to contend against
the whole nation united against her. That such a character will be given
to it is probable-in fact it is almost certain, for the reason that the
declaration made by the Genl Consultation [admits of] tends [more]
fully as much to independence [than to] as to adhesion to the constitu-
tion of 1824-[and whether fortunately or some most]-some of the
subsequent measures [especially the imp] have the same tendency. The
manner [that] in which Govr Viesca and Col Gonzales [ete were reed.
at have been were] have been reed. [at Goliad etc] will also have
its effect [in short the debates and opinions expressed in favor of inde-
pendence and the general impression that has gone abroad that inde-
pendence was the object] the organization of a local Govt. without a
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 15, July 1911 - April, 1912, periodical, 1912; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101056/m1/189/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.