Washington-on-the-Brazos Washington Texas United States

Delegates elected from each municipality in Texas convene to declare Texas's independence from Mexico, write a new constitution and organize an interim government in an unfinished building in near-freezing weather on March 1, 1836, at Washington-on-the Brazos, a small, ramshackle town built next to a ferry landing on the Brazos River.

The delegates had declared independence on March 2 and adopted a constitution on March 16, naming David Burnet provisional president of an independent Texas; Sam Houston’s command is reconfirmed.

The Constitution of the Republic of Texas, modeled after the United States Constitution, allows slavery and requires free blacks to petition Congress to live in the country, but prohibits import of slaves from anywhere but the United States.

As the anti-slavery party in the United States Congress blocks the admission of Texas to the Union, President Andrew Jackson recognizes it as an independent republic.

The delegates work until March 17, when they have to flee, along with the people of Washington, to escape the advancing Mexican Army.

The townspeople will return after the Mexican Army is defeated at San Jacinto on April 21, and Town leaders will lobby for Washington’s designation as the permanent capital of the Republic of Texas, but leaders of the Republic will pass over Washington in favor of Waterloo, which will soon be renamed Austin.