29 March, 2010

Ninety-Nine Years Ago Today!

The Military of these united States adopted the finest sidearm ever created- the M1911 on March 28th, 1911.

And as it is written, glad tidings and joy be unto thee and he, when another is brought unto and in the church of John Moses Browning...

And I did my part this weekend to honor and celebrate this auspicious day!

WP

27 March, 2010

Remember Goliad!

"FELLOW SOLDIERS: In the order of Providence we are this day called upon to pay the last sad offices of respect to the remains of the noble and heroic band, who, battling for our sacred rights, have fallen beneath the ruthless hand of a tyrant. Their chivalrous conduct entitles them to the heartfelt gratitude of the people of Texas. Without any further interest in the country than that which all noble hearts feel at the bare mention of liberty, they rallied to our standard. Relinquishing the ease, peace, and comforts of their homes, leaving behind them all they held dear, their mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives, they subjected themselves to fatigue and privation, and nobly threw themselves between the people of Texas and the legions of Santa Anna. There, unaided by re-inforcements and far from help and hope, they battled bravely with the minions of a tyrant, ten to one. Surrounded in the open prairie by this fearful odds, cut off from provisions and even water, they were induced, under the sacred promise of receiving the treatment usual to prisoners of war, to surrender. They were marched back, and for a week treated with the utmost inhumanity and barbarity. They were marched out of yonder fort under the pretense of getting provisions, and it was not until the firing of musketry did the shrieks of the dying, that they were satisfied of their approaching fate. Some endeavored to make their escape, but they were pursued by the ruthless cavalry and most of them cut down with their swords. A small number of them stand by the grave-a bare remnant of that noble band. Our tribute of respect is due to them; it is due to the mothers, sisters, and wives who weep their untimely end, that we should mingle our tears with theirs. In that mass of remains and fragments of bones, many a mother might see her son, many a sister her brother, and many a wife her own beloved and affectionate husband. But we have a consolation- yet to offer them: their murderers sank in death on the prairies of San Jacinto, under the appalling words, "Remember La Bahia." Many a tender and affectionate woman will remember, with tearful eye, "La Bahia." But we have another consolation to offer. It is, that while liberty has a habitation and a name, their chivalrous deeds will be handed down upon the bright pages of history. We can still offer another consolation: Santa Anna, the mock hero, the black-hearted murderer, is within our grasp. Yea, and there he must remain, tortured with the keen pain of corroding conscience. He must oft remember La Bahia, and while the names of those whom he murdered shall soar to the highest pinnacle of fame, his shall sink down into the lowest depths of infamy and disgrace."
~ General Rusk
--WP

22 March, 2010

"The List" of those who have just committed suicide.

---- AYES    219 ---
Ackerman Grijalva Obey
Andrews Gutierrez Olver
Baca Hall (NY) Ortiz
Baird Halvorson Owens
Baldwin Hare Pallone
Bean Harman Pascrell
Becerra Hastings (FL) Pastor (AZ)
Berkley Heinrich Payne
Berman Higgins Pelosi
Bishop (GA) Hill Perlmutter
Bishop (NY) Himes Perriello
Blumenauer Hinchey Peters
Boccieri Hinojosa Pingree (ME)
Boswell Hirono Polis (CO)
Boyd Hodes Pomeroy
Brady (PA) Holt Price (NC)
Braley (IA) Honda Quigley
Brown, Corrine Hoyer Rahall
Butterfield Inslee Rangel
Capps Israel Reyes
Capuano Jackson (IL) Richardson
Cardoza Jackson Lee (TX) Rodriguez
Carnahan Johnson (GA) Rothman (NJ)
Carney Johnson, E. B. Roybal-Allard
Carson (IN) Kagen Ruppersberger
Castor (FL) Kanjorski Rush
Chu Kaptur Ryan (OH)
Clarke Kennedy Salazar
Clay Kildee Sánchez, Linda T.
Cleaver Kilpatrick (MI) Sanchez, Loretta
Clyburn Kilroy Sarbanes
Cohen Kind Schakowsky
Connolly (VA) Kirkpatrick (AZ) Schauer
Conyers Klein (FL) Schiff
Cooper Kosmas Schrader
Costa Kucinich Schwartz
Costello Langevin Scott (GA)
Courtney Larsen (WA) Scott (VA)
Crowley Larson (CT) Serrano
Cuellar Lee (CA) Sestak
Cummings Levin Shea-Porter
Dahlkemper Lewis (GA) Sherman
Davis (CA) Loebsack Sires
Davis (IL) Lofgren, Zoe Slaughter
DeFazio Lowey Smith (WA)
DeGette Luján Snyder
Delahunt Maffei Speier
DeLauro Maloney Spratt
Dicks Markey (CO) Stark
Dingell Markey (MA) Stupak
Doggett Matsui Sutton
Donnelly (IN) McCarthy (NY) Thompson (CA)
Doyle McCollum Thompson (MS)
Driehaus McDermott Tierney
Edwards (MD) McGovern Titus
Ellison McNerney Tonko
Ellsworth Meek (FL) Towns
Engel Meeks (NY) Tsongas
Eshoo Michaud Van Hollen
Etheridge Miller (NC) Velázquez
Farr Miller, George Visclosky
Fattah Mitchell Walz
Filner Mollohan Wasserman Schultz
Foster Moore (KS) Waters
Frank (MA) Moore (WI) Watson
Fudge Moran (VA) Watt
Garamendi Murphy (CT) Waxman
Giffords Murphy (NY) Weiner
Gonzalez Murphy, Patrick Welch
Gordon (TN) Nadler (NY) Wilson (OH)
Grayson Napolitano Woolsey
Green, Al Neal (MA) Wu
Green, Gene Oberstar Yarmuth

Now work to make them aware of it- I will.

WP

Now it is.

WP

19 March, 2010

11 March, 2010

Dept. of Education wants 27 Shotguns- WTF For?

Solicitation Number:
EDOOIG-10-000004
Notice Type:
Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
Synopsis:
Added: Mar 08, 2010 10:39 am

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) intends to purchase twenty-seven (27) REMINGTON BRAND MODEL 870 POLICE 12/14P MOD GRWC XS4 KXCS SF. RAMAC #24587 GAUGE: 12 BARREL: 14" - PARKERIZED CHOKE: MODIFIED SIGHTS: GHOST RING REAR WILSON COMBAT; FRONT - XS CONTOUR BEAD SIGHT STOCK: KNOXX REDUCE RECOIL ADJUSTABLE STOCK FORE-END: SPEEDFEED SPORT-SOLID - 14" LOP are designated as the only shotguns authorized for ED based on compatibility with ED existing shotgun inventory, certified armor and combat training and protocol, maintenance, and parts.

The required date of delivery is March 22, 2010.
Hit the title link for full read and it makes me wonder if they are running scared of "No Children Left Behind" them. Especially since the place of delivery is here:
Place of Delivery:
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Inspector General
c/o: Gary Pawlak, Special Agent
500 West Madison Street - Suite 1414
Chicago, IL 60661
How can we forget those wonderful Chicago animals, I mean teens, show such affection to their fellow student.



Or, is it more than likely the DOE is looking to further these kids education:



WP

08 March, 2010

Added a new blog link: Gun Geek Rants

I had not noticed the referrals as have been quite busy and not paying the attention I should and want to say he has some excellent posts- go read!

WP

Dissenters To Be Detained As “Enemy Belligerents"

Dissenters To Be Detained As "Enemy Belligerents"

By Americans4Truth

Since the establishment media is convinced that tea party members, 9/11 truthers, libertarians, Ron Paul supporters, and basically anyone with a dissenting political opinion is a likely domestic terrorist, they should be celebrating the fact that a new bill would allow the government to detain such people as "enemy belligerents" indefinitely and without trial based on their "suspected activity".
AND HERE IS THE REALLY GOOD PART
A person is considered a "high value detainee" if they fulfill one of the following criteria.
  1. poses a threat of an attack on civilians or civilian facilities within the U.S. or U.S. facilities abroad;
  2. poses a threat to U.S. military personnel or U.S. military facilities;
  3. potential intelligence value;
  4. is a member of al Qaeda or a terrorist group affiliated with al Qaeda or
  5. such other matters as the President considers appropriate.

I am reminded of one quote from the movie TOMBSTONE by Doc Holiday- everyone should be saying such because of number five.

WP

06 March, 2010

Harry Reid: Only 36,000 Lost Their Jobs Today



This certainly brought back to mind the movie MARS ATTACKS and the "commitment" of the government then...

WP

The Alamo - Tex Ritter



Mr. Sharkey sent this along last year in honor of today and now is a yearly post!

WP

Remember the Alamo! March 6th, 1836


ALAMO DEFENDERS

Alabama
Buchanan, James
Fishbaugh, William
Fuqua, Galba
White, Isaac

Arkansas
Baker, Isaac G.
Thompson, Jesse G.
Warnell, Henry

Connecticut
Jennings, Gordon C.

Georgia
Grimes, Albert (Alfred) Calvin
Melton, Elice (Eliel)
Shied, Manson
Wells, William
Wills, William

Illinois
Lindley, Jonathan L.

Kentucky
Bailey, Peter James III
Bowie, James
Cloud, Daniel William
Darst, Jacob C.
Davis, John
Fauntleroy, William H.
Gaston, John E.
Harris, John
Jackson, William Daniel
Jameson, Green B.
Kellogg, John Benjamin
Kent, Andrew
Rutherford, Joseph
Thomas, B. Archer M.
Washington, Joseph G.

Louisiana
Despallier, Charles
Garrand, James W.
Kerr, Joseph
Ryan, Isaac

Maryland
Smith, Charles S.

Massachusetts
Flanders, John
Howell, William D.
Linn, William
Pollard, Amos

Mississippi
Clark, M.B.
Millsaps, Isaac
Moore, Willis A.
Pagan, George
Parker, Christopher Adams

Missouri
Baker, William Charles M.
Butler, George D.
Clark, Charles Henry
Cottle, George Washington
Day, Jerry C.
Tumlinson, George W.

New Hampshire
Cochran, Robert E.

New Jersey
Stockton, Richard Lucius

New York
Cunningham, Robert W.
Dewall, Lewis
Evans, Samuel B.
Forsyth, John Hubbard
Jones, John
Tylee, James

North Carolina
Autry, Micajah
Floyd, Dolphin Ward
Parks, William
Scurlock, Mial
Smith, Joshua G.
Thomson, John W.
Wright, Claiborne

Ohio
Harrison, William B.
Holland, Tapely
Musselman, Robert
Rose, James M.

Pennsylvania
Ballentine, John J.
Brown, James Murry
Cain (Cane), John
Crossman, Robert
Cummings, David P.
Hannum, James
Holloway, Samuel
Johnson, William
Kimble (Kimbell), George C.
McDowell, William
Reynolds, John Purdy
Thurston, John M.
Williamson, Hiram James
Wilson, John

Rhode Island
Martin, Albert

South Carolina
Bonham, James Butler
Crawford, Lemuel
Neggan, George
Nelson, Edward
Nelson, George
Simmons, Cleveland Kinloch
Travis, William Barrett

Tennessee
Bayliss, Joseph
Blair, John
Blair, Samuel C.
Bowman, Jesse B.
Campbell, James (Robert)
Crockett, David
Daymon, Squire
Dearduff, William
Dickerson (Dickinson), Almeron
Dillard, John Henry
Ewing, James L.
Garrett, James Girard
Harrison, Andrew Jackson
Haskell, Charles, M.
Hays, John M.
Marshall, William
McCoy, Jesse
McKinney, Robert
Miller, Thomas R.
Mills, William
Nelson, Andrew M.
Robertson, James Waters
Smith, Andrew H.
Summerlin, A. Spain
Summers, William E.
Taylor, Edward
Taylor, George
Taylor, James
Taylor, William
Walker, Asa
Walker, Jacob

Texas
Abamillo, Juan
Badillo, Juan Antonio
Espalier, Carlos
Esparza, Gregorio (Jose Maria)
Fuentes, Antonio
Jimenez, Damacio
King, William Phillip
Lewis, William Irvine
Lightfoot, William J.
Losoya, Jose Toribio
Nava, Andres
Perry, Richardson

Vermont
Andross, Miles Deforest

Virginia
Allen, Robert
Baugh, John J.
Carey, William R.
Garnett, William
Goodrich, John Camp
Herndon, Patrick Henry
Kenny, James
Main, George Washington
Malone, William T.
Mitchasson, Edward F.
Moore, Robert B.
Northcross, James

Denmark
Zanco, Charles

England
Blazeby, William
Bourne, Daniel
Brown, George
Dennison, Stephen (or Ireland)
Dimpkins, James R.
Gwynne, James C.
Hersee, William Daniel
Nowlan, James
Sewell, Marcus L.
Starr, Richard
Stewart, James E.
Waters, Thomas
Wolfe, Anthony (Avram)
Wolfe, son age 12
Wolfe, son age 11

Ireland
Burns, Samuel E.
Duvalt, Andrew
Evans, Robert
Hawkins, Joseph M.
Jackson, Thomas
McGee, James
Rusk, Jackson J.
Trammel, Burke
Ward, William B.

Germany
Courtman, Henry
Thomas, Henry

Scotland
Ballentine, Richard W.
McGregor, John
Robinson, Isaac
Wilson, David L.

Wales
Johnson, Lewis

Unknown Locale
Brown, Robert
Day, Freeman H.K.
Garvin, John E.
George, James
McCafferty, Edward
Mitchell, William T.
Mitchell, Napoleon B.
Roberts, Thomas H.
Smith, William H.
Sutherland, William Depriest
White, Robert
John (last name unknown)

Newly Discovered Defenders
Baxter, Joseph
Edwards, Samuel
Edwards, William
Gordon, Pelitiah
McClelland, Ross

Known Survivors
Joe, Travis' slave
Alsbury, Juana Gertrudis
Dickerson (Dickinson), Angelina Elizabeth
Dickerson (Dickinson), Susanna Wilkerson
Esparza, Anna Salazar
Esparza, Enrique
Esparza, Francisco (child)
Esparza, Manuel (child)
Esparza, Maria de Jesus Castro (child)
Gonzales, Petra
Guerrero, Brigido
Navarro, Gertrudis
Perez, Jr., Alejo Alsbury
Saucedo, Trinidad

Unproven Participants
Rose, Louis (Moses)
Villanueva, Andrea Castanon

Surviving Couriers & Foragers
Allen, James L.
Baylor, John Walker
Brown, Robert
Coy, Trinidad
Cruz y Arocha, Antonio
De La Garza, Alexandro
Desauque, Francis L.
Dimmitt (Dimitt), Phillip
Highsmith, Benjamin Franklin
Johnson, William P.
Lockhart, Byrd
Nobles, Benjamin F.
Oury, William Sanders
Patton, William Hester
Seguin, Juan Nepomuceno
Smith, John William
Smither, Launcelot
Sowell, Andrew Jackson
Sutherland, John
I want to thank ALAMO DEFENDERS DESCENDANTS ASSOCIATION for having the only page, that was readily accessible, for the names listed above, and of course, those that died this day one hundred and seventy-four years ago...
WP

04 March, 2010

1 in 20: NYPD Officer Says He Has Arrest, Ticket Quota

The arrest and ticket quota is supposed to be an urban myth, but one NYPD officer told ABCNews that it is anything but. He works in the Bronx and says he's "not going to keep arresting innocent people."


"Police Officers like others who receive compensation are provided productivity goals and they are expected to work."

So, that means they are OBLIGATED to create criminals.

What did Ayn Rand say? Oh yes:
"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws."

Good on this NYC "Peace Officer" for speaking up.

WP

03 March, 2010

William Barret Travis - Alamo Letters (March 3rd - Final Letter)

To David Ayers
March 3, 1836

Take care of my little boy. If the country should be saved, I may make for him a splendid fortune; but if the country be lost and I should perish, he will have nothing but the proud recollection that he is the son of a man who died for his country.

William Barret Travis - Alamo Letters (March 3rd - Second Letter)

To Jesse Grimes
March 3, 1836

Do me the favor to send the enclosed to its proper destination instantly. I am still here, in fine spirits and well to do, with 145 men. I have held this place for ten days against a force variously estimated from 1,500 to 6,000, and shall continue to hold it till I get relief from my country or I will perish in its defense. We have had a shower of bombs and cannon balls continually falling among us the whole time, yet none of us has fallen. We have been miraculously preserved. You have no doubt seen my official report of the action of the 24th ult. in which we repulsed the enemy with considerable loss; on the night of the 25th they made another attempt to charge us in the rear of the fort, but we received them gallantly by a discharge of grape shot and musquertry, and they took to their scrapers immediately. They are now encamped in entrenchments on all sides of us.

All our couriers have gotten out without being caught and a company of 32 men from Gonzales got in two nights ago, and Colonel Bonham got in today by coming between the powder house and the enemy's upper encampment....Let the convention go on and make a declaration of independence, and we will then understand, and the world will understand, what we are fighting for. If independence is not declared, I shall lay down my arms, and so will the men under my command. But under the flag of independence, we are ready to peril our lives a hundred times a day, and to drive away the monster who is fighting us under a blood-red flag, threatening to murder all prisoners and make Texas a waste desert. I shall have to fight the enemy on his own terms, yet I am ready to do it, and if my countrymen do not rally to my relief, I am determined to perish in the defense of this place, and my bones shall reproach my country for her neglect. With 500 men more, I will drive Sesma beyond the Rio Grande, and I will visit vengeance on the enemy fighting against us. Let the government declare them public enemies, otherwise she is acting a suicidal part. I shall treat them as such, unless I have superior orders to the contrary.

My respects to all friends, confusion to all enemies. God Bless you.

William Barret Travis - Alamo Letters (March 3rd - First Letter)

To the President of the Convention
March 3, 1836

COMMANDANCY OF THE ALAMO, BEJAR: In the present confusion of the political authorities of the country, and in the absence of the commander-in-chief, I beg leave to communicate to you the situation of this garrison. You have doubtless already seen my official report of the action of the 25th ult. made on that day to General Sam Houston, together with the various communications heretofore sent by express. I shall, therefore, confine myself to what has transpired since that date.

From the 25th to the present date, the enemy have kept up a bombardment from two howitzers (one a five and a half inch, and the other an eight inch) and a heavy cannonade from two long nine-pounders, mounted on a battery on the opposite side of the river, at a distance of four hundred yards from our walls. During this period the enemy has been busily employed in encircling us with entrenchments on all sides, at the following distance, to wit -- in Bexar, four hundred yards west; in Lavilleta, three hundred yards south; at the powder-house, one thousand yards east by south; on the ditch, eight hundred yards north. Notwithstanding all this, a company of thirty-two men from Gonzales, made their way into us on the morning of the 1st inst, at three o'clock, and Col. J.B. Bonham (a courier from Gonzales) got in this morning at eleven o'clock without molestation. I have so fortified this place, that the walls are generally proof against cannon-balls; and I shall continue to entrench on the inside, and strengthen the walls by throwing up dirt. At least two hundred shells have fallen inside our works without having injured a single man; indeed, we have been so fortunate as not to lose a man from any cause, and we have killed many of the enemy. The spirits of my men are still high, although they have had much to depress them. We have contended for ten days against an enemy whose numbers are variously estimated at from fifteen hundred to six thousand, with Gen. Ramirez Sesma and Col. Bartres, the aid-de-camp of Santa Anna, at their head. A report was circulated that Santa Anna himself was with the enemy, but I think it was false. A reinforcement of one thousand men is now entering Bexar from the west, and I think it more than probable that Santa Anna is now in town, from the rejoicing we hear. Col. Fannin is said to be on the march to this place with reinforcements; but I fear it is not true, as I have repeatedly sent to him for aid without receiving any. Col. Bonham, my special messenger, arrived at Labahia fourteen days ago, with a request for aid; and on the arrival of the enemy in Bexar ten days ago, I sent an express to Col. F. which arrived at Goliad on the next day, urging him to send us reinforcements -- none have arrived. I look to the colonies alone for aid; unless it arrives soon, I shall have to fight the enemy on his own terms. I will, however, do the best I can under the circumstances, and I feel confident that the determined valour and desperate courage, heretofore evinced by my men, will not fail them in the last struggle, and although they may be sacrifieced to the vengeance of a Gothic enemy, the victory will cost the enemy so dear, that it will be worse for him than a defeat. I hope your honorable body will hasten on reinforcements, ammunition, and provisions to our aid, as soon as possible. We have provisions for twenty days for the men we have; our supply of ammunition is limited. At least five hundred pounds of cannon powder, and two hundred rounds of six, nine, twelve, and eighteen pound balls -- ten kegs of rifle powder, and a supply of lead, should be sent to this place without delay, under a sufficient guard.

If these things are promptly sent, and large reinforcements are hastened to this frontier, this neighborhood will be the great and decisive battle ground. The power of Santa Anna is to be met here or in the colonies; we had better meet them here, than to suffer a war of desolation to rage our settlements. A blood-red banner waves from the church of Bexar, and in the camp above us, in token that the war is one of vengeance against rebels; they have declared us as such, and demanded that we should surrender at discretion or this garrison should be put to the sword. Their threats have had no influence on me or my men, but to make all fight with desperation, and that high-souled courage which characterizes the patriot, who is willing to die in defense of his country's liberty and his own honour.

The citizens of this municipality are all our enemies except those who have joined us heretofore; we have but three Mexicans now in the fort; those who have not joined us in this extremity, should be declared public enemies, and their property should aid in paying the expenses of the war.

The bearer of this will give you your honorable body, a statement more in detail, should he escape through the enemy's lines. God and Texas! --
Victory or Death!!

P.S. The enemy's troops are still arriving, and the reinforcements will probably amount to two or three thousand.

02 March, 2010

Blogonomicon's Little Girl's Birthday Too

Happy Birthday Little DP!

WP

Texas Independence Day!

The Unanimous Declaration of Independence made by the Delegates of the People of Texas in General Convention at the town of Washington on the 2nd day of March 1836.

When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived, and for the advancement of whose happiness it was instituted, and so far from being a guarantee for the enjoyment of those inestimable and inalienable rights, becomes an instrument in the hands of evil rulers for their oppression.

When the Federal Republican Constitution of their country, which they have sworn to support, no longer has a substantial existence, and the whole nature of their government has been forcibly changed, without their consent, from a restricted federative republic, composed of sovereign states, to a consolidated central military despotism, in which every interest is disregarded but that of the army and the priesthood, both the eternal enemies of civil liberty, the everready minions of power, and the usual instruments of tyrants.

When, long after the spirit of the constitution has departed, moderation is at length so far lost by those in power, that even the semblance of freedom is removed, and the forms themselves of the constitution discontinued, and so far from their petitions and remonstrances being regarded, the agents who bear them are thrown into dungeons, and mercenary armies sent forth to force a new government upon them at the point of the bayonet.

When, in consequence of such acts of malfeasance and abdication on the part of the government, anarchy prevails, and civil society is dissolved into its original elements. In such a crisis, the first law of nature, the right of self-preservation, the inherent and inalienable rights of the people to appeal to first principles, and take their political affairs into their own hands in extreme cases, enjoins it as a right towards themselves, and a sacred obligation to their posterity, to abolish such government, and create another in its stead, calculated to rescue them from impending dangers, and to secure their future welfare and happiness.

Nations, as well as individuals, are amenable for their acts to the public opinion of mankind. A statement of a part of our grievances is therefore submitted to an impartial world, in justification of the hazardous but unavoidable step now taken, of severing our political connection with the Mexican people, and assuming an independent attitude among the nations of the earth.

The Mexican government, by its colonization laws, invited and induced the Anglo-American population of Texas to colonize its wilderness under the pledged faith of a written constitution, that they should continue to enjoy that constitutional liberty and republican government to which they had been habituated in the land of their birth, the United States of America.

In this expectation they have been cruelly disappointed, inasmuch as the Mexican nation has acquiesced in the late changes made in the government by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who having overturned the constitution of his country, now offers us the cruel alternative, either to abandon our homes, acquired by so many privations, or submit to the most intolerable of all tyranny, the combined despotism of the sword and the priesthood.

It has sacrificed our welfare to the state of Coahuila, by which our interests have been continually depressed through a jealous and partial course of legislation, carried on at a far distant seat of government, by a hostile majority, in an unknown tongue, and this too, notwithstanding we have petitioned in the humblest terms for the establishment of a separate state government, and have, in accordance with the provisions of the national constitution, presented to the general Congress a republican constitution, which was, without just cause, contemptuously rejected.

It incarcerated in a dungeon, for a long time, one of our citizens, for no other cause but a zealous endeavor to procure the acceptance of our constitution, and the establishment of a state government.

It has failed and refused to secure, on a firm basis, the right of trial by jury, that palladium of civil liberty, and only safe guarantee for the life, liberty, and property of the citizen.

It has failed to establish any public system of education, although possessed of almost boundless resources, (the public domain,) and although it is an axiom in political science, that unless a people are educated and enlightened, it is idle to expect the continuance of civil liberty, or the capacity for self government.

It has suffered the military commandants, stationed among us, to exercise arbitrary acts of oppression and tyrrany, thus trampling upon the most sacred rights of the citizens, and rendering the military superior to the civil power.

It has dissolved, by force of arms, the state Congress of Coahuila and Texas, and obliged our representatives to fly for their lives from the seat of government, thus depriving us of the fundamental political right of representation.

It has demanded the surrender of a number of our citizens, and ordered military detachments to seize and carry them into the Interior for trial, in contempt of the civil authorities, and in defiance of the laws and the constitution.

It has made piratical attacks upon our commerce, by commissioning foreign desperadoes, and authorizing them to seize our vessels, and convey the property of our citizens to far distant ports for confiscation.

It denies us the right of worshipping the Almighty according to the dictates of our own conscience, by the support of a national religion, calculated to promote the temporal interest of its human functionaries, rather than the glory of the true and living God.

It has demanded us to deliver up our arms, which are essential to our defence, the rightful property of freemen, and formidable only to tyrannical governments.

It has invaded our country both by sea and by land, with intent to lay waste our territory, and drive us from our homes; and has now a large mercenary army advancing, to carry on against us a war of extermination.

It has, through its emissaries, incited the merciless savage, with the tomahawk and scalping knife, to massacre the inhabitants of our defenseless frontiers.

It hath been, during the whole time of our connection with it, the contemptible sport and victim of successive military revolutions, and hath continually exhibited every characteristic of a weak, corrupt, and tyrranical government.

These, and other grievances, were patiently borne by the people of Texas, untill they reached that point at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue. We then took up arms in defence of the national constitution. We appealed to our Mexican brethren for assistance. Our appeal has been made in vain. Though months have elapsed, no sympathetic response has yet been heard from the Interior. We are, therefore, forced to the melancholy conclusion, that the Mexican people have acquiesced in the destruction of their liberty, and the substitution therfor of a military government; that they are unfit to be free, and incapable of self government.

The necessity of self-preservation, therefore, now decrees our eternal political separation.

We, therefore, the delegates with plenary powers of the people of Texas, in solemn convention assembled, appealing to a candid world for the necessities of our condition, do hereby resolve and declare, that our political connection with the Mexican nation has forever ended, and that the people of Texas do now constitute a free, Sovereign, and independent republic, and are fully invested with all the rights and attributes which properly belong to independent nations; and, conscious of the rectitude of our intentions, we fearlessly and confidently commit the issue to the decision of the Supreme arbiter of the destinies of nations.

Richard Ellis, President of the Convention and Delegate from Red River.
Charles B. Stewart
Tho. Barnett
John S. D. Byrom
Francis Ruis
J. Antonio Navarro
Jesse B. Badgett
Wm D. Lacy
William Menifee
Jn. Fisher
Matthew Caldwell
William Motley
Lorenzo de Zavala
Stephen H. Everett
George W. Smyth
Elijah Stapp
Claiborne West
Wm. B. Scates
M. B. Menard
A. B. Hardin
J. W. Burton
Thos. J. Gazley
R. M. Coleman
Sterling C. Robertson
James Collinsworth
Edwin Waller
Asa Brigham
Geo. C. Childress
Bailey Hardeman
Rob. Potter
Thomas Jefferson Rusk
Chas. S. Taylor
John S. Roberts
Robert Hamilton
Collin McKinney
Albert H. Latimer
James Power
Sam Houston
David Thomas
Edwd. Conrad
Martin Palmer
Edwin O. Legrand
Stephen W. Blount
Jms. Gaines
Wm. Clark, Jr.
Sydney O. Pennington
Wm. Carrol Crawford
Jno. Turner
Benj. Briggs Goodrich
G. W. Barnett
James G. Swisher
Jesse Grimes
S. Rhoads Fisher
John W. Moore
John W. Bower
Saml. A. Maverick (from Bejar)
Sam P. Carson
A. Briscoe
J. B. Woods
H. S. Kimble, Secretary