Mack
Hall, HSG
Tejas y
Libertad Para Siempre!
This
Sunday is the 178th anniversary of Texas’ declaration of
independence from Mexico. An assembly of
dubious legality in Washington-on-the-Brazos put together a most noble
document, signed it, and then fled for their lives. Within a few years the short-lived Republic
of Texas was absorbed by the United States.
When, in 1861, Texas voted herself out of the Union, the Union welcomed
her errant child back into her arms by force of arms. Joining the United States is not unlike
joining the Mafia – you can’t unjoin.
Our
Texas Declaration of Independence might seem like a pretty dead letter, but it
is still worth reading for its elegant language, the rightness of its cause,
and its occasional wild and inexplicable failures.
The
first four paragraphs are long, complex, dependent clauses beginning with
“When” but never concluded. This is the
sort of thing that gives delicate English teachers the vapors.
The
dependent clauses are brilliant, though, because, without a resolution, they
sort of propel the reader forward, looking for a verb and the recipient of
action.
The
following paragraphs then make a series of excellent complaints – freedom of
speech, trial by jury, public education, ownership of firearms (“the rightful
property of freemen”) – and does so excellently. The flaw here is that the complaints are made
against Mexico, not against the usurper, Santa Anna
To
fault Mexico in 1836 for being in a mess is rather like blaming the Polish
government for poor domestic policies in 1942.
In 1942 there was no Polish government, only occupiers, just as in 1836
there was no Mexican government, only a tyrant who had replaced a previous
tyrant who had crushed Mexican democracy.
A
real irony is that almost all of the rebels were Mexican citizens, some by
pledge of allegiance, others by birth who risked their lives, their families,
their friends, and their hard-earned property to join in the fight against the
tyrant. Tragically, after the Revolution
those truly native to the soil were betrayed by the young nation they had
helped build. Colonel Juan Seguin, a
hero of the Revolution, was to the later immigrants a non-citizen, a
non-person, and he withdrew into exile.
The citizens of Goliad, who rescued as many of Fannin’s men as they
could without being shot by their own soldiers, were thanked by the new
government by being burnt out and forced to flee.
The
declaration of independence dismisses all Mexicans – including those who fought
for Texas – as “unfit to be free, and incapable of self government.” This dismissal should have been addressed
only to one man, the wicked Santa Anna.
The
declaration of independence dismisses the Spanish language, the language of
Texas for over three hundred years to that point, as “an unknown tongue.”
The
declaration of independence dismisses Indians, who lived on this land long
before the Spanish, French, Mexicans, and Americans got off the boat or rowed
across the Rio Sabina, as “merciless savages.”
And, yes, they were rough, especially the Comanches. No one, not even the Apaches, ever thought of
the Comanches as especially nice neighbors.
That’s
a whole lot of long-time residents to annoy when starting up a new nation –
what were the boys in Washington-on-the-Brazos thinking?
And
then, after the fight for freedom was won, new immigrants introduced slavery
into Texas, an evil forbidden by the constitution Santa Anna had
discarded. History is heavy with bitter
ironies.
Every
nation has its myths – King Arthur for Britain, Roland for France, El Cid for
Spain, Davy Crockett for Texas, Brian Boru for Ireland, ice hockey medals for
Canada, Mel Gibson for welfare-state Scotland – and myths are good for
encouraging unity. But no one should
substitute myths for hard facts, or employ them to cover up injustice.
Anyway,
I say it’s a hard fact that in Texas we’re far better, freer, and more just
than those 49 provinces who think they’re something, so may God bless Texas,
and may He confound all our enemies, on our Independence Day and always.
Tejas
y libertad para siempre!
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