Excerpt: ...the Mexicans, and inflicted upon them the crushing defeat known as the battle of San Jacinto, in which the Mexican loss was double the number of Houston's army, some sixteen hundred men, including Santa Anna himself among the captives. The part of the Mexican army which had not crossed the river retreated precipitately from Texan soil, and the new state had won its independence. Texas as a constitutional Republic. The battle of San Jacinto was fought on April 21st, 1836. The convention had finished the ...
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Excerpt: ...the Mexicans, and inflicted upon them the crushing defeat known as the battle of San Jacinto, in which the Mexican loss was double the number of Houston's army, some sixteen hundred men, including Santa Anna himself among the captives. The part of the Mexican army which had not crossed the river retreated precipitately from Texan soil, and the new state had won its independence. Texas as a constitutional Republic. The battle of San Jacinto was fought on April 21st, 1836. The convention had finished the constitution more than a month before. In September following, General Houston was elected President of the new republic, and the constitution was almost immediately put into operation. This constitution legalized the existence of slavery in Texas, as a constitutional right of the masters, prohibited the residence of free negroes within the State without special official permission, and interdicted the importation of negro slaves, except from the United States. The recognition of the independence of Texas. A little more than a month after the battle of San Jacinto, the legislature of Connecticut set the ball in motion for the recognition of the independence of Texas by the Government of the United States. On May 27th, 1836, the two Houses of that body passed a resolution instructing the Senators, and requesting the Representatives, in Congress from Connecticut "to use their best endeavors to procure the acknowledgment, on the part of the United States, of the independence of Texas." Evidently the Yankee Commonwealth considered itself, in an especial degree, the motherland of the new state. The founder of the colony, which had now become an independent state, was one of its children, and it hastened to anticipate Virginia, the birthplace of Houston, in owning its offspring. A careful perusal of the whole of this Connecticut document will certainly leave the impression upon the mind of the impartial reader, at this day, that the people of the North...
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this book, and Burgess' companion books, "The Civil War & the Constitution" and "The Civil War & Reconstruction" are the best I have seen in FOUR decades of study (wish I had 'em in my ElHi days !) sooo much here to chew on ... books published before the 'fix was in' (c 1930) and give accurate history and references -- it's no wonder that Mr. Burgess was considered one of the leading historians of his era -- told in a pleasant and unique writing style, with characters coming alive -- a real tour de force from a yankee (Dean of Columbia Law School), yet giving the South it's due --LEARN & ENJOY