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DECLARATION OF NOVEMBER 7, 1835. The Declaration of November 7, 1835, adopted by the Consultation^qv at San Felipe, was a declaration of causes for taking up arms against Mexico preliminary to the Texas Declaration of Independence.^qv Since hostilities had already begun and troops were marching against San Antonio, the Consultation had to justify the war. The peace party in Texas, however, feared that Mexican Federalists would interpret the movement as secession and unite with other Mexicans against them. The declaration had to be a strategic document, which would justify Texas action in the eyes of the rest of the world and at the same time convince the Federalists that the Texans desired only to preserve the Mexican Constitution of 1824.^qv Consultation president Branch T. Archer^qv called for a committee of twelve to draft a declaration and named John A. Wharton^qv as chairman. Preliminary plans by Daniel Parker, Don Carlos Barrett, Robert M. Williamson, and Stephen F. Austin^qqv were used in framing the declaration. As adopted, in eight parts, the document declared that the Texans had taken up arms in defense of their rights and liberties and the republican principles of the Constitution of 1824. It stated that Texas was no longer bound by the compact of union but that Texans offered their support to such members of the Mexican confederacy as would take up arms against military despotism, that they would not cease to carry on war against the centralist authorities while their troops were in Texas, that in the meantime they held it to be their right to establish an independent government, that Texas was responsible for the debts of her armies in the field and pledged to pay debts contracted by her agents, and that she would reward with lands and citizenship those who volunteered their services in the struggle. Despite serious discussion and expression of dissatisfaction, the ambiguous declaration was unanimously adopted, and 1,000 copies were ordered printed and distributed.

Bibliography: Eugene C. Barker, "Declaration of Causes for Taking Up Arms against Mexico," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 15 (January 1912). Hans Peter Nielsen Gammel, comp., Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 (10 vols., Austin: Gammel, 1898).

The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/DD/mjd2.html (accessed August 30, 2008).

(NOTE: "s.v." stands for sub verbo, "under the word.")

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Last Updated: January 17, 2008
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