The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 18, July 1914 - April, 1915 Page: 278
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278 The Southwestern Historical Quarterly
On December 13, the council passed a resolution calling for a
convention of delegates from each municipality of the three de-
partments of Texas, to meet on March 1, 1836, to adopt a form
of government. This resolution promised to clear the atmosphere,
and gave the people hope that a new body of representatives would
be able to quiet internal dissensions, and at the same time elect
and install a government to cope successfully with the warlike
conditions surrounding them. The rapidity with which their
wishes were carried out shows that there was remarkable unan-
imity among the delegates assembled at Washington on the Brazos;
a convention which lasted barely seventeen days, and laid the
foundation for a nation.
On this occasion the municipality of Harrisburg was represented
by Lorenzo de Zavala and Andrew Briscoe. This convention, which
made the Declaration of Independence, and adopted a constitution
for a provisional government, forming the basis for that of the
Republic of Texas, elected David G. Burnet, president, and Lorenzo
de Zavala, vice-president, thus giving to these citizens of the
municipality of Harrisburg the highest offices within their gift.
These proceedings were the consummation of the most ardent
hopes of the leading citizens of Harris County, and the decisive
battle of San Jacinto, a few weeks afterward gave to Texas with
a single rapid master stroke the sacred boon, which their gifted
statesmen had, for years, vainly besought the Mexican government
to grant. Yet, between these two important dates, when inde-
pendence was declared and won, what scenes of terror and deso-
lation had defaced the fair landscape. What generous libations
had been poured upon liberty's altars, what sacrificial flames had
ascended in her name! The very names "Alamo and La Bahia"
spread terror throughout the land.
As the retreat of the Texan army to the eastward left the homes
of the west unprotected, flight became the watchword, and the
dread cry "the Mexicans are coming" echoed in the ears of the
fugitives, as with almost breathless haste they sought to get in
advance of the army in order to keep it between them and the
dreaded foe. Tales of the "Runaway scrape"16 have been cleverly
BTnE QUARTERLY, VI, 16i2-172; A Comprehensive History of Texas, II,
669-671.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 18, July 1914 - April, 1915, periodical, 1915; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101064/m1/284/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.