Portal:Texas/Selected article/3

The Republic of Texas was a short-lived country in North America between the United States and Mexico that existed from 1836 to 1845. Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico as a result of the Texas Revolution, the nation claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S. state of Texas, as well as parts of present-day New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming. Its southern and western-most boundary with Mexico was under dispute throughout the lifetime of the Republic, with Texas claiming that the boundary was the Rio Grande and Mexico claiming the Nueces River as the boundary. This dispute would later become a trigger for the Mexican–American War after the annexation of Texas.

The first Texas provisional government was formed at San Felipe de Austin on November 7, 1835. This council passed a declaration of support for the 1824 Mexican constitution, and appointed a governor and other officials. The first declaration of independence for modern Texas, by both Anglo-Texian settlers and local Tejanos, was signed in Goliad on December 20, 1835. The Convention of 1836 was convened at Washington-on-the-Brazos with Richard Ellis presiding, and the Texas Declaration of Independence was enacted on March 2, 1836, effectively creating the Republic of Texas.