Stirpes, Volume 3, Number 1, March 1963 Page: 3
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Stirpes and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Texas State Genealogical Society.
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STIRPES
TEXAS STATE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
Volume III March, 1963 Number 1
THE CITIZENS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS*
By James M. Day,
Director of the Texas State Archives
The story of the conception, existence, and demise of the
Republic of Texas is among the most thrilling of all the episodes
of the Anglo-American people. No text-book on American history
ignores the Republic of Texas; most of them applaud the accomplishments
of the persons connected with the young robust nation. This
brief span of almost one decade from 1836 to 1845 proved to be an
important factor in making Texas the distinctive state she is today*
The road was perilous, the stakes were high, and the labors were
long, but the citizens of the Republic of Texas surmounted the
obstacles to guide the Lone Star State into union with the United
States. The entire span of Texas history reads almost like a fairy
tale--Texas as a province of Spain and France; as a part of the
Mexican Republic; as a state of the Confederacy--but no segment of
the state's history is more romantic than the period of the Republic.
We are concerned here with the persons who performed the drama and
with the records they left for posterity.
The basic law of the Republic of TexaF wos the constitution of
1836, a document which was conceived in r. ion, but which remained
in effect until Texas joined the Unit -es. The Constitution
of 1836 spelled out to a rather fine der dt how citizenship was
to be obtained and what rights and privileges were contained therein.
Section 6 of the Constitution's General Provisions provided that all
"free white persons" who emigrated to the Republic had to do the following
to be ent ' 4 to the privilege of citizenship:
1) Reside 4 for six months;
2) Make an ~ efore "some competent authority," usually a
judge, that he intended to live permanently in Texas;
3) Swear to support the constitution; and
4 Swear to "bear true allegiance" to the Republic of Texas.1
The Constitution went on to state that all persons, except the
descendants of Africans and Indians, who were residing in Texas on
"the day of the Declaration of Independence" would be considered
citizens of the Republic and therefore entitled to all the vileges
connected therewith.Z These privileges granted wer -
right to participate in the affairs of the nation, and t it to
own land. The document went one step further when it stat.. chat
any person who left Texas to avoid participation in the revolution,
or who gave aid and assistance to the enemy, or who refused to assist
the Texan cause would forfeit all rights of citizenship and
ownership to land. The overall meaning of these provisions were
*Originally presented by Mr. Day, Friday, November 23, 1962, at
the banquet held during the Second Annual Meeting of the Texas
State Genealogical Society, Baker Hotel, Dallas, Texas.
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Texas State Genealogical Society. Stirpes, Volume 3, Number 1, March 1963, periodical, March 1963; Fort Worth, TX. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth29600/m1/5/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Texas State Genealogical Society.