011111157* 
 
A DECLARATION 
 
 Of the causes lohicli impel the Slate of Texas io secede from 
 
 the Federal Union. 
 
 The Government of the United States, Ijy certain Joint 
 Resolutions, bearing date on the first day of Search, in the year 
 A. D., 1845, proposed to the Republic of Texas, then a frct\ 
 sovereign and independent nation, the annexation of the latter 
 to the former, as one of the co-equal States thereof. 
 
 The people of Texas, by Deimties in Convention assembled, 
 on the fourth day of July of the same year, assented to and 
 accepted said proposals, and formed a constitution for the pro- 
 posed State, upon which, on the twenty-ninth day of December, 
 of the same year, said State was formally received into the con- 
 federated Union. 
 
 Texas abandoned her separate national existence and C'insenttd 
 to become que pf the confederated States, to promote her 
 welfare, insure domestic tranquility and secure more substan- 
 tially the blessings of liberty and peace to her people. She was 
 received into the confederacy, with her own constitution, under 
 the guarantees of tlie Federal Constitution and the compact of 
 annexation, that she should enjoy these blessings. She was re- 
 ceived as a commonwealth holding, maintaining and protecting 
 the institution known as negro slavery — the servitude of the Af- 
 rican to the white race within her limits — a relation that had 
 existed from the first settlement of hei wilderness by the white 
 race, and which her people intended should continue to exist in 
 a" 1 future time, llcr institutions and geographical iK'sition cs- 
 
tabliahed the strongest ties between her and the other slavehohl- 
 ing States of the Confederacy. Those ties have been strengtli- 
 ened by the assoeiation. But Avhat has been the course ot the 
 government of the United States, and of the people and author- 
 ities of the non-shivehohling States, since our connection with 
 them ? 
 
 The controlling majoiity of the Federal Government, under 
 various pretences and disguises, has so administered the same as 
 to exclude the citizens of the Southern States, unless under odi- 
 ous and unconstitutional restrictions, from all the immense ter- 
 ritory owned in common by all the States, on the Pacilic ocean, 
 lor the avo.ved purpose of acquiring sufficient power in the com- 
 mon government, to use it as a means of destroying the institu- 
 tions of Texas and her sister slaveholding States. 
 
 ]jy the disloyalty of the Northern States and their citizens, 
 and the imbecility of the Federal Government, infamous combi- 
 nations of incendiaries and outlaws have been permitted in those 
 States and the common territory of Kansas, to trample upon the 
 Federal laws, to war upon the lives and pro])erty of Southern 
 citizens in that territory, and, finally, by violence and mob law, 
 to usurp the possession of the same, as exclusively the property 
 of the Northern States. 
 
 The federal government, while but partially under the control 
 of these our unnatural and sectional enemies, has, for years, al- 
 most entirely failed to protect the lives and property of the peo- 
 ]de of Texas against tlie Indian savages on our borders; and, more 
 recently, against the m jrd.,'rous forays of banditti from the neigh- 
 boruig territory of Mexico ; and when our State Government has 
 expended lai-ge amounts for such puri)oses, the Federal goverji- 
 ment has refused re-imbursemtnt therefor — thus rendering our 
 condition more insecure and harrassing than it was during the 
 existence of the Republic of Texas. 
 
 These and other wrongs we have patiently borne, in the vain 
 hope that a i-etin-ning sense of justice end humanity would in- 
 duce a different coiuse of administration. 
 
 When we advert to the course of individual non-slaveholding 
 States and that of a majority of their citizens, our grievances as- 
 sume far greater magnitude. 
 
 The States of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, 
 Pthode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio. 
 Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa, by solemn Legislative enact- 
 mentrf, have deliberately, directly or indirectly, violated the third 
 clause of the second section of the fourth article of the Federal 
 Constitution, and laws passed in pursuance thereof; thereby an- 
 
nulling amitorial provLs'Mii of the cornpict, Jesig-n?>l by It; 
 fVaraers to perpetuate amity l)et\veen tlu members of tlie con- 
 federacy, and to secure the rights of the slavehohling States in 
 their domestic instibutious— a provision founded in justice an I 
 wisdom, and without the enforcement of which the compact fail^^ 
 to accomplish the object of its creation. Some of those States 
 have imposed high fines and degrading penalties upon any of 
 their citizens or officers who may carry out in good faith that 
 jJTOvision of the compact, or the federal laws enacted in accord- 
 ance therewith. 
 
 In all of the non-slaveholding States, in violation of that good 
 faith and comity which should exist even between entirely dis- 
 tinct nations, the people have formed themselves into a great 
 sectional party, now strong enough in numbers to control the af- 
 fairs of each of those States, based upon the unnatural feelin'^-of 
 hostility to these Southern States and their beneficent and pa- 
 triarchal system of African slavery — proclaiming the debasinf 
 doctrine of the equality of all men, irrespective of race or color — 
 a doctrine at war with nature, in opposition to the experience of 
 mankind, and in violation of the plainest revelations of the divine 
 law. They demand the abolition of negro slavery throughout 
 the confederacy — the recognition of political equality between 
 the white and negro races — and avow their determination to 
 ])ress on their crusade against us, so long as a negro slave re- 
 iiiains in these States. 
 
 For years past this abolition organization has been aclivolv 
 sowing the seeds of discord through the Union, and has rendered 
 the Federal Congress the arena for spreading fire-brands rnd ha- 
 tred l>etween the slavehohling and non-slaveholding States. 
 
 By consolidating their strength, they have placed the slave- 
 h(.ilding States in a hopeless minority in the Federal Congress 
 and rendered representation of no avail in protecting Sofithern 
 lights against their exactions and encroachments. 
 
 They have proclaimed, and at the ballot box sustained, the rev- 
 olutionary doctrine that there is a " higher law" than the Con- 
 stitution and laws of our Federal Union, and virtually, that they 
 will disregard their oaths and trample U})on our rights. 
 
 They have, for years past, wicouraged and sustained lawle.'s or- 
 ganizations to steal our slaves and prevent their re-capture, and 
 have repeatedly murdered Southern citizens while lawfully seek- 
 ing their rendition. 
 
 They have invaded Southern soil and murdered unof- 
 fending citizens, and through the press, their leading men and 
 a fanatical pulpit, have b- stowed jiraise upon the actors and 
 
4 
 
 af^sassins in these crimes — \\\nle the Govevnors of several of thoir 
 h^tates have refused to deliver parties implicated and indicted for 
 ]i;irticipatioii iu such offences, upon the legal demands of the 
 >S rates aggrieved. 
 
 They have, through the mails and hired emmissaries, sent 
 seditious pamjdilets and papers amongst us to stir up servile in- 
 s irrectioii and bring blood and carnage to our firesides. 
 
 They have sent hired emissaries among us to burn our towns 
 and distribute arms and poison to oar slaves, for the same pur- 
 
 They have impoverished the slaveholding States by iineqnal 
 rind partial legislation, thereby enriching themselves by draining 
 viir substance. • 
 
 They have refused to vote appropriations for protecting Texas- 
 against ruthless savages, fur the sole reason that she is a slave- 
 liulding State. 
 
 And, finally, by tlie combined sectional vote of the seventeen 
 iiou-slaveholding States, they have elected as President and Vicc- 
 Tresident of the whole Contl-deracy, two men whose chief claims 
 1'. such high positions, are their approval of these long contin- 
 ued wrongs, and their pledges to continue them to the final con- 
 Mimmation of these schemes for the ruin of the slavehold- 
 ing States. 
 
 In viev.- of these and many other facts, it is meet that our 
 own" views shoitld be distinctly proclaimed. 
 
 We hold, as undeniabli,^ truths, that the governments of the vari- 
 < ■ITS States, and of the Confederacy itself, were established ex- 
 clusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity ;. 
 tliat the African race had no agency in their establishment ; that 
 they "were rightfully held and regarded as an inferior and de- 
 ];endai>t race, and in that condition only could their existence in 
 this country be rendered beneficial or tolerable : 
 
 That, in this free govornraent, all luhite men are, and of riilil 
 ought to be, entitled to cfjal civil and political rigids ; that the 
 servitude of the African race, as existing in these States, is mu- 
 •tually beneficial to both bond jyid free, and is abundantly au- 
 thorised and justified by the experience of mankind, and the 
 revealed will of the Almighty Creator, as recognized by ail 
 Christian nations; while the destruction of the existing relations 
 b-^iwecn the two races, as advocated by our sectional enemies, 
 would bring inevitable calamities upon both, and desolation 
 upon the fifteen slaveholding States. 
 
 By the secession of six of the slaveholding States, and the 
 certainty that others will speedily do likevris*, Texas has no al- 
 
ternative Imt to remain in irsulated connection with the Xuith, 
 ()!• unite her destinies with tlie South. 
 
 For these and other reasons — solmmly asserting that the Fed- 
 cnil Constitution has been viohitcd and virtually abrogated hv 
 the several States named ; seeing that the Federal Government 
 is now passing under the control of our sectional enemies, to l)e 
 diverted from the exalted objects vf its creation, to those of op- 
 pression and wrong ; and realising that onr State can no longer 
 l')ok for protection, but to God and her own sons : — We, the Del- 
 egates if the people of Texas, in Convention assembled, have 
 jiassed An Ordinance dissolving all iK)litical connection with the 
 Government of the United States of America, and the people 
 thereof^ — and confidently appeal to the intelligence and patriot- 
 ism of the freemen of Texas to ratify the same at the ballot-bux, 
 on the 23rd day of the present month. 
 
 Adopted in 'Convention, on the second day of February, in the 
 year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixlv-ono, and 
 of the independence of Texas the twenty-fiftli. 
 
 0. M. ROBERTS, Fresvhnf, 
 LOHN LITTLETON, 
 
 EDWLN WALLER, 
 
 L. A. ABERCROMBIE. 
 
 W. A. ALLEN, 
 
 JAMES M. ANDERSON", 
 
 T. S. ANDERSON, 
 
 JAMES R. ARMSTRONG, 
 
 RICHARD L. ASKEW,. 
 
 W. S. J. ADA1\IS, 
 
 WM. C. BATTE, 
 
 S. W. BEASLEY, 
 
 JOHN BOX, 
 
 H. NEWTON DURDITT, 
 
 JAMES M. BURROUGHS, 
 
 JOHN I. BURTON, 
 
 S. E. BLACK, 
 
 W. T. BLYTHE, 
 
 AMZI BRADSHAW, 
 
 R. WEAKLEY BRAHAN, 
 
 A. S. BROADDUS, 
 
 JNO. HENRY BROWN, 
 
 ROBERT C. CAMPBELL, 
 
 LEWIS F. CASEY, 
 
 AVM. CHAMBERS, 
 
 T. J. CHAMBERS, ' 
 
 M. F. LOCKE, 
 OLIYER LOFTIN, 
 THOS. S. LUBBOCK, 
 P. N. LUCKETT. 
 liENRY A. MALTBY, 
 JBSSE MARSHALL, 
 JAMES M. MAXEY, 
 LEWIS W. MOORE, 
 WM. MeCRAVEN, 
 WM. McINTOSH, 
 GILCHRIST McKAY, 
 THOMAS M. McCRAW. 
 WM. GOODLOE MILLER, 
 ALBERT N. MILLS, 
 THOMAS MOOUE, 
 THOS. C. MOORE, 
 CHARLES de MONTEL, 
 B. F. MOSS, 
 JOHN MULLER, 
 THOS. J. NASli; 
 A. NAUENDORF, ■ 
 T. C. NEEL, 
 ALLISON NELSON, 
 
 JOHN GREEN CHAMBERS,JAMES F. NEWSOM, 
 
6 
 
 N. B. CHARLTON, 
 GEO. W. CHILTON, 
 ISHAM CHISUM, 
 WM. CLARK, Jr., 
 J. A. CLAYTON, 
 
 W. M. NEYLAND, 
 K. B. NICHOLS, 
 A. J. NICHOLSON, 
 K, P. NICHOLSON, 
 JAMES M. NORRIS, 
 
 CHARLES L. CLEYELAND,ALFRED T. OBENCHAIN, 
 A. G. CLOPTON, VY. B. OCHILTREE, 
 
 RICHARD COKE, 
 
 W. S. OLDHAM, 
 
 JAMES E. COOK, 
 
 R. J. PALMER, 
 
 JON W DANCY, 
 
 AY. M. PAYNE, 
 
 A. H. DAYIDSON, ' 
 
 W. K. PAYNE, 
 
 C. DEEN, 
 
 WILLIAM M. PECK, 
 
 THOS. J. DEYINE, 
 
 W. R. POAO, 
 
 THOMAS a. DAVBNPORT,ALEXANDER POPE, 
 
 JAS. J. DIAMOND, ~" " " 
 
 AYM. W. DIAMOND, 
 
 J NO. DONELSON, 
 
 JOSEPH H. DUNHAM, 
 
 EDWARD DOUGHERTY, 
 
 H. H. EDWARDS, 
 
 ELBERT EARLY, 
 
 JOHN N. FALL, 
 
 DRURY FIELD, 
 
 ,10HN H. FEENEY, 
 
 (iEORGE FLOURNOY, 
 
 SPENCER FORD, 
 
 JOHN S. FORD, 
 
 THOMAS C. FROST, 
 
 AMOS P. GALLOWAY^ 
 
 CHARLES GANAHL, 
 
 P.OBERT S. GOULD, 
 
 ROBERT GRAHAM. 
 
 MALCOM D. GRAHAM, 
 
 PETER W. GRAY, 
 
 J NO. A. GREEN, 
 
 JOHN GREGG, 
 
 WM. P. HARDEMAN, 
 
 JOHN R. HAYES, 
 
 DAYID Y. PORTIS, 
 
 D. M. PRENDERGAST. 
 WALTER F. PRESTON, 
 F. P. PRICE, 
 A. T. RAINEY, 
 JOHN H. REAGAN, 
 C. RECTOR, 
 P. G. RHO)[E, 
 
 E. S. C. RORFRTSON, 
 J. C. ROBERTSON, 
 J. B. ROBERTSON, 
 WILLIAM P. ROGERS, 
 JAMES H. ROGERS, 
 EDWARD M. ROSS, 
 JNC). RUGELEY, 
 H. R, RUNNELS, 
 E. B. SCARBOROUGH, 
 WM. T. SCOTT, 
 WILLIAM READ SCURRY, 
 JAMES E. SBEPARD, 
 SAM S. SMITH, 
 GIDEON SMITH, 
 JOHN D. STELL, 
 JOHN G. STEWAEIT, 
 
 I'HILEMON T. HERBERT,CHARLES STEWART, 
 
 A. Vv^ 0. HICKS, 
 THOS. B. J. HILL, 
 ALFRED M. HOBBY", 
 JOS. L. HOGG, 
 J. J. HOLT, 
 
 F. S. STOCKDALE, 
 ^\M. H. STEWART, 
 PLEASANT TAYLOR, 
 B. F. TERRY, 
 NATHANIEL TERRY, 
 
JAMES HOOKER, 
 EDWARD R. HORD, 
 RUSSELL HOWARD, 
 A. CLARK HOYL, 
 THOS. P. HUGHES, 
 J. W. HUTCHESON, 
 JNO. IRELAND, 
 THOS. J. JENNINGS, 
 r. JOlilES, 
 W. C. KELLY, 
 T. KOESTER, 
 0. M. LESUEUR, 
 F. W. LATHAM, 
 TRYOR LEA, 
 JAMES S. LESTER, 
 
 R. T. Brownrigg, Secrctai 
 Wm. Dunn Sciioolfield, . 
 r. w. lunday, 
 
 E. THOMASON, 
 JAMES G. THOMPSON, 
 W. S. TODD, 
 JAMES WAL\\ORTn, 
 R. H. WARD. 
 WM. WARREN, 
 J AS. C. WAT KINS, 
 JOHN A. WHARTON, 
 JOSEPH P. WIER, 
 JNO. A, WILCOX, 
 A. P. WILEY, 
 liEN WILLIAMS, 
 JASON WILSON, 
 PHILIP A. WORK. 
 
 !/• 
 
 A .V.9 is fa n t Sca'dary. 
 
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