Oct. 22, 1836, Gen. Sam Houston is sworn in as the first president of the Republic of Texas. The Texas Declaration of Independence stated: “When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived, and … becomes an instrument in the hands of evil rulers for their oppression … it is a … sacred obligation to their posterity to abolish such government and create another in its stead. … Conscious of the rectitude of our intentions, we fearlessly and confidently commit the issue to the decision of the Supreme Arbiter of the destinies of nations.”
