Who authored the Texas Declaration of Independence?

• A. William B. Travis
• B. George Childress
• C. Stephen F. Austin
• D. Sam Houston

Answer: (B)

George Childress wrote the Texas Declaration of Independence. When Texans moved to declare independence from Mexico, the Convention appointed a drafting committee to turn the idea into a formal document. Childress, who chaired that Committee of Five, crafted the declaration that explained why Texas should be independent and what kind of government it would form. It was adopted on March 2, 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos, modeled in structure and purpose on the U.S. Declaration of Independence to justify breaking away and laying out a new political framework. The other figures mentioned—William B. Travis, Stephen F. Austin, and Sam Houston—were key leaders in Texas history, with Travis famed for the Alamo defense, Austin for guiding early colonization, and Houston for commanding Texan forces and serving as president, but they did not author the declaration.