The Convention of 1832 was the first political gathering of colonists in Mexican Texas.
On August 22, the ayuntiamento (city council) at San Felipe de Austin (the capital of Austin's colony) called for each district to elect five delegates.[1] Sixteen communities chose delegates. The two municipalities with the largest Tejano population, San Antonio de Béxar and Victoria, refused to participate. The majority of the elected delegates were known as relatively even-tempered. Many known agitators, such as James Bowie and William B. Travis, were defeated.[2] Tejanos did not have a large presence at the convention, largely due to the boycott by the Béxar and Victoria municipalities. Convention organizers invited several prominent Tejanos from these towns to attend, but all declined.[3]
On October 1, 1832, 55 delegates met in San Felipe de Austin;[3] attendance may have been diminished due to the short notice.[4] Over the next six days, the delegates adopted a series of resolutions requesting changes in the governance of Texas.[2] Historian Eugene Campbell Barker suggests that the discussions would likely not have concluded so swiftly unless the delegates had done "considerable preparation before the meeting".[5]
After approving the list of resolutions, delegates created a 7-member central committee to convene future meetings.[6] [7] The central committee would be based in San Felipe "for the purpose of circulating information of events of importance to the interest of the people".[8]
The convention adjourned on October 6 after unanimously electing William H. Wharton to deliver the resolutions to the state legislature in Saltillo and to the Mexican Congress in Mexico City.[9] [10] Just before the group dispersed, Rafael Manchola, the alcalde (mayor) of Goliad, arrived. He was the only delegate from Goliad and the only Tejano to appear at the convention.[2] Manchola volunteered to accompany Wharton at his own expense - he and other delegates thought the expedition might have more success if a Tejano was also involved.[11] Days later, Austin wrote that "we have just had a convention of all Texas, native Mexicans and foreign settlers - all united as one man".[9]
| width=20% | Name! | width=20% | District! | width=22% | Committees! | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | Customs (chair)[12] Militia (chair)[13] Native lands Statehood Tariffs[14] | Presided over convention prior to election of president | ||||
| San Felipe de Austin[15] | Finance Surveyor-General | Elected President of the convention Supervised translation of documents[16] Took a short leave of absence due to indisposition Named to Central Committee[17] | ||||
| Snow River | English | |||||
| Tenahaw | Native lands Statehood | |||||
| Gonzales[18] | Statehood | |||||
| Alfred | Schools | |||||
| Alfred | Indian affairs Statehood | |||||
| Tenahaw | Statehood | |||||
| Hidalgo | Customs Indian affairs Militia Statehood | |||||
| Mill Creek | Statehood | |||||
| Mina | Statehood | |||||
| San Jacinto | Statehood | [19] | ||||
| Mill Creek | Statehood | |||||
| Tenahaw | Land business | |||||
| Tenahaw | Land business | |||||
| Ayish Bayou | Land business | |||||
| Viesca[20] | English Finance[21] Militia Statehood Tariffs (chair)[22] | |||||
| Viesca | ||||||
| Liberty | Finance | |||||
| Ayish Bayou | Land business Militia Native lands Statehood | |||||
| Tenahaw | Finance Immigration Land business[23] Native lands Surveyor-General | |||||
| Nacogdoches[24] | Schools | |||||
| Alfred | Indian affairs (chair) Statehood | |||||
| Nacogdoches | Statehood | |||||
| Benjamin Holt | Sabine | Finance (chair)[25] Land business Statehood | ||||
| Sabine | Statehood | |||||
| Mina | English Central (proposed) (chair)[26] | |||||
| Snow River | Land business Statehood | |||||
| Liberty | Immigration Land business | |||||
| San Felipe de Austin | Militia | Elected Secretary Named to Central Committee Recommended as Surveyor-General[27] | ||||
| Linnville | Central (proposed) English Finance | |||||
| Alfred | ||||||
| San Felipe de Austin | Immigration Schools (chair) Statehood Surveyor-General | Served as temporary chairman while Stephen Austin was indisposed[28] | ||||
| Snow River[29] | ||||||
| Lavaca | Central (proposed) Militia Tariffs | |||||
| Snow River | Indian affairs Statehood | |||||
| Goliad | Manchola arrived after the convention adjourned. The only Tejano to participate in any way, he volunteered to accompany Wharton to deliver the petitions to Mexico City.[30] | |||||
| San Felipe de Austin | Customs Native lands Statehood[31] | Named to Central Committee | ||||
| Ayish Bayou | ||||||
| Ayish Bayou | Customs Land business Militia[32] Native lands Schools Statehood | |||||
| Lavaca | ||||||
| Victoria | Central (proposed) Tariffs | |||||
| Lavaca | Schools Statehood | |||||
| Victoria | Statehood | Granted a leave of absence for "extreme indisposition" | ||||
| Liberty | Finance Land business Statehood Tariffs | |||||
| Sabine | ||||||
| San Jacinto | Statehood | |||||
| Viesca | Statehood | |||||
| Victoria | Tariffs (chair) | |||||
| Gonzales | Indian affairs Statehood | |||||
| Ayish Bayou[33] | Land business Native lands | |||||
| Lavaca | Customs Immigration Militia Statehood | |||||
| Nacogdoches[34] | English Finance Land business Native lands (chair) Statehood Tariffs | Nominated for secretary of the convention (defeated)[35] | ||||
| Hidalgo | Statehood | |||||
| Liberty | Statehood | |||||
| Victoria | Immgiration (chair) Statehood | Nominated for president of the convention (defeated)[36] Wrote petition requesting independent statehood Elected to deliver the petition to Mexico City[37] | ||||
| San Jacinto | Central (proposed) | |||||
| Alfred |