National Geographic - When Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced an end to the state’s mask mandate and other coronavirus restrictions on March 2, he drew criticism from across the nation and from leaders in several Texas cities. But Abbott also was making a point about Texans’ legendary tendency to go their own way: The governor’s announcement was on Texas Independence Day, the anniversary of the state’s declaration of independence from Mexico in 1836.
"Texas has constructed for itself a very unique culture and a unique kind of mythology around independence," writes Angela Diaz, a postdoctoral teaching fellow in the Texas Tech University Department of History. But the reality of the state's revolutionary history is complicated. Here's what really happened.