Welcome to Finding Medina.

Bonus episode.

The original Texas Declaration of Independence.

I'm Brandon Seal.

When I first learned about the existence of an 1813 Texas Declaration of Independence, I knew it was important and that I needed to read it.

Like many of the events covered in the series, however, it often gets glossed over in surveys of the period if it's mentioned at all.

And I was only more intrigued when after a year or so

of searching, I still couldn't find the document. I found a few historians who made reference

to it and a few excerpts here and there, but the complete document, both in its original Spanish

and in English, alluded me. Finally, I turned to my friend and publisher

in Mexico City, Cesar Gutierrez, to help me out. He ended up having to go to the Archivo

General de la Nation himself, personally, to dig through their dusty files and locate a copy of the

declaration that had been forwarded by Arrondo back to

the viceroy in Mexico City. It was an incredible find, and a picture of its first page serves as

the cover image for this episode. For the first time that I know of, this document is now being

made available to the public on the Revard Report webpage for this episode, in both Spanish and English.

But that's not all.

As I read this document, it was clear to me as well that it was intended to be read aloud, to be performed for audiences throughout Texas, Mexico, and the United States awaiting news from the Texas front.

And so I wanted to try and recreate that for you.

Joe Arseniga is a family friend.

When Joe left San Antonio and later Texas as a youth to pursue a very successful career in the tech

industry on the West Coast, he left behind seven generations of San Antonio

...