<P> Forty - one delegates arrived in Washington - on - the - Brazos on February 28 . The convention was convened on March 1 with Richard Ellis as president . </P> <P> The delegates assigned George Childress to lead a committee of five to draft a Declaration of Independence . Childress, the nephew of empresario Sterling C. Robertson, had been elected to the Convention three weeks after his arrival in Texas . The committee submitted its draft within a mere 24 hours, leading historians to speculate that Childress had written much of it before his arrival at the Convention . The declaration was approved on March 2 with no debate . Based primarily on the writings of John Locke and Thomas Jefferson, the declaration proclaimed that the Mexican government "ceased to protect the lives, liberty, and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived" and complained about "arbitrary acts of oppression and tyranny". The declaration officially established the Republic of Texas . </P> <P> Shortly after adopting the declaration of independence, the delegates began to work on a new Constitution . It drew heavily from the United States Constitution and included a declaration of rights (similar to the Bill of Rights) which guaranteed due process, the right of every citizen to bear arms, and freedom of religion, speech, and press . The declaration of rights also outlawed unreasonable search and seizure, debtors' prison, and cruel or unusual punishments . It omitted the Third Amendment to the United States Constitution and instead explicitly authorized the government to quarter troops in private homes and impress property as needed for the war effort . </P> <P> In a departure from the traditional Texas justice system, the Constitution called for grand jury indictments and speedy public trials with juries . Unlike the United States Constitution, however, the Texas Constitution codified racism . Free blacks were forbidden permanent residence in Texas without consent of Congress, and citizenship could not be granted to Africans, their descendants, or Native Americans . Furthermore, the Constitution forbade the future Texas Congress from emancipating slaves, and instructed slaveholders not to emancipate their own slaves without Congress's consent . Citizenship was granted only to white men . The new Constitution specifically stated that governmental authority derived from the people, who thus had the right to revolt to change their government . </P>

Who was appointed the interim president of texas by the texas convention at washington-on-the-brazos