A group advocating for Texas to restore its independence is citing history on Monday while renewing calls to secede from the United States.
The Texas Nationalist Movement, which bills itself as the largest organization seeking the state's autonomy, commemorated Texas Independence Day on Monday with a reminder that visionaries changed history nearly 200 years ago when declaring independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836.
"190 years ago today, 59 Texans gathered at Washington-on-the-Brazos and signed a declaration that would change the course of history," the group said on Facebook. "They staked their lives on a conviction: Texas is a nation."
The group, whose supporters want Texas to secede from the United States, cited the "conviction" held by the Texans to form a separate and independent republic.
"They backed it up at the Alamo, at Goliad, and at San Jacinto," the group's post continued. "They built a republic that stood on its own, conducted its own foreign policy, managed its own economy, and defended its own borders."
The secessionist organization, which boasts more than 630,000 supporters on its website, also noted the massive economy in Texas, which at roughly $2.77 trillion ranks ahead of major nations like Canada and Russia.
"Today, Texas is the 8th-largest economy in the world, larger than Canada, Russia, and South Korea," the group said in its call to action. "We have the resources, the people, and the will to govern ourselves. The men and women who signed that declaration in 1836 would look at what Texas has become and see a nation that has outgrown the need for anyone else to make decisions on our behalf. The best way to honor what they started is to finish it."
Support for seceding from the United States has decreased nationwide since 2024, with 18 percent of Americans indicating they would like to see their state become an independent nation, a YouGov poll revealed last month. That's down from 23 percent two years ago.
California had the highest share of residents supporting secession at 27 percent, followed by Washington (25 percent), New Mexico (25 percent) and Texas (24 percent). The movement for independence has also sharply increased during the past two years in Connecticut and Minnesota, according to the YouGov poll.
Democrats are also more likely than Republicans to support their state seceding, 22 percent versus 14 percent, the poll found. Voters in states that backed Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election were also especially likely to support secession, with 28 percent compared to 17 percent of Democrats in states that voted for Trump.
"Among Republicans, the political lean of their state makes less of a difference: 12% of Republicans in Harris-voting states support secession, compared to 15% of Republicans in Trump-voting states," YouGov said on February 11 of the survey of roughly 27,000 adults in 42 states.
Texas State University, a public institution with roughly 45,000 students, also commemorated Texas Independence Day on Monday.
"On this day in 1836, brave Texans declared their independence, forever shaping our state's proud history," the school posted on X. "Let's honor that legacy and the spirit of freedom that defines us."