1836:

On March 6, 1836, over 182 defenders lost their lives at the Battle of the Alamo. One month later the armies of the Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna were defeated by Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto, making way for the establishment of the Republic of Texas.

1838:

President of the Republic of Texas, Mirabeau B. Lamar, in his stirring address to the Third Congress of the Republic of Texas on December 20, 1838, eloquently explained the need for and benefits of an educated citizenry, stating, "A cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy, and while guided and controlled by virtue, is the noblest attribute to man. It is the only dictator that free men acknowledge, and the only security that free men desire."

1839:

An act signed by President Lamar, provided for the creation of institutions of primary and higher education. Fifty leagues of land (221,420 acres) would be set apart and appropriated for the establishment and endowment of two colleges or universities, hereafter to be created.