Texas House Bill 2497, better known as the 1836 Project, was a bill created in June 2021 by the Texas House of Representatives and was signed into law by Greg Abbott, the

Governor of Texas The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, who ...

Development

House Bill 2497 was passed in June 2021, receiving support from

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and Democrats, and was signed into law by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Republicans attached amendments to the bill requiring the project to also raise awareness of the state’s Christian heritage, its traditions of owning guns, and the Texas origins of the annual Juneteenth holiday. Democrats amended the bill and added requirements to include the contributions to the state by people of Hispanic ancestry. A requirement was also added by Democrats to include the historical roles that Texans have played in bolstering voting rights since the 1960s. House lawmakers passed the bill by a margin of 124 to 19. The law went into effect on September 1, 2021, and will expire in 2036. The project is named after the year Texas won independence from Mexico during the Texas Revolution and is funded by the Texas Education Agency. The bill is meant to promote a "patriotic education" to the state’s residents. The 1836 Project is made up of a nine-member advisory committee tasked with promoting the state’s history to Texas residents, primarily through pamphlets given to people receiving driver’s licenses. Committee members were appointed by Abbott,

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Dan Patrick Dan Patrick may refer to: * Dan Patrick (ice hockey) (born 1938), Canadian ice hockey player * Dan Patrick (politician) (born 1950), Lieutenant Governor of Texas and political and sports radio journalist * Dan Patrick (sportscaster) (born 1956), Ame ...

and House Speaker

Dade Phelan Matthew McDade Phelan (born September 18, 1975) is an American real estate developer and Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 21. He has served as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives since January 2021. ...

. The project also awards students for their knowledge of the state’s history and values through the Gubernatorial 1836 Award. The law details specific historical topics that are to be included in the project, including indigenous people, the state’s Spanish and Mexican heritage, Tejanos, and Juneteenth.

Criticism

The project's name was criticized by some because Texas’ independence didn’t apply to all people living in the state at the time, including slaves and indigenous groups. Critics, including Nikole Hannah-Jones, who created ''

The 1619 Project The 1619 Project is a long-form journalism endeavor developed by Nikole Hannah-Jones, writers from ''The New York Times'', and ''The New York Times Magazine'' which "aims to reframe the country's history by placing the consequences of slavery an ...

'', worried that the 1836 Project was created as a way to limit the teaching of

critical race theory Critical race theory (CRT) is a cross-disciplinary examination, by social and civil-rights scholars and activists, of how laws, social and political movements, and media shape, and are shaped by, social conceptions of race and ethnicity. Goa ...

in schools and hide the country's history of racism. The project has also received criticism for promoting the "Christian heritage" of the state.

References

{{reflist Texas statutes 2021 in Texas 2021 in American law