# 1836 Project > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/1836_Project > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/1836_Project.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1836_Project > Source revision: 1319813263 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Texas law article}} {{Infobox essay |name=1836 Project |image= |caption= |publisher=1836 Project Advisory Committee, [Texas Education Agency](/source/Texas_Education_Agency) |author= |pub_date=2022 |language=English |country=United States |genre=Government report }} {{Infobox legislation | short_title = House Bill 2497 | legislature = [Texas Legislature](/source/Texas_Legislature) | enacted_by = [House of Representatives](/source/Texas_House_of_Representatives) | enacted_by2 = [Senate](/source/Texas_Senate) | long_title = An Act relating to the establishment and duties of the Texas 1836 Project. | date_passed = 5 May 2021 | date_passed2 = 26 May 2021 | signed_by = Governor [Greg Abbott](/source/Greg_Abbott) | date_signed = 16 June 2021 | date_commenced = {{Start date|2021|09|01}} | introduced_by = | passed = 30 March 2021 | passed_for = 124 | passed_against = 19 | passed_absent = 6 | passed_presentnotvoting = 1 | passed2 = 6 May 2021 | passed2_for = 22 | passed2_against = 9 | bill_citation = [https://webservices.sos.state.tx.us/legbills/files/RS87/HB2497.pdf Full Text of HB 2497 with signatures] of:{{Indented_plainlist| * Senate President [Dan Patrick](/source/Dan_Patrick_(politician)) * House Speaker [Dade Phelan](/source/Dade_Phelan) * House Chief Clerk Robert Haney * Secretary of the Senate Patsy Spaw * Governor [Greg Abbott](/source/Greg_Abbott) }} | status = in force }} The '''1836 Project''', created by '''Texas House Bill 2497''' of the [Texas Legislature](/source/Texas_Legislature), is an advisory committee designed to promote "patriotic education" regarding [Texas history](/source/history_of_Texas).State of Texas. “House Bill No. 2497.” ''Texas Legislature Online'', Texas Capitol, capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/pdf/HB02497F.pdf. Accessed 4 May 2024. Texas's 1836 project is an “advisory committee designed to promote patriotic education and increase awareness of the [Texas](/source/Texas) values that continue to stimulate boundless prosperity across this state” originally established by house bill 2497.{{cite web | title=The 1836 Project: Telling the Texas Story | url=https://tea.texas.gov/academics/subject-areas/1836-document-telling-the-texas-story-final.pdf | website = tea.texas.gov | publisher = Texas Education Agency | access-date=2025-10-10}} "The 1836 Project: Telling the Texas Story" also explains that there were nine committee members made up the 1836 Project, in an attempt to represent the diversity of the state. Three members were appointed by each of the following: the speaker of the house of representatives, lieutenant governor, and governor. Individuals in the private sector with appropriate experience or subject matter expertise may be among the appointees. The bill was introduced on March 1st, 2021, passed by the house and senate in May 2021 and then executive signed in June of 2021.{{Cite web |title=Vote Smart {{!}} Facts For All |url=http://votesmart.org/ |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=Vote Smart}} The committee's report, "The 1836 Project: Telling the Texas Story", was released in 2022.{{cite news| last=Dey | first=Sneha | title=1836 Project promotes sanitized version of Texas history, experts say | website=The Texas Tribune | date=2022-09-26 | url=https://www.texastribune.org/2022/09/26/texas-1836-project-pamphlet/ | access-date=2025-10-10}} It will be available to new drivers at Texas driver's license offices across the state. ==Development== House Bill 2497 was passed in May 2021, receiving support from [Republicans](/source/Republican_Party_of_Texas) and [Democrats](/source/Texas_Democratic_Party), and was signed into law by Texas Governor [Greg Abbott](/source/Greg_Abbott).{{cite news |last1=Romero |first1=Simon |title=Texas Pushes to Obscure the State’s History of Slavery and Racism |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/us/texas-history-1836-project.html |access-date=7 November 2021 |publisher=The New York Times |date=May 20, 2021}} The 1836 project’s main goal shall be to “promote awareness among residents of this state of the following as they relate to the history of prosperity and democratic freedom in this state.”“1836 Committee Report Final.” ''Texas Education Agency'', The State of Texas, Dec. 2022, tea.texas.gov/academics/subject-areas/the-1836-report-final.pdf. The committee states this is to be done by promoting awareness of the following: the indigenous peoples, the spanish and mexican heritage, Tejanos, the African-American heritage, Texas war for independence, juneteenth, annexation of Texas, the christian heritage, heritage of keeping and bearing firearms, the founding documents of the state, the founders, state civics, and the role of this state in passing the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. 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](/source/Texas_Revolution) and is funded by the [Texas Education Agency](/source/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.{{cite news |last1=Franklin |first1=Brian |title=The 1836 Project Is an Opportunity |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/06/texas-1836-project-teachers.html |access-date=7 November 2021 |publisher=Slate |date=June 11, 2021}} Committee members were appointed by Abbott, [Lieutenant Governor](/source/Lieutenant_Governor_of_Texas) [Dan Patrick](/source/Dan_Patrick_(politician)) and House Speaker [Dade Phelan](/source/Dade_Phelan). The project also awards students for their knowledge of the state’s history and values through the Gubernatorial 1836 Award. It is believed by many that Texas’s 1836 project was inspired by a few similar projects that happened in the years leading up to it.{{Cite web |last=Graff |first=Harvey J. |title=Battle of the Books: When Historical Reassessments Collide |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/columns-and-blogs/soapbox/article/88602-battle-of-the-books-when-historical-reassessments-collide.html |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=PublishersWeekly.com |language=en}} [Harvey Graff](/source/Harvey_J._Graff)’s article “Battle of the Books'' speculates that the 1836 project was enacted in order to combat the New York Times “[1619 project](/source/The_1619_Project)” which is a deliberate plan to rewrite American history by systematically including people of color, whose first non-native ancestors arrived in Virginia in 1619 as slaves. The article also mentions Trump’s [1776 Project](/source/1776_Commission) that begins the history of the United States with the Revolution, additionally, most forms of conflict, including racial and gender, are erased from history in favor of a push for freedoms that predominantly benefit a white man. ==Criticism== The project's name was criticized by some because Texas’ independence didn’t apply to all people living in Texas at the time, including slaves and indigenous groups. Critics, including [Nikole Hannah-Jones](/source/Nikole_Hannah-Jones), who created ''[The 1619 Project](/source/The_1619_Project)'', worried that the 1836 Project was created as a way to limit the teaching of [critical race theory](/source/critical_race_theory) in schools and hide the country's history of racism. The project has also received criticism for promoting the "Christian heritage" of the state. Historians consulted by ''[The Texas Tribune](/source/The_Texas_Tribune)'' stated: "that condensing the state’s history and painting it in a mostly celebratory light came at a cost. The pamphlet, they said, fails to fully hold institutions accountable for slavery and other forms of oppression and shortchanged Indigenous Texans, Tejanos, Black Texans and women." ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [https://tea.texas.gov/academics/subject-areas/1836-project-advisory-committee 1836 Project Advisory Committee], at the Texas Education Agency * [https://tea.texas.gov/academics/subject-areas/1836-document-telling-the-texas-story-final.pdf The 1836 Project: Telling the Texas Story], published by the Texas Education Agency * [https://tea.texas.gov/academics/subject-areas/1836-report-final.pdf The 1836 Report], published by the Texas Education Agency Category:Texas statutes Category:2021 in Texas Category:2021 in American law Category:Greg Abbott --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [1836 Project](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1836_Project) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1836_Project?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.