It’s only a coincidence that it happened to be on the same day as the Texas Primaries for both of the major parties; the Teabaggers already had two gatherings elsewhere (Nashville and the CPAC thing).
Much like American Independence Day, the Texans weren’t out of the woods yet against their foe Mexico’s de facto dictator Santa Anna. The colonists decided to borrow a page from 60 years earlier to make their position against Mexico more legal, in the eyes of the US and probably Europe. It worked out in the end for the Anglos. I’m confident that even if Sam Houston lost, the US would’ve just picked its fight with Mexico ahead of schedule to secure the territory. The early Texans did share the South’s similar, cynical motivations for prying the land away from Mexico to spread the legality of slavery and balance out the growing influence of the North.
I didn’t have any opportunity to take the day off but I’m sure state employees like my neighbor Cristina got to kick back, drink a Lone Star in the alley and reminisce about the high school football glory days I tell you whut. Besides, I don’t really live in Texas per se. I live in Austin which just happens to be in the middle of Texas by some cruel twist of fate. Trust me, I’ve given a couple friends the tour and they had a hard time believing this place was possible given the state’s worldwide reputation.