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In late August, 1835, Stephen Austin arrived back in Texas from Mexico. He had changed his mind about whether Mexico could be reformed to protect the liberty guaranteed in the 1824 Constitution of Mexico.Being in prison for almost a year and then restricted to not leaving Mexico City for another 7 months without a trial or charges has a tendency to change a man's mind about things. The ordeal surely took a toll on his health. Within 16 months of arriving home, he would die of a cold at age 43.In 1833, Austin had traveled to Mexico City to try to persuade Mexico to repeal the restrictions on immigration to Texas from the US and to create the new state of Texas from the then existing state of Coahuila y Tejas, hoping to provide more decentralized, self-government for Texas.He got the immigration restrictions repealed, but did not succeed on getting a new state. On his way back to Texas, he was arrested on January 3, 1834 in Saltillo, being held in several prisons for almost a year.I draw two lessons from the story of Austin’s arrest. First, it gives us a concrete example of the denial of the right to petition for redress of grievances. Second, he gives us an example of when it is time to switch from promoting reform to working for separation and self determination.The right to petition for redress of grievances, a right that is explicitly recognized in both Article I, Section 27 of the Bill of Rights of the Texas Constitution and in the First Amendment to the U.S. Bill of Rights. It took me a long time to understand what the right really is. The right to petition for redress of grievances in simple terms is the right to ask for what you want without being punished for the asking.In Austin’s situation, the dictatorship punished Austin for representing the people of Texas in asking for what they wanted. It was a paradigm changing experience for Stephen F. Austin.Before the imprisonment, he was for diplomacy and decentralization and federalism and pushing for enforcement of the liberties guaranteed in the Mexican Constitution of 1824. He came home dedicated to separation.I am like the pre-arrest Austin at the moment, I still want constitutional government from DC. I recognize that things are bad now, but they can get much worse. If they do get worse, that could change my mind. But both the US founders and Stephen Austin's example of trying every peaceful remedy to win freedom from the existing government before secession is my guide. I want to try constitutional enforcement.