One of the most unique situations during the period of the Civil War in America was the involvement of the state of Texas in the Confederacy. Although it was once its own Republic separate from the United States of America through annexation, Texas was not entirely unique when it came to the institution of slavery. Just like in all other southern states, slavery, and the use of slave labor, was a major factor of the states agricultural economy. During the years around and through the Civil War, Texas became a home for many transient southerners in search of sanctuary from the almost enviable furthering of emancipation. Long before the war, Texas had been the stomping ground for runaway slaves enroute to Mexico and in search of freedom. The state of Texas was not only one of the new frontier territories toward the west but it became one of the final places in America were slavery was practiced. Because of its geography much of Texas remained untouched and unsettled. Many adventurous plantation owners felt it necessary to keep news of the war and emancipation from their slaves as much as a year after the end of the war.(Campbell 249) The topic I have chosen for my research to discuss the history of slavery in Texas during the years of the Civil War. How the institution was altered because of the Civil War and the process by which emancipation was handed to black -Texans is the focus of my report. I would like to uncover how and why slave labor was used to both protect the state, the Confederacy and the institution that held the future of the American Negro forever. Well before the beginning of the Civil War, Texas and some of its surrounding territories were property of Spain just like its southern neighbor, Mexico. Soon after realizing their particular suppression by Spain, Mexico fought for, and won its independence from its mother country. Mexico now had control of their country and the territory of Texas. As more Americans moved west and into Texas it became evident that there was going to be a continued clash between Mexico and the white frontiersmen who quickly flooded certain areas. The American government wanted to purchase this valuable land but eventually it was taken by American frontiersmen where it was declared its own realm. Fearful of the loss of power if allowed into the Union, Texas expressed in 1836 ... ... middle of paper ... ...tely unchanged by wartime activates. Although thousands of slaves were impressed for wartime use only a few lost their lives while fortifying and working along the front lines of southern Texas. As for the vast majority of slaves who were not impressed they went along with their normal production during the Civil War as if freedom was the last thing they expected in the next few years. Some slaves in Texas did not even know about the war until it had been over for months, some revolted long before. As the armies of Texas argued over whether it should send its troops to other states to fight, the institution of slavery went full steam ahead. After the end of the war many blacks began to realize the hatred that faced them and how many whites in Texas would do anything in order to ensure that they(whites) would always be the ruling class. Opportunity did not come easy to blacks, but prejudice did. Almost until the very end of the Civil War, Texans seemed to be denying the fact that an end coming to their precious "right" to own and oppress their "inferior" and "heathen" God-given servants. Courtesy of chew (1995) University of Maryland
On June 23, 1845, the Republic of Texas was annexed to the U.S. as a slave state. Foley notes "the annexation of Texas as a slave state…became the great white hope of northern expansionists anxious to emancipate the nation from blacks, who, it was hoped, would find a home among the kindred population of 'colored races' in Mexico."(20) But rather than uniting as kindred races, discord between poor whites, African Americans and Mexicans resulted from competition for farmland as either tenant farmers or sharecroppers.
Between 1800 and 1860 slavery in the American South had become a ‘peculiar institution’ during these times. Although it may have seemed that the worst was over when it came to slavery, it had just begun. The time gap within 1800 and 1860 had slavery at an all time high from what it looks like. As soon as the cotton production had become a long staple trade source it gave more reason for slavery to exist. Varieties of slavery were instituted as well, especially once international slave trading was banned in America after 1808, they had to think of a way to keep it going – which they did. Nonetheless, slavery in the American South had never declined; it may have just come to a halt for a long while, but during this time between 1800 and 1860, it shows it could have been at an all time high.
During the period of time between 1789 and 1840, there were a lot of major changes occurring on the issue of slavery such as the impact it had towards the economy and the status of slaves in general. There were two types of African Americans slaves during the era, either doing hard cheap labor in a plantation usually owned by a white and being enslaved, or free. Undoubtedly, the enslaved African Americans worked vigorously receiving minimal pay, while on the other hand, the free ones had quite a different lifestyle. The free ones had more freedom, money, land/power, are healthier, younger and some even own plantations. In addition, in 1820 the Missouri compromise took into effect, which made it so states North of the 36°30′ parallel would be free and South would be slave and helped give way to new laws regarding the issue of slavery.
Narrative History of Texas Annexation, Secession, and Readmission to the Union. Texans voted in favor of annexation to the United States in the first election following independence in 1836. However, throughout the Republic period (1836-1845) no treaty of annexation negotiated between the Republic and the United States was ratified by both nations. When all attempts to arrive at a formal annexation treaty failed, the United States Congress passed--after much debate and only a simple majority--a Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States. Under these terms, Texas would keep both its public lands and its public debt, it would have the power to divide into four additional states "of convenient size" in the future if it so desired, and it would deliver all military, postal, and customs facilities and authority to the United States government.
I grew up in the "Land of Lincoln" in a rural town near Springfield, Illinois. It had always been common knowledge that it was on January 1, 1863 that Abraham Lincoln freed all slaves with his Emancipation Proclamation. Though, it had never occurred to me that this was not the case in Texas. It was not until June 19, 1865 when the Union General Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston, Texas with the good news. His first order of business in Galveston was to read the General Order Number 3 to the people of Texas freeing the last 250, 000 slaves, which read as follows:
Of all the areas with which the southerners contended, the socio-political arena was probably their strongest. It is in this area that they had history and law to support their assertions. With the recent exception of the British, the slave trade had been an integral part of the economies of many nations and the slaves were the labor by which many nations and empires attained greatness. Souther...
“Slavery in the United States.” Encyclopaedia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
Slavery in America: The Beginning of the Civil War. Should humans be autonomous or responsible? In other words, should they follow the convictions of their own hearts or surrender their ideals to another power presumed to be superior in its wisdom? This dilemma between autonomy and responsibility presents itself constantly. The struggles over abortion, euthanasia, and drug legalization are perfect examples.
“War is at best barbarism….Its glory is all moonshine….War is hell. (Union General William Tecumseh Sherman) A wise quote by an even wiser man, The Civil War was agreed a “hell”. For four years (1862-1865) a war was fought between both Northern Union states and Southern Confederate states over the matter of slavery. During this time period many changes were happening in the United States; the election of an anti-slavery president, Southern states trying to secede to become their own independent country. These factors and many more including slavery were the main causes of The Civil War. To begin slavery was the main income for southern states.
There were 3 battles in Texas during the Civil War: Battle Of Sabine Pass, Battle of Galveston, and the Battle of Palmito Ranch. The Battle of Sabine Pass took place near the Sabine River, The Battle Of Galveston took place on Galveston Harbor, and The Battle Of Palmito Ranch took place near the Rio Grande river.
Slavery is an institution in which people are forced into servitude against their will. It started out in states close to the Eastern seaboard such as Virginia because it had direct paths to slave centers such as Africa and the West Indies. These states, as slavery progressed all the way down to Texas, had 1 thing in common. Rich soil. Exactly the kind of soil needed to produce crops like tobacco, cotton, sugar canes in tremendous amounts. Since plantation owners couldn’t work these fields by themselves, they bought slaves to do it for them. The output of the slaves’ labor enhanced the economy so much that some politicians of the time were convinced that the nation’s livelihood depended on this servitude. As good as it seemed for the slaveowners, it was a horrendous experience for the people who had the short straw picked out for them, as Sarah Ford’s experience shows.
One of the major reasons Texans fought in the Civil War, was for the right to hold and own slaves. “By 1860, 30% of Texas’ population was made up of slaves, and this might of been due to the fact that Texas was so abundant in land.” (Doc. A) Slave labor was cheap and “whites believed them to be an inferior race.” (Doc. B) John Wesley Rabb even told his mother to “send the slaves into the mountains if the Yankees were to come so the slaves wouldn’t be seized.” (Doc. C) As you can see, slave labor contributed to a great part of the Southern economy, and slaves were an invaluable resource. This is just one reason Texans fought in the
Also the way Texas began in a way that said that they should be apart of the United States. In the end there were more important reasons for annexing Texas into the union, than to leave Texas the way she was. From the early days of pioneers and settlers, thousands of Americans began to move into what would become Texas. The Mexican government wanted to populate the Texas area to increase the economy. For a long period of time the Mexican government had placed many laws on the territory, but none that were deeply enforced.
Confusion abounded in the still-smoldering South about the precise meaning of “freedom” for blacks. Emancipation took effect haltingly and unevenly in different parts of the conquered Confederacy. As Union armies marched in and out of various localities, many blacks found themselves emancipated and then re-enslaved. Blacks from one Texas county fleeing to the free soil of the liberated county next door were attacked by slave owners as they swam across the river that marked the county line. The next day trees along the riverbank were bent with swinging corpses – a grisly warning to others dreaming of liberty. Other planters resisted emancipation more legalistically, stubbornly protesting that slavery was lawful until state legislatures or the Supreme Court declared otherwise. For many slaves the shackles of slavery were not struck off in a mighty single blow but had to be broken link by link.
The American Revolution was a “light at the end of the tunnel” for slaves, or at least some. African Americans played a huge part in the war for both sides. Lord Dunmore, a governor of Virginia, promised freedom to any slave that enlisted into the British army. Colonists’ previously denied enlistment to African American’s because of the response of the South, but hesitantly changed their minds in fear of slaves rebelling against them. The north had become to despise slavery and wanted it gone. On the contrary, the booming cash crops of the south were making huge profits for landowners, making slavery widely popular. After the war, slaves began to petition the government for their freedom using the ideas of the Declaration of Independence,” including the idea of natural rights and the notion that government rested on the consent of the governed.” (Keene 122). The north began to fr...