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Analysis Of The Article ' Sam Houston Returns '

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Although Edward Clark replaced Sam Houston as Governor of Texas when Houston refused “to take a loyalty oath to the new Confederate States of America, Sam Houston nevertheless remained a force to be reckoned with in Texas politics.” The article, "Sam Houston Returns? Two Letters from Texas Secessionists in 1863,” provides evidence that after two years of fighting, secessionist leaders feared the possibility of a growing rise of Unionism from its war-weary citizens. Secessionist leaders feared the growing creation of more secret loyalist societies following the actions of secessionist who conducted a mass hanging of suspected secret “Union League” members at Gainesville. That these hangings could heighten the public interest to side with the Unionist and rally around Houston’s banner if he reentered the political arena to become the States’ governor. Evidence supporting these fears comes from two letters written by William Richardson the editor of the Galveston News and Harris A. Hamner the co-editor of the White Man. These letters demonstrate Richardson and Hamner wanted to marginalize Houston’s popularity and possible bid to reenter politics. They collaborated with Senator Louis T. Wigfall to devise ways to undercut Houston’s efforts. They believed that “if well-respected newspapers outside Texas revived tales of Houston’s past Union sentiments and paraded them before the public, then pro-Confederate forces within the state could reprint them and escape the charge

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