The main question that had been asked was whether Texas should stay apart of the union or leave to be their individual “territory”. Sam Houston’s inauguration in December of 1859 made him “the only man to this day who served as governor of two states” (Gone to Texas, page. 236). He was the governor of Tennessee as well as Texas, which aroused expressions of anger from “ultra-southerners”. According to Sam Houston’s “Demagogical Union Saving Doctrines” (Gone to Texas, pg. 236) Runnels explained how it will evidently cause mass controversy and irreparable blow upon Southerners and their interests at the time. According to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, “Texas was not far behind”. Sam Houston refused to call the legislature into a special session to consider secession. Many …show more content…
Throughout research, knowledge already known, a decision on seceding or staying with the union had to be made. Many; actually majority of counties in Texas voted to secede from the union. Texas had plenty of resources and what they needed to manage for survival and production of others. In “The Texas Ordinance of Secession” document, many agreed with the argument believing “Texas abandoned her separate national existence and consented to become one of the Confederate States to promote her welfare, insure domestic tranquility and secure more substantially the blessings of peace and liberty to her people.” Many believed Texas could not do it on their own. Texas had been received into their own confederacy with a constitution under the guarantee of the federal constitution. Bosque County, Texas voted on leaving the Union back in 1861. This county had been one of the many that wanted to be on their own and away from the Union. Now, with the knowledge we already know about what happened to Texas, we realize that they had successfully seceded from the Union and went on to join the Confederate States that had already
The Manifest Destiny beliefs clearly explained how Texas annexation was a natural expansion of the United States-a logical sequel to the Louisiana Purchase. Controversy arose from the annexation of a huge section of Mexico and the fears these lands meant the expansion of slavery. John Quincy Adams, a member of the House of Representatives, stated, "We hesitate not to say that annexation of Texas, effected by any act or proceeding of the Federal Government, or any of its departments, would be identical with dissolution. It would be a violation of our national compact, its objects, designs, and the great elementary principles with entered into its formation, of a character so deep and fundamental, and would be an attempt to authorize an institution and a power of a nature so unjust in themselves, so injurious to the interests and abhorrent to the feelings of the people of the Free States, as, in our opinion, not only inevitably to result in a dissolution of the Union, but fully to justify it; and we not only assert that the people of the Free States 'ought not to submit to it,' but
One reason that Texas fought in the civil war was to protect state rights. Abraham lincoln did not want any states to secede saying “ I hold that...the union of these states is perpetual….(N)o state upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the union”(Document c). But the state disagreed saying that the state was taking their rights away which
Sam Houston has made many decisions when he was in Texas. They included becoming friends with the indians, voting against slavery, and voting against seceding from the Union.
The issue of western expansion was an important topic in the middle of the 19th century, and with the admittance of new territories, there was the controversy on whether or not new western territories should be admitted to the Union as slave states or free states. Sam Houston was supportive of western expansion, but he was not supportive of the spreading of slavery. Houston’s opposition came to Congress in the form of a bill in 1854. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was proposed, and it repealed the Missouri Compromise, which put a ban on slavery above a line called the 36 °30 line. The Kansas-Nebraska Act applied a concept called “popular sovereignty”, which let the voters of each territory decide whether or not it would be admitted to the Union as a slave or a free state. Houston stood against his political party and voted against it, which outraged Southerners. Houston’s attitudes towards slavery may seem contradictory because he was, after all, a slave owner, but despite popular belief, he did not oppose the institution of slavery. Houston defended slavery as a necessity because the South
The recent study of these Northern counties, John R. Lundberg’s article, disputes the prominent narrative for why the North Texas counties voted against secession during the secession referendum. Most historians, for example, Buenger, cite the reasons for voting for or against secession stems from the growing Indian raids on the exposed frontier. Also, Houston’s failure to protect the settlers from those
government's inability to prevent Indian attacks, slave-stealing raids, and other border-crossing acts of banditry. It accuses northern politicians and abolitionist of committing a variety of outrages upon Texans. The bulk of the document offers justifications for slavery and white supremacy, saying that remaining a part of the United States would jeopardize the security of the two. The declaration includes this extract praising slavery, in which the Union itself is referred to as the "confederacy".Following the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, public opinion in the cotton states of the Lower South (South Carolina through Texas) swung in favor of secession. By February 1861, the other six states of the sub-region had separately passed ordinances of secession. However, events in Texas were delayed, largely due to the resistance of Southern Unionist governor, Sam Houston. Unlike the other "cotton states" chief executives, who took the initiative in secessionist efforts, Houston refused to call the Texas Legislature into special session to consider the question, relenting only when it became apparent citizens were prepared to act without
There was much division among Americans regarding what should be done with Texas. Some argued that it should join the other states so that there could be peace between them and Texas (Document F) and that it would make the slaves more comfortable by providing them with more land and support (Document C.) However, others argued that annexing Texas would create a dangerous imbalance of slave and free states. In Document B, Reverend William Ellery Channing claimed that “By annexing Texas, we shall not only create [slavery] where it does not exist, but breathe new life into it, where its end seemed to be near.” In other words, by including Texas as a free state, slavery would only continue to spread for a longer amount of time than it would have originally. This would, of course, extend the entire conflict of whether or not slavery was just. This controversy over Texas greatly divided the states amongst themselves.
First off, the way they declared secession and proceeded to do so was illegal. To begin with everyday we recite the pledge of allegiance where it states, “one nation, indivisible”. Those southerners recited the same pledge we did and they recited themselves that this union is indivisible. Next, under the constitution of the United States of America secession was and always will be considered illegal because of Article 10 Section 1. In this part of the constitution it was illustrated that, “No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation….”. The southern states obviously did not follow that and violated the constitution they agreed to abide by themselves. When they concurred to join the Union they agreed to join an indivisible nation. Nowhere could they make a complaint worthy enough to try to separate for the states that they agreed to join, but of course they tried to with the controversial subject of slavery.
The Annexation of Texas was one of the most debatable events in American history. The question at hand would deeply impact the United States for generations to come. There was on one side a long list of reasons for why to not allow annexation, but there was the same kind of list on the other side for reasons to push forward for annexation. Some of these reasons of both sides were slaves, war, manifest destiny, politics , and constitutional rights. Also the way Texas began in a way said that they should be apart of the United States In the end there were more important reasons for annex Texas into the union, than to leave Texas the was she was.
Many books have been written about the famous Texan Samuel Houston, better known as just Sam Houston. He was born on March 2nd 1793, just outside of Lexington, Virginia to his father, Samuel Houston, who was a veteran of the Revolutionary war, and his mother, Elizabeth Paxton. Sam had four older brothers and when he was three his brother William was born, James (1929). A year after that the first girl in his family was born named Mary. Mary was Sam’s favorite. Sam’s father, then Major Sam Houston, died when he was thirteen years old and less than a year later his mother moved the family to Tennessee. When Sam was fifteen years old in 1809 he ran away from home because his older brothers were forcing him to work in the family owned store in Maryville, James (1929), and spent three years living amongst the Cherokee Indians who adopted him and dubbed him Colonneh, which translates to “the Raven”. After his experience with the Indians Houston retained a consistent empathetic view toward Indians. After war erupted between the Americans and the British, Houston joined the United States Army in 1813 as a twenty year old private. His mother’s response according to DeBruhl, (1993), “There, my son, take this musket and never disgrace it: for remember, I had rather all my sons should fill one honorable grave, than that one of them should turn his back to save his life. Go, and remember, too, that while the door of my cottage is open to brave
This shows that South Carolina had the right to secede because it was a sovereign state. It also shows how the South should have had the right to decide whether they would want to secede from the country or not. Another example is that when the Southern states joined the Union, it was voluntarily (Appleby et.al 556). “Nowhere in the Constitution is there any mention of the union of the states being permanent.” (http:/civilwar.bluegrass.net). This shows that they should have the right to leave the Union if they choose to. They had this right because the South had no bind with the Union stating that they had to stay except for the United States constitution in which the North had already violated. Even though the United States constitution was what they looked at as a contract, the Union already desecrated its’ terms before this dispute. It also shows how the right was their own and the government could not control their choices in staying or not. These reasons and examples show how the South had to right to secede because of various reasons regarding the political state the government was in.
First, the Texans fought for states rights. “This is a Union of equal states, and no state can force another state to remain in it or withdraw from it.” (Doc. C). “No state upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the union.” (Doc. C). The Texans fought to deliver equal power and rights to the states among the union.
The annexation of Texas in the 1840s had many advantages and disadvantages to our country. The divisions between those who supported and opposed this annexation were divided, mainly between the North and South and those representatives supporting each area of the nation. Southerners saw the acquisition of Texas as a way to expand our nation, spread slavery in the South to help empower them, and provide a place for the immigrants pressing the borders of our country. The North did not want Texas to cause the South to overpower them, they feared a war with Mexico, and believed that the growing slave population would cause the lower class of Northerners to be without work.
After the new states were being proclaimed argument for what states were to be slaves and which were not. This lead to distress in the senate and had planted the seeds for the civil war. Texas was later taken over by former southern American slave owners that had declared their own independence calling them the lone star state which started distress with Mexico who had stated that texas’ borders were on a closer river than the Rio grande and had started a war with
Following the secession referendum, Texas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. Those who supported the Unionist vote experienced repercussion from secessionist throughout the