Describe the relative location of
Texas:
•Southern State
•West of Louisiana
•North of Mexico
•Along the Gulf
Which section of the country
would Texas most likely to
support?
• The South, of course.
Texas considered itself a southern state b/c:
• Geographic location
• Immigration patterns- most Texans
emigrated from the southern parts of the U.S.
& many families had ties to extended families
in other parts of the south
• TX as a Mexican state, Republic, and state
had allowed slavery
• Texas was an agricultural state and most
farmers did not own slaves, but large
plantations and their wealthy owners
dominated politics and decision making
Texas Secedes 1850-1860’s
• In 1859, at the age of 70, Good ole Sam
Houston was re-elected governor of Texas
• He didn’t want to fight anymore or join the
Confederate States of America
• Why did Sam Houston oppose Texas
seceding from the Union?
• In January of 1861, Texas held a Secession
Convention against Houston’s wishes
• They drafted a law proposing that Texas
secede saying the U.S. had abused its power
against the people of Texas
Texas Secedes 1850-1860’s
• Texan delegates called for an election to
vote on secession
• Only white, male landowners could vote
• 600,000 people in Texas but only 10% of
the pop. voted - 46,000 for secession
14,500 against
What were they thinking?
• Some southern actually believed that the
U.S. would just let them go w/out fighting
• Both North and South believed they
would win the fight w/in a few months
Southern States held the Montgomery,
Alabama Convention in February 1861
• The Confederate States of America(CSA)
was formed
• Jefferson Davis elected President of the
CSA
• CSA gov’t demanded a Loyalty Oath or
pledge of allegiance from all government
officials
What was Sam Houston’s reaction?
What was the outcome of his decision?
Texas Secedes 1850-1860’s
• Sam Houston predicted the outcome…..
• Read Sam Houston Speaks about
Secession
• If only Texans had listened to him….
Sam Houston Speaks about War and
Secession
• “Some of you laugh to scorn the idea
of bloodshed as the result of
secession, but let me tell you what is
coming.... Your fathers and husbands,
your sons and brothers, will be herded
at the point of the bayonet.... You may
after the sacrifice of countless millions
of treasure and hundreds of thousands
of lives, as a bare possibility, win
Southern independence ...but I doubt
it.” (1861)
• Complete the sheet labeled Slavery and
States’ Rights