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Texas Secession
 Essential Questions:
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Define characteristics of
the Civil War &
Reconstruction Era.
Explain the significance
of 1861.
Explain reasons for the
involvement of Texas in
the Civil War such as
states’ rights, slavery,
sectionalism, tariffs, and
secession.
 Main Idea: Abraham
Lincoln was elected
president in 1860. In
1861, Southern states,
including Texas, formed
the Confederate States
of America.
Many Issues Divide the Country
 Tariffs – taxes on trade
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1828 “Tariff of
Abominations” (a high tax)
South hated it

Forced to sell cotton @ low
prices to be competitive

Pay high prices for North
manufactured goods
“Nullification Crisis” Results

South Carolina believed that
states had the right to nullify a
federal law it considered
unconstitutional.

South Carolina threatened to
secede but a compromise ended
the threat. This issue continued
to brew until 1861.
Many Issues Divide the Country
 Sectionalism – loyalty to
the interests of one's own
region or section of the
country, rather than the
nation as a whole

Many Texans came from
southern states and grew
the chief cash crop, which
was cotton.

Texas resembled the
economy, social structure,
customs, and political
values of the South which
concentrated on
plantation agriculture,
slave labor, and the
Democratic Party.
Many Issues Divide the Country
 States Rights – Texans
believed that states
should be able to make
their own political,
economic, and social
decisions.
 Slavery – Texans believed
that slavery was vital to
the economy; opposed
Republican Party b/c
most members did NOT
want to see slavery
spread to new territories
Southern Society in 1850s
Upper Class – Slave Elite
Middle class – Few
Slaves
Lower Class – No
Slaves
Lower Middle Class – 1 or 2
Slaves
Slaves
Southern States Vow to Secede
 During the 1860
presidential campaign,
Southerners warned that
they would secede if the
Republicans won.
 Lincoln was
Republican candidate
that won the election
 Secession: Southerners
argued that sovereignty
rested with the states,
saying the states entered
the Union voluntarily
and could likewise leave.
The Convention Votes on
Secession

Governor Sam Houston
opposed secession by
declaring that Texas could be
better protect its interest by
staying in the Union.

“South can’t win the war”

Texans favoring secession
called a convention. The
Texas Secession Convention
met in Austin in January
1861.

They adopted the Ordinance
of Secession, which declared
that the U.S. abused its
power to “strike down the
interest and prosperity of the
people of Texas.”
Sam Houston Quote #1
 “Let me tell you what is coming. After the sacrifice
of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of
thousands of lives you may win Southern
independence, but I doubt it. The North is
determined to preserve this Union. They are not a
fiery, impulsive people as you are, for they live in
colder climates. But when they begin to love in a
given direction, the move with the steady
momentum and perseverance of a mighty
avalanche.”
The Convention Votes on
Secession
 On February 23, 1861
the people of Texas
approved secession by
a wide margin.
 Texas became the
seventh state of eleven
to secede from the U.S.
and form a new
country in the South.
The Confederacy is Formed
 The 7 seceded states met at
a convention in
Montgomery, Alabama,
and formed a new nation
called the Confederate
States of America (C.S.A.)
and drew up a constitution.
First Confederacy Flag
 The states were given more
power, the federal
government less, and the
constitution guaranteed the
protection of slavery.
 The document replaced
references to the U.S. with
references to the
Confederacy.
Houston is Removed
 When the Texas Secession
Convention ordered all
states officials to take an
oath of allegiance to the
Confederacy, Houston
refused and was removed as
governor.
 President Lincoln offered
Houston the use of federal
troops if he would oppose
the convention that voted
for secession, but,
unwilling to cause a civil
war in Texas, Houston
refused.
Governor Sam Houston
Sam Houston Quote #2
 “Would you be willing to deluge [flood] the capital
of Texas with the blood of Texans, merely to keep
one poor old man in a position for a few days
longer, in a position that belongs to the people? No! .
. . Go tell my deluded friends that I am proud of
their friendship, of their love and loyalty, . . . [but]
to go to their homes and to conceal from the world
that they would have been guilty of such an act.”
The War Begins
 President Lincoln believed
the C.S.A. had no right to
leave the Union. He vowed
to preserve the nation and
carry out the law of the
land in all states.

Battle of Fort Sumter
A “perpetual” Union
 On April 12, 1861,
Confederate troops opened
fire on U.S. troops at Fort
Sumter in Charleston,
South Carolina, starting
the Civil War.