2. Texas Before the Civil War
Women in Texas
•Women were vastly outnumbered by men.
• In 1850 men outnumbered women by 15,704 and in 1860 by 36,000
•Interracial mixing between white men and black and Mexican women
became more common
•Women were permitted to cross into decidedly male roles to ensure efficient
functioning on the farm
•Texas culture continued to be dominated by men
• Most believed that women should remain subordinate, and they faced
restricted political, social, economic, and legal activities
• Women still could not vote, sit on juries, take the pulpit, or speak in public
forums
•A handful of women participated in reform causes such as the abolitionist
and women’s rights movements
3. Texas Before the Civil War
Education
•Public education had made no significant improvements since Lamar’s efforts
during the republic years
•In 1854, Governor Elisha M. Pease established an educational measure with
several provisions
•A permanent $2 million education endowment was created
•It was mandated that schools be made available to all Texas children and that
schools for the hearing and visually impaired be created
•Necessary land and funding for the creation of a university (which became the
University of Texas) was provided
•However, all provisions of Governor Pease’s efforts moved slowly
•The permanent funding never sufficiently covered teacher salaries and
construction of school buildings
•The government took little action to establish a university campus until much
later
4. Texas Before the Civil War
Religion
•Religion in Texas maintained an evangelical impulse
•Protestant preachers viewed Texas as a society of sinners in need of spiritual
rescue
•At the time of annexation, the largest denominations were Methodists, Baptists,
Presbyterians, Catholics, and Episcopalians
•Protestants stressed humankind’s imperfection and the need for a personal
relationship with God. They did not generally advocate addressing social issues or
engaging in reform crusades
•Churches established Sunday Schools and other educational institutions
•The Baptists founded Baylor in 1845 in Independence, Texas, and then
moved it in 1887 to Waco where it merged with Waco University
•Clergymen typically supported the majority view that slavery was a necessary
institution that benefitted an “inferior” race
5. Crisis and Compromise
Wilmot Proviso
•During the Mexican War, David Wilmot (Penn.) proposes a resolution prohibiting slavery
in all territory acquired from Mexico
• Measure fails due to no Congressional action
• Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo is acted upon instead (allowing slavery)
The Free Soil Party
•After the end of the Mexican War, opponent of slavery expansion band together to form
the Free Soil Party
•The party had appeal in the North because it would limit southern power in the federal
government
•Their platform advocated for:
• Barring slavery from the west
• Providing homesteads to settlers in the west free of cost
•Southerners were outraged at the “Free-Soilers” singling out slavery
•Once again, the admission of free states would disrupt the balance of free/slave states
•Crisis begins again as California is admitted to the Union as a free state
6. Crisis and Compromise
Compromise of 1850
•Extended debate in Congress over California coming in as a free state
•Series of five bills
• California admitted as a free state
• Slave trade was abolished
• Territories of New Mexico and Utah organized under popular sovereignty (let the people
decide whether to be a free or slave state)
• Fugitive Slave Act is passed (assists in return of runaway slaves)
• Texas gives up western land to pay off Republic of Texas debt ($10 million given to TX)
•This bill essentially postpones the Civil War for another decade
• Henry Clay was important in formulating the compromise
• He dies in 1852
Expansion Again
•Gadsden Purchase (1853) – U.S. gave Mexico $15 million for the remainder of AZ and
NM
•Americans look to Cuba and the Philippines for international expansion
• Spain not happy about this
• Postpones another international war until 1898
7. Crisis and Compromise
“Know-Nothing Party”
•An appeal to nativism due to the influx of
immigrants (Irish and German)
•Several fraternities form to advocate
against immigration
• Order of the Star-Spangled Banner
•A cohesive group formed with the “Know-
Nothings”
• When asked about their party, they would
always say, “I know nothing”
•Grass roots movement (power flowed up from
the bottom)
•Promotion of Protestantism over Catholicism
•Many Democrats and Whigs defected from their
parties to join the Know-Nothing and Free-Soil
parties
8. Crisis and Compromise
The Whig Party’s Demise
•Franklin Pierce is elected in 1852 (Dem.)
•Known as a “doughface” Democrat
• Northern Democrat with Southern
sympathies
•Ushers in the end for the Whigs
•Whig Party falls apart due to members
defecting to the Northern Democrats, Know-
Nothings, and Free-Soil parties
•By the end of the decade, a combination of
these three parties would form the
Republican Party (the one we know today)
9.
10. Crisis and Compromise
Rise of the Republican Party
•The party reflected economic and social changes within the country
• Booming business in the North due to railroads
• Society dealing with a complex, industrial society
•Free Labor ideology
• Free labor could not compete with slave labor, so expansion of slavery had to stop to
ensure freedom for the white laborer
• They were trying to appeal to immigrants especially
•“Slave Power conspiracy”
• Republicans began to charge Southern Democrats of a conspiracy to nationalize
slavery through measures such as the Kansas-Nebraska Act
• Lincoln takes on Douglas, President James Buchanan, and Chief Justice Roger
Taney as proponents of this conspiracy in his famous, “House Divided” speech
•This did not mean all Republicans were abolitionists though
Bleeding Kansas
•Civil war breaks out in Kansas over slavery (popular sovereignty at work)
•Republicans use this as a means to discredit Stephen Douglas and the Kansas-
Nebraska Act
11. Crisis and Compromise
Dred Scott v. Sanford
•Dred Scott, a slave that lived in five territories sued for his freedom
•Supreme Court heard the case and asked these questions:
• Could a black person be a citizen and sue in court?
• Did residence in a free state make Scott free?
• Did Congress possess the power to prohibit slavery in a territory?
•Chief Justice Roger Taney declares that:
• Only white persons could be citizens in the U.S.
• Congress possessed no power to bar slavery form a territory
• Slaves cannot be taken away from their owners without due process of the law
•Scott’s case is thrown out because he cannot sue
•This poses a serious threat to the Republican’s platform to restrict the
expansion of slavery
•Really heats up the “Slave Power Conspiracy” theory
12. Descent into War
John Brown’s Raid
•John Brown, an abolitionist that had reactionary tendencies
plans an armed slave revolt on the federal arsenal at
Harpers Ferry, Virginia
•The assault was stopped by U.S. Marines under Col. Robert E.
Lee
•Brown was captured, tried, and executed in December 1859
•John Wilkes Booth (future assassin of President Lincoln)
witnessed the execution
•This event greatly upsets the South
•Causes more sectional division between the North and South
•Also bolsters Southern Nationalism
13. Descent into War
The Election of 1860
•Arguably the most important election in American
History
•Abraham Lincoln, Republican nominee
•Democrats were split, Southern Democrats walked
out of the 1860 Democratic National Convention
• Southern Democrats nominated John Breckinridge of
Kentucky
• Northern Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas
•Lincoln wins in a landslide with the Democrats split
• Does not receive a single vote in ten southern states
•Republican party platform:
• Deny the validity of Dred Scott v. Sanford
• Oppose slavery’s expansion
• More economic incentives
14. Descent into War
The Secession Crisis
•Begins as soon as Lincoln is elected president
•Rather than be a minority, Deep South leaders
call for regional independence
•By the time Lincoln takes the oath of office,
seven states secede from the Union
• From South Carolina to Texas
•Leaving president James Buchanan said a
state could not leave the Union
• But he didn’t believe the U.S. could use force
against them
15. Texas and the Secession Crisis
Texas Democrats and Secession
•December 1860 – Texas Democrats met and
voted for secession
•Requested that Governor Sam Houston
convoke a special session of the
legislature in order to legally vote for a
secession convention
•Houston, a Unionist, fought to stop Texas’
secession from the Union
•Those favoring secession believed that
preservation of their way of life depended on it
•A deep-seated understanding of
republicanism committed them to the idea
that they, not the federal government,
should control their lives
•Houston later is removed from office for failing
to swear allegiance to the Confederacy
•Replaced by Edward Clark
16. Knights of the Golden Circle
Background
•Founded in 1854 by George W. L. Bickley, a Virginia-born doctor, editor, and
adventurer living in Cincinnati
•Organization grew slowly, but gained considerable attention around 1860
•Essentially a secret antebellum organization
•Little funding and sporadic membership; members from New York to California
•Were greatly influenced by the Masons
Goals of the KGC
•Establish a slave empire encompassing the southern U.S., West Indies, Mexico,
and part of Central America
•Roughly 2,400 miles in diameter (known as the Golden Circle)
•Knights wanted to control commerce in the “Golden Circle”
•Virtual monopoly on the world’s supply of tobacco, sugar, rice, and coffee
•Pro-slavery sentiments were an unspoken prerequisite for membership
KGC and Texas
•By 1860, Bickley had over 32 “castles” or local chapters in Texas
•Houston, Galveston, Austin, San Antonio, Jefferson, and La Grange
•Prominent members included Alfred M. Hobby and John B. Lubbock
18. Knights of the Golden Circle
KGC and Texas
•In the spring of 1860, Bickley and other
members attempted to launch 2 invasions on
Mexico from the Rio Grande
•Both were unsuccessful due to lack of
interest and Bickley’s inept leadership
•However, after Abraham Lincoln was elected
President of the U.S., Bickley and the group
began to focus on the secessionist movement
•They became staunch supporters of
secession and had considerable influence
in Texas politics
19. And the War Came
Lincoln’s Response
•Believed the secession issue would collapse from within
•Issued this warning: “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow
countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil
war”
The Confederate States of America
•Formed on 4 March 1861
•Elected Jefferson Davis as President
• Rather reluctant to become president
• Loved the United States
• Was torn over the constitutionality of slavery
Fort Sumter
•South fires on Fort Sumter on 12 April 1861
•Lincoln calls in 75,000 troops to suppress the insurrection
•Waco’s own Felix H. Robertson was an artilleryman at the
battle
21. Beginning of the Conflict (1861)
Fort Sumter
•15 April 1861
•Four years to the day of Lincoln’s assassination
•Shelling was conducted by Southern
belligerents upset at the possibility of Lincoln
being an anti-slavery president
•Lincoln demands the shelling stops
•Commands them to disband immediately
•Known to Southerners as the beginning of
“Lincoln’s Aggression”
•The South began to systematically secede from
the Union because of Lincoln’s perceived
‘aggression’.
•Waco’s own Felix H. Robertson (CSA) was
present and helped the shelling
23. Texas Mobilization
Department of Texas Takeover
•16 February 1861, Ben McCulloch went to San Antonio and compelled Brig. Gen.
David E. Twiggs, commander of the Department of Texas to surrender U.S. forces
and evacuate immediately
•McCulloch later raised the Lone Star flag over the Alamo
•Days later, Colonel John S. “Rip” Ford took 500 volunteers and captured Brazos
Island, at the mouth of the Rio Grande
John S. “Rip” Ford Ben McCulloch
24. Military Planning (1862-1863)
Northern Military Planning
•The “Anaconda Plan”
•Suffocate the South from all sides and let it die by occupying a majority of
the enemy territory
•Advocated by General-in-Chief Winfield Scott
•Called for a blockade on all Southern ports
•Advance down the Mississippi River to cut the South into two pieces
•This was a fairly passive military strategy
•Scott takes on this approach partially due to Lincoln’s push for a
blockade
•The plan’s failure
•No U.S. Navy ships could navigate the Mississippi the way Scott believed
•The strategy was too short-sighted; Scott believed that the South would
easily give up
•Scott gives up his post and his plan to George B. McClellan
Southern Military Strategy
•Thought the war would be primarily defensive
•General Robert E. Lee believed and advocated for this initially
27. Battle of Shiloh (1862)
Time, Location, and Opposing Generals
•6-7 April 1862
•Hardin County, Tennessee
(southwestern)
•Union: Ulysses S. Grant and Don Carlos
Buell
•Confederate: Albert Sidney Johnston and
P. G. T. Beauregard
•Bloodiest battle in the war (up to 1862)
•24,000 casualties
•More than the American Revolution,
War of 1812, and Mexican War
combined
Ulysses S. Grant (Union)
28. Battle of Shiloh (1862)
Why is it important?
•Johnston was killed during the battle
•Easily one of the best mid-level CSA
officers
•Begins a trend of mid-level CSA officer
casualties that the CSA cannot easily
replace and does not recover from
•Grant’s command is questioned
•Thought to be drunk during the battle
•Accused of not planning for a defensive
position in the first day of the battle
•A regiment got bayoneted in their tents
asleep; this makes for big news headlines
•Felix H. Robertson was present and
commanded a small detachment of artillery
(beginning to move up in rank)
Albert Sidney Johnston (C.S.A.)
31. The Great Hanging at Gainesville
•The mass lynching was a result of several years of Unionist/Confederate
tensions in Cooke County, Texas
•Unionists opposed the Conscription Acts of April 1862
•Men who were prominent slaveholders were exempt from conscription (the
20 Slave Law)
•Unionist sympathizers and disgruntled Texans protested the act
•A Union League was formed in Cooke County
•To oppose the draft
•Provide for common defense from Indians and renegade Confederates
•Confederates viewed the group as a potential threat
•Over 1,700 men joined
•Rumors spread that the Union League was planning to storm militia arsenals at
Gainesville and Sherman
•On 1 October 1862, Texas state troops led by Col. James G. Bourland arrested
more than 150 men
•A mock “citizens’ court” was created and 12 jurors were selected
•Only a majority was needed to convict for treason
•The jury only condemned 7 Unionists
•However, an angry mob took care of the rest of the “Union traitors”
32.
33. Emancipation (1863)
The Emancipation Proclamation
•Lincoln issues it shortly after the Union “victory” at Antietam
•This plan took two years to formulate as Lincoln stalls on the issue
numerous times
•Still sees slaves as property
•Historian Manisha Sinha contends Lincoln issued it due to pressure
from the black and abolitionist communities; somewhat unsubstantiated
•Radical white Northerners thought seizing land from slave owners was
the proper way to deal with the slavery issue
What did it do?
• Granted freedom to slaves in territories under CSA control
• Some parts of Louisiana, West Virginia, and other border states
were not included due to their precarious status with the Union
(didn’t want them to secede)
• Causes great fear in the South
• Slaves running free to revolt against their masters
• Southerners still remembering slave revolts
34. Hood’s Texas Brigade
Background
•Organized on 22 October 1861 in Richmond, Virginia
•Brig. Gen. Louis T. Wigfall was the initial commander
•John Bell Hood was promoted to Brig. Gen. and took command
in March 1862
•Brig Gen. Jerome B. Robertson became brigadier commander in
November 1862 as Hood took command of the entire division
•Hood’s Texas Brigade is the only detachment of Texans to serve
in the eastern theater
Notable Battles and Casualties
•Fought with the Army of Northern Virginia for a great portion of
the war
•Participated in:
•Second Battle of Manassas
•Battle of Antietam
•Battle of Gettysburg
•Texas casualties
•3,500 enlisted at the beginng of the war
•4,400 enlisted by 1862
•Only 600 officers and men surrendered at the end of the
war
•61 percent casualty rate
35. Hard War (1863-1865)
Lincoln Reevaluates His Strategy
•The Emancipation Proclamation causes a
shift in Lincoln’s mentality to the notion of
“hard war”
•“Hard War” – increasing the pressures of
war on the South, especially on civilians
•Historian Mark Grimsley uses this term
instead of “total war”
•Not enough evidence to establish the
Civil War as a “total war”
•W.T. Sherman’s “March to the Sea”, the
Atlanta Campaign, and “Scorched earth”
policies are prime indicators of hard war
Sherman’s March to the Sea
•Goal was to cut the South into thirds as he
marched to the East Coast
•Was a reaction to increasing guerilla
tactics perpetrated by the CSA in the
Western Theater
William T. Sherman (Union)
36. Terry’s Texas Rangers
Background
•Benjamin Franklin Terry, a wealthy sugar
planter, recruited and organized the Rangers in
Houston (August 1861)
•Initially, the unit was placed under the
command of Albert Sidney Johnston to serve in
the western theater
•Terry was killed early in the war during a
skirmish; Lt. Col. Thomas Lubbock took over
•By the end of the war, Col. Thomas Harrison
was commanding officer and the unit was a part
of the Army of Tennessee
Texas’ Shock Troops
•The unit’s ability to harass Union forces was
noted and they were used extensively to counter
Sherman’s March to the Sea
•Concentrated on destroying railways
•Had little effect
•After the Atlanta campaign, the unit
concentrated on harassing the flanks of
Sherman’s force
38. Ross’s Texas Brigade
Background
•The Texas Cavalry Brigade
•Under the command of Col. John W.
Whitfiield, Gen. Earl Van Dorn, and
Lawrence Sullivan “Sul” Ross
•Known primarily for Ross’s command during
the Atlanta campaign in 1864
•The unit was noted for engaging Union forces
almost daily, being one of the most active in
CSA history
•However, they were not known for their
discipline, but were dependable
•“rollicking, rascally, and brave”
The Atlanta Campaign
•Ross’s Texas Brigade spent 112 days under
fire
•Fought in 86 engagements
•They were easily overrun by Union forces as
their numbers were low
•The unit later served with John Bell Hood’s
unit
•Raided Union supply trains and served
as rear guards
40. Battle of Galveston (1864)
Time, Location, and Opposing Leaders
•1 January 1863
•Galveston, Texas
•Union: William B. Renshaw
•Confederate: John B. Magruder
Significance
•One of the best naval firefights of the war
•CSA regained control of Galveston and kept
it through the rest of the war
•Union navy accidentally blew up their own
ship
•Goes back to the sea in defeat
•Magruder and Texan defenders knew that
Union troops would return eventually for a
large-scale invasion of Texas
•Prepared and armed Galveston well for
the invasion
John B. Magruder
42. The Saltville Massacre (October 1864)
Time, Location, and Opposing Leaders
•1 – 3 October 1864
•Saltville, Virginia
•Union: Stephen G. Burbridge
•Confederate: Felix H. Robertson
Significance
•Union attempts to seize Saltville (due to natural salt mines); wanted to cut
off more CSA supplies
•5th U.S. Colored Cavalry fought bravely during the battle and sustained
many casualties
•The “Massacre” occurred after the battle as mercenary Champ Ferguson’s
posse killed most of the wounded black Union soldiers
•Some affiliated with Felix H. Robertson’s unit joined in
•Clearly a war crimes issue
43. The Saltville Massacre (October 1864)
Felix H. Robertson
•Youngest major (and later General) in the CSA army
•Born near Independence, Texas (close to Houston)
•Left West Point to fight with the CSA (and his family)
•Became notoriously known as a cold blooded killer because of the Saltville
Massacre
•Only Texan to serve as a General in the CSA army
•Lived in Waco for the rest of his life after the war; became a lawyer
Champ Ferguson
•Confederate mercenary who randomly joined up with a unit if it involved
killing someone
•Born in Kentucky
•Had a strange obsession with killing anyone affiliated with the anti-slavery
movement and/or the North
•The resident Southern guerilla sociopath that everyone, including Southern
soldiers feared
•“When Rebel guerilla Champ Ferguson showed up at your house, you
could be sure of one thing; you were about to die.”
•Executed for war crimes on 20 October 1865
•One of a few that were executed after the war
47. Appomattox Court House (1865)
Time, Location, and Opposing Leaders
•9 April 1865
•Appomattox Court House, Appomattox, Virginia
•Union: Ulysses S. Grant
•Confederate: Robert E. Lee
Significance
•Final battle of the CSA Northern Virginia army
•Surrender was the only option
•Many of Lee’s officers (including James Longstreet who greatly
miscalculated the Union in Gettysburg) agreed on surrender
•Lee, “there is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant
and I would rather die a thousand deaths.”
•Grant’s reply: “General, your note on this date is but this moment, 11:50
AM, rec’d., in consequence of my having passed from the Richmond and
Lynchburg road. I am at this writing about four miles West of Walker’s
Church and will push forward to the front for the purpose of meeting you.
Notice sent to me on this road where you wish the interview to take place.”
48. Appomattox Court House (1865)
Lee Surrenders
•Lee shows up at Appomattox Court House in an immaculate Confederate
uniform
•Grant shows up in a mud spattered uniform with no side arm, no regalia,
and only a tarnished shoulder strap showing his rank
•The two generals spend a great deal of time discussing their past and
service in the Mexican War
•Grant offers Lee a very generous deal:
•None of his officers or men would be imprisoned or prosecuted
•Grant would supply food for Lee’s starving army
•CSA soldiers could take home their horses and mules for spring
planting
•Lee agrees and said it would have a positive effect on reconciling the torn
country
•10 April 1865: 27, 805 Confederates surrender
51. What Were They Fighting For?
Numbers
•633,000 Americans died in the Civil War
•373,000 Union
•260,000 CSA
•24,000 Texans (roughly 68,500 served)
Goals
•North
•Preservation of the Union, the “last great hope in the world”
•South
•Preservation of our way of life
•Slavery, plantations, antebellum mentalities
•An economic system welded to tradition and slavery
•Both believed God was on their side
Lasting Effects
•North
•Civic Religion forms out of the fusion of religion and God’s ‘just cause’ for
Lincoln’s “last great hope in the world”
•South
•“Lost Cause” mentality – the South was defeated unjustly
•They were fighting for the same cause as the Revolution
•Freedom from oppression
Notes de l'éditeur
Use the football analogy (strong defense = CSA; weak offense = US)
