Blood, death, tears, and shouts, that was life in the Civil War for a soldier. In 1861, the Civil War begun and the states that had once been united were now turning against each other. Texas fought for the South and was the 7th state to join the Confederacy. Texas had a military with about 65,000 Texan soldiers within it and almost a fifth of these fighters perished. Men of all ages were marching off to war in different states, and women and children were left waiting anxiously for their return. Why would anyone want to join? Why did Texans fight in the Civil War? Texans fought the Civil War because they wanted to preserve slavery, they loved their state, and they wanted to protect state’s rights. A reason many Texans joined the war was because they wanted to show their love and support for Texas. Lots of people lived in and enjoyed Texas back in the 1800’s. Texans felt extremely loyal to Texas since it freed a lot of people after the Mexican War. However, it felt like the North was trying to take away some of their rights and privileges and Texans did not like that at all. Texas had previously fought for their independence and they did not want …show more content…
This one was without a doubt the most important reason. The South had a huge success with selling cotton and people often owned huge plantations. The people who owned the farms hired slaves to farm and collect the cotton, that way they could make their cash. (Document A.)The North however wanted to abolish, or get rid of slavery. Fearful of losing their businesses, Texans decided to fight. Southerners believed that the U.S. was made for and by the white race, and that the Africans had no part of their establishment. They believed that slaves were justified by the “..experience of mankind, and the revealed will of the almighty creator.” (Document B.) They did not want to give up their businesses or their beliefs too soon therefore, they
Texas wanted to secede because they wanted to stay a slave state. To do this we had to
What was the most important war in Texas history? The Civil War. In the U.S., during the 1850’s with the north and south, the Civil War happened with the texans. So, why did Texans fight?
Both sides showed different opinions one trying to keep slavery while the other wanted to get rid of it. The North wanted to abolish slavery because it was against the Constitution and wanted racial equality. The Confederate soldiers were fighting for their right to have slavery and own slaves. Throughout the war they realized that the war would end much faster if they fought to free slaves. The reason and start of the Civil War was because of slavery.
The South longed for slavery to be accepted into the constitution, as their cash crop economy thrived on the utilization of slaves. The abolishment of slaves would impact farmers in the south that produced massive quantities of cash crops. Prior to the
Texas Chooses Sides in the Civil War 1854, the tension between the slave and non slave states rises. The Kansas-Nebraska act has been passed. The balance of power has been tipped, for the two states were given a choice. They choose to be free, which completely repealed the Missouri Compromise. 1861, the election of 1860 has caused the states to secede. The south couldn’t stand it any longer, and neither could Texas so Texas is now the seventh state to secede knowing their will be many deaths among them.
Union and Confederate soldiers both had different reasons related to why they were fighting for their particular side. At the beginning of war, Union soldiers primary believed that they were mainly fighting so that the Union could be preserved. Later, some individuals would realize was way more important than the cause of preserving the Union. The Union soldiers were now thinking of fighting to permanently end slavery in the country. The Confederate soldiers believed that they were fighting for primarily two reasons.
In September 16th of 1821, Mexico gained Independence from Spain with the help of the United States. The United States was in the guise of Manifest Destiney, which they expand westward. Mexico lacked the strength of population number in the north gives places for the American immigrants to move in. The political issues raised by the new settlers became the dominant topic in Texas during the period. Spanish government gave Moses Austin of Missouri a contract to establish a colony on the Brazos River with 300 Catholic Families in January 1821.
The North had beaten the South in the Civil War. The North won the war for many reasons; they had some advantages over the South, a great leader, and the desire to win. The North and South fought many battles before the Civil War ended. Each battle had a different outcome and some encouraging the fight and some ended in despair.
Many people in Texas were born and raised in Texas. In result of that they grew love for Texas. Not only did they fight for the love of Texas, but they also fought for the love of their families. For example; John Rabb stated that he would only marry in Texas as well as telling Virge to “only enlist for Texas service” rather than any other state in the Confederacy (Doc D P1&P3). Rabb constantly told his family to “do the best you can”, and the fact that he was uneasy about them (Doc D P2).
The South was afraid that if Abraham Lincoln was elected president that he would abolish slavery. That is not necessarily true because Abraham Lincoln had his own slaves but he just wanted to stop the spread of slavery. He did not want slavery to expand into the North or even to the new territories of the West. The South thought that Lincoln would abolish slavery and the South did not want to do that because they thought that the North would have too much power and they did not want to relinquish all of that power to the North. The slaves in the South were making their slaves owners a lot of money by working hard and not being paid for it.
Texas had many contributions to the Civil War. For example, giving the South money they needed, lots of loyal men ready to fight, trading routes used to transport supplies and so much more. All of these things helped push the South in the right direction to have a better position in the Civil war. The greatest advantage Texas gave to the South in the Civil War was the Economic condition..
The first reason is to protect states’ rights. Texans wanted to defend states’ rights so they can have rights of their own. In Document C, it is stated that this is a Union of equal states and no state can force another state either to remain in the Union or withdraw from the Union. At that time, the Union believed that if you joined the Union, you cannot leave
Also, Texas struggled economically after declaring independence from Mexico. Annexation to the United States was seen as an economic advantage to many Texans. They would be able to trade freely with other states within the Union, without paying tariffs if they joined the US. Therefore, boosting the economy of Texas and create jobs. Thus, many
The State of Texas was not justified in seceding from the United States because the United States (Union) gave Texas a chance to be a full slavery state, helped Texas economically and financially, and Texas could have used their geography and economy to support themselves and the United States. The United States (Union) gave Texas a chance to be a full-slavery state. Before Abraham Lincoln was elected president, he said that a country divided between slavery and free could not last and that the United States had to choose between either full slavery or fully free. (Document 7) After Texas heard this, they got a little nervous because Lincoln was known for being against slavery. After Lincoln got elected, the St ate of Texas got even more nervous and then seceded.
Houston stated, “When Texas joined the United states she entered not into the north, nor into the south but into the union” (Campbell, p.179). Houston was firm on the belief that Texas should remain loyal to the union and remained calm hoping that the people would do the right thing. Unfortunately, at the convention Houston saw as one hundred and sixty-six votes favored the secession. Houston now a sixty-eight years old man left with an emotionless face out of the convention and, “The flag of the confederacy flew over the capitol as Houston left Austin” (Campbell, p.194). Soon after that Texas was involved in the civil war, a war Houston hoped to never see.