1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:10,240 Speaker 1: a show that shines a light on the ins and 4 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:15,320 Speaker 1: outs of everyday history on Gabelusier. And in this episode, 5 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:19,119 Speaker 1: we're talking about how Texans were swayed to the secessionist 6 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: cause despite the best efforts of their unionist governor. The 7 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: day was February one, eighteen sixty one. Delegates of the 8 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:38,560 Speaker 1: people of Texas voted to adopt an ordinance of secession, 9 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: making Texas the seventh state to secede from the Union. 10 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: The decision was made at a state convention in Austin, 11 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,600 Speaker 1: where two elected commissioners sent from each county cast their votes. 12 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: In the end, the Texas Secession Declaration passed with an 13 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 1: overwhelming majority of one hundred and sixties six to eight. 14 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:05,320 Speaker 1: For a time, it it seemed like Texas wasn't going 15 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: to join the growing secessionist movement of the other Southern states. 16 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: In eighteen fifty nine, Texans even voted to elect Sam Houston, 17 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: a devoted unionist, for a third term as their governor. 18 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: But the state was also part of the South's cotton 19 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: based economy, which meant it depended heavily on the labor 20 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:30,679 Speaker 1: of enslaved black people. In fact, by eighteen sixty, roughly 21 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,039 Speaker 1: thirty percent of the six hundred and forty thousand people 22 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: in Texas were enslaved. So when Abraham Lincoln was elected 23 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: president in November of that year, many Texans began to 24 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: worry that the practice of slavery might soon be limited 25 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: or even banned altogether. Suddenly the idea of leaving the 26 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: Federal Union looked a lot more appealing. Following Lincoln's election, 27 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: seven states voted to secede before where he even took office. 28 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: South Carolina became the first on December twenty, eighteen sixty, 29 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: and was swiftly followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, 30 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:17,919 Speaker 1: and finally Texas. As the other Deep South states began 31 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: to leave the Union. Texas secessionists, many of whom were 32 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: also legislators, started pressuring Governor Sam Houston to call a 33 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: convention to consider the matter. Houston refused to assemble the legislature, 34 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: believing the Texas had no legal right to break its 35 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: loyalty to the Union. His objections were rendered moot when 36 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: some of the legislators called a convention themselves. The county 37 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 1: elected commissioners met in Austin on January eighteen sixty one, 38 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:54,080 Speaker 1: and they immediately set to work drafting an ordinance of secession. 39 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: Governor Houston reluctantly attended the convention and warned that Texans 40 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: would be quote stilling the voice of reason if they 41 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:07,359 Speaker 1: chose to leave the union. Ultimately, his words were ignored, 42 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:11,639 Speaker 1: and on February first, Houston watched in silence as the 43 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 1: votes were cast in favor of secession. While the choice 44 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: to secede was officially announced on February first, the citizens 45 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 1: of Texas were still given the chance to accept or 46 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: reject that decision. A statewide vote was held three weeks 47 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,519 Speaker 1: later on February twenty three, at which point the actions 48 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: of the convention were approved by a large majority about 49 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: seventy six percent of the Texans who participated in the vote. 50 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: The convention then reconvened a week later, and after passing 51 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:48,120 Speaker 1: another ordinance, Texas became the newest member of the Confederate 52 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: States of America. Governor Houston said the convention was unconstitutional 53 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:57,839 Speaker 1: and refused to take an oath to the Confederacy, objecting 54 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: quote and the name of my own auncience and manhood, 55 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:07,119 Speaker 1: among other things. The convention delegates retaliated by ousting Houston 56 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: and replacing him with his own lieutenant Governor, Edward Clark. 57 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: In March of eighteen sixty one, President Lincoln had offered 58 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: to send fifty thousand troops to put an end to 59 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: Texas secession and preserve Houston's governorship, but Houston refused, saying quote, 60 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:28,279 Speaker 1: I love Texas too well to bring civil strife and 61 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: bloodshed upon her. To avert this calamity, I shall make 62 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: no endeavor to maintain my authority. Houston left the governor's 63 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: mansion without incident. He then traveled to Galveston, where on 64 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:46,159 Speaker 1: April nineteen, he gave an impromptu speech from a hotel window. 65 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:49,839 Speaker 1: He left the crowd with a stark prediction for the future, 66 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:54,279 Speaker 1: saying quote, let me tell you what is coming. After 67 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:58,240 Speaker 1: the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of 68 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: thousands of lives, may win Southern independence if God be 69 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: not against you, But I doubt it. I tell you 70 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: that while I believe with you and the doctrine of 71 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 1: states rights, the North is determined to preserve this union. 72 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: They are not a fiery, impulsive people as you are, 73 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:19,720 Speaker 1: for they live in cold your climates. But when they 74 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: begin to move in a given direction, they move with 75 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: the steady momentum and perseverance of a mighty avalanche. And 76 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: what I fear is they will overwhelm the South. Houston 77 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 1: held to his opposition for a few more weeks, refusing 78 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: to command troops for either the Union or the Confederacy. However, 79 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: on May tenth, eighteen sixty one, he finally caved and 80 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 1: declared that he would stand with Texas and therefore the 81 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: Confederacy in the war effort. He corresponded with the replacement 82 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,479 Speaker 1: governor during the war, and his son fought for the 83 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: Confederate Army. Although he had on everything in his power 84 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: to prevent secession, Houston refused to turn against the state 85 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: he loved, even though he didn't believe that it could 86 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: or maybe even should, win the war. He retired to Huntsville, 87 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: Texas after being deposed, and died there two years later 88 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: at the age of seventy three. Throughout the Civil War, 89 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: Texas served as a logistical outpost for Confederate forces, and 90 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: the state's regiments fought in just about every major battle. 91 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:32,279 Speaker 1: It's worth noting, though, that at the same time, there 92 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: was a strong resistance to secession and to Confederate authority 93 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: among the residents of north central Texas. This so called 94 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,359 Speaker 1: Peace Party hoped to create a free soil state in 95 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:48,679 Speaker 1: North Texas, believing, as Sam Houston had, that the South's 96 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:53,040 Speaker 1: fight to preserve the institution of slavery was doomed to fail. 97 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:58,919 Speaker 1: History eventually proved them right. On April nine, eighteen sixty five, 98 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate troops at Apple 99 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: Mattox Courthouse in Virginia. On June that same year, Union 100 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: General Gordon Granger put a formal end to slavery in 101 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 1: Texas by ordering the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, a 102 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: day we now recognize as June tenth. The slow and 103 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:29,000 Speaker 1: often painful path to reconstruction had officially begun. Five years later, 104 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: on March seventy, Texas rejoined the Union. I'm Gabe Lousier 105 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: and hopefully you now know a little more about history 106 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. If you have a second 107 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 1: and you're so inclined, consider following us on Twitter, Facebook, 108 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t D I HC Show. You can 109 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: also rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, and 110 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 1: you can write to us at this Day at i 111 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: heart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing 112 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see you 113 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,840 Speaker 1: back here again tomorrow for another day in History class. 114 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart 115 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,240 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 116 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: favorite shows.