One country, divided between the North and South, fighting each other- each hoping to achieve victory. A devastating and long four years was coming for the soldiers- the Civil War. Texas, the seventh state to secede from the North, contributes about 65,000 soldiers to the Confederacy, however, almost one-fifth of them lost their lives. So, there is one question that looms over us all- why did Texans choose to risk their lives for such a cause- why did Texas fight in the Civil War? Texans fought in the Civil War for at least three reasons: Slavery, pride and love for their state, and the main reason, States' Rights. One reason Texans fought was for slavery. Texas was a slave state, and about thirty percent of Texans owned slaves (Document A). They believed "...[the African rase] were... an inferior and dependent race..." (Document B), and that White men were meant to be in power. Texans also thought that slavery is "mutually beneficial to both [slave] and free..." and was justified by the "...revealed will of the Almighty Creator..." (Document B). Put shortly, Texans were willing to fight over slavery because they believed slaves' servitude helped Texans and slaves themselves, because slaves were "below" white men. …show more content…
They believed that "no state [could] force another to [stay or leave their Union]" (Document C). Texans felt that the "...true theory of our [national] government as an association of [independent states], and not [just]... people in one social compact..." (Document C) States' Rights would cause Texans to fight because they felt their state's rights were being violated by the actions of the federal government interfering with what they want to
Ever since the Manifest Destiny became the United States’ holy goal, Texas had always been in the sight of the United State, for the location and size of the territory were extremely attractive for the expansion. In addition, the state offered the Rio Grande River which promised great trade in the future. These factors made Texas a key component in fulfilling the sacred duty, so when news spread that Texas became independent, there was no time wasted from the United States in integrating them into the union. Even before Texas gained their independence, the United States had become intertwined with the culture of Texas by having hundreds of American citizens immigrating into the territory and spreading American values across the land. As many historians have said “Throughout the United States, especially in the South, support for Texas was warm and widespread. Men, money, and
According to Georgia’s declaration of causes of secession they felt that the “… power in the Federal Government have striven to deprive us of an equal enjoyment of the common Territories of the Republic....” The state of Mississippi stated, “Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery … We follow their footsteps. We embrace the alternative of separation; … we resolve to maintain our rights with the full consciousness of the justice of our course, and the undoubting belief of our ability to maintain it.” Texas declaration of causes said that, “Texas abandoned her separate national existence and consented to become one of the Confederated States to promote her welfare, insure domestic tranquillity and secure more substantially the blessings of peace and liberty to her people.” Later on the remaining four southern states, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, joined the Confederates.
In the 1830’s, Texas fought for their independence from Mexico. This sparked the Mexican revolution. There were three main reasons why Texans wanted independence: Mexico outlawed slavery, high taxes, and the Mexicans wanted everyone to join the Catholic Church. One of the major players in Texas was Stephen Austin. He had 300 land grants which he gave to the Texans. After some time, Stephen Austin went all the way to Mexico to present petitions for a greater self-governing government for Texas. Even though Stephen Austin was known as the father of Texas, the President of Mexico harshly denied his request.
The second basic cause of the war was the Texas War of Independence and the subsequent annexation of that area to the United States. Not all American westward migration was unwelcome. In the 1820's and 1830's, Mexico, newly independent from Spain, needed settlers in the underpopulated northern parts of the country. An invitation was issued for people who would take an oath of allegiance to Mexico and convert to Catholicism, the state religion. Thousands of Americans took up the offer and moved, often with slaves, to the Mexican province of Texas. Soon however, many of the new "Texicans" or "Texians" were unhappy with the way the government in Mexico City tried to run the province. In 1835, Texas revolted, and after several bloody battles, the Mexican President, Santa Anna, was forced to sign the Treaty of Velasco in 1836 . This treaty gave Texas its independence, but many Mexicans refused to accept the legality of this document, as Santa Anna was a prisoner of the Texans at the time. The Republic of Texas and Mexico continued to engage in border fights and many people in the United States openly sympathized with the U.S.-born Texans in this conflict. As a result of the savage frontier fighting, the American public developed a very negative stereotype against the Mexican people and government. Partly due to the continued hostilities with Mexico, Texas decided to join with the United States,
The battle for Texas’ independence was a hard battle. Many lives were taken, home destroyed, and families were torn apart. Texas residents wanted to break away from Mexico and become a self-governing republic inside of Mexico because they did not like Santa Anna’s laws. Mexico did not allow slave immigration, so Texas wanted to be a part of the United States that allowed slavery. But the main reason was that Mexico would not change or consider any government ideas that the Anglos and Mexicans had for Texas, and resulted in Santa Anna ruling and making all the laws and decisions. Santa Anna also overthrew the Mexican government and made himself the Mexican dictator. Stephen Austin came to try and settle the trouble caused by the suggestion of Texas’ constitution, but instead Santa Anna imprisoned him for a year.
foreign policy during the period of 1945-1963 in combating Communist aggression in Europe and Asia? Use the Documents and your knowledge of the period to construct your response.
The Anglo-American settlers in Texas saw themselves as Americans. They felt they were superior to the Mexicans, and because of this they tried to undermine the Mexican government.
One of the first battles fought in the Texas Revolution was the Battle of Concepcion, a Texian victory but one that demonstrated the relative small numbers involved. The entire Texian force was about 100 volunteers, while the Mexican force number just 300. But even as the Texians were involved in fierce battles against Mexican forces, the representatives of the various regions of Texas were divided over whether to demand full independence, or simply a return to the Constitution of 1824 which had been overthrown. The Texian delegates eventually compromised on a resolution which stated that they had the right to declare independence because the government of Santa Anna had destroyed the social contract which held Texas as a part of Mexico. This
Texans fought in the Civil war because they wanted to protect the slaves. Many families owned slaves, they did not want people to take them away or them to be free. The slave population was high, there were 182,566 slaves which are 30% percent of the population, this information is from Document A. Free blacks could live in Texas, but only with the permission of the legislature.
why did Texas fight in the civil war? they fought for their state rights, their love for Texas and to preserve slavery. This civil war relates to present time because of how this war affected us for the better. Those are the reasons why many men sacrificed there life for
The people of Texas fought in the Civil War to preserve slavery. “African race … is mutually beneficial to both bond (slave) and free, and is … justified by the experience of mankind…” (Doc B) Texans believed that slavery was right, and that Africans benefited from slavery. I think that this is the most important reason that Texans fought because it’s literally what divided the nation. If everyone agreed on things regarding slavery, the country wouldn’t have split and the American Civil War would be non-existent.
Texans fought for Texas also because Abraham Lincoln didn’t approve of state’s rights (Document C) . Texas wanted state’s rights so they could seceded even though Sam Houston (first governor of Texas) disagreed. Since they though it wasn’t fair, Texans could be fighting because of state’s rights. O.M. Roberts, president of Texas Secession Convention, says that the U.S. government is a blended mass of people in one social compact (Document C). This tells us that Roberts didn’t like the U.S. government and wanted Texas to secede from
They believed that slavery could not co-exist in a country that was founded on the ideology of freedom. However, they eventually found themselves fighting to help free the slaves rather than fighting for each other. The Confederate Army was fighting to maintain its grip on slavery as it was ever so important to their economy and way of life. They depended on it so greatly that they would be willing to risk their lives on order to hold on to it.
After the new states were being proclaimed argument for what states were to be slaves and which were not. This lead to distress in the senate and had planted the seeds for the civil war. Texas was later taken over by former southern American slave owners that had declared their own independence calling them the lone star state which started distress with Mexico who had stated that texas’ borders were on a closer river than the Rio grande and had started a war with
The Texans under Houston took the defeat at the Alamo defeat and saw it as an opportunity to rise up against their oppressor.