SecessionSecession andand Civil WarCivil War

Change and Continuity in Texas during the Civil

War and Reconstruction

Why some southern states seceded1. Some northerners blamed a Slave Power conspiracy2. Some southerners blamed a Republican conspiracy to

destroy southern culture3. Abolitionists denunciation of slavery as immoral and

southern defense of slavery as a positive good4. The constitutional issue of states rights5. Incompatibility of southern and northern economic

systems6. Conflicts over religion, immigration, and cultural

conformity

Issues of special influence on Texas1. Increasing profitability of slavery2. Racial prejudice and fear3. Increased connection to the Lower South

Politically, the majority of Texans before the Civil War considered themselves Democrats.

The Whigs briefly existed in Texas, attracting professionals, merchants, and prosperous planters.

In the mid-1850s, the Know-Nothing party attracted many Texans with its criticism of immigrants and Catholics.

See pages 134-135.

Texas Politics in the 1850s

The Schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin where the Republican Party was first organized locally in 1854.

1860 campaign banner

The Republican Party was established in the mid-1850s by northerners who opposed the geographic expansion of slavery.

Hardin R. Runnels defeated Sam Houston for the governorship in 1857 on a platform supporting the reopening of the African slave trade. Runnels resided in Old Boston and was buried in a family cemetery in Bowie County in 1873. In the election of 1859, Houston put Runnels on the defensive by criticizing the latter’s inadequate protection of the frontier, highlighting Runnels’ wishes to see the slave trade renewed, and reminding voters of the governor’s preference for secession. Sam Houston’s victory in the 1859 gubernatorial race was hailed as a tribute to Unionism. Unfortunately, it was Houston’s last political position.

Hardin R. Runnels

Sam Houston

John C. BreckinridgeCandidate of the Southern Democrats

Stephen A. DouglasCandidate of the Northern Democrats

John BellCandidate of the Unionist Party (A coalition of Unionist Democrats, ex-Know-Nothings and former Whigs)

Disintegration of the Democratic Party.

Texas Democrats faced an excruciating decision over which Democrat to support. By the summer of 1860, however, most Texans began to swing over to Breckinridge, who most closely mirrored the sentiments of pro-slavery Texans and seemed most likely to win. (See p. 137) Abraham Lincoln

SecessionSecession andand Civil WarCivil War

Politically, most Texans shared the prewar Southern inclination toward the states’ rights philosophy. They did not oppose federal action uniformly, however, if it meant protection of slavery in the territories or the protection of frontier settlers against Indians. Yet the Texas secession convention did base it actions on states’ rights, with later affirmation from 75 percent of the state’s voters.

(Alwyn Barr, “Change and Continuity in Texas during the Civil War and Reconstruction” in The Texas Heritage 4th ed., p. 105.)

Slavery, Slavery, SecessionSecession andand Civil WarCivil War

The Texas economy in 1860 remained even more agrarian than most states in a predominantly rural region. Slaveholders and planters did not dominate Texas society to the extent they did in some of the older states in the Deep South. But as slaveholders grew in numbers and in the leadership positions during the 1850s, they became the ideal for a majority of their fellow Texans. Slavery received the support of most nonslaveholding Texans, as well as slaveholders, because it provided not only a system of controlled labor but also a means for social domination of a black people, whom most whites in the nineteenth century considered to be inferior.

(Alwyn Barr, “Change and Continuity in Texas during the Civil War and Reconstruction” in The Texas Heritage 4th ed., p. 106.)

Issues of special influence on Texas

1. Increasing profitability of slavery2. Racial prejudice and fear3. Increased connection to the Lower

South

Sam Houston was forced from the Sam Houston was forced from the governor’s office when he refused governor’s office when he refused to take an oath of loyalty to the to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy.Confederacy.

5TH TEXAS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY, CO. K

The two highest-ranking Texans in the Confederate army were Albert Sidney Johnston and John Bell Hood.

Texas-Mexico Trade RoutesTexas-Mexico Trade Routes

Texas was economically important to the Confederacy because the Confederacy was able to conduct foreign trade through Mexico by way of Texas. (See p. 142.)

Cotton bales on Matamoros wharf arrived across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas (background)

Texas, because of its border with Mexico, continued to produce cotton in large quantities for sale across the Rio Grande to Mexican and European buyers. The border trade also meant that Texans did not suffer from shortages of manufactured goods to the same extent as Confederates in states located east of the Mississippi. Nevertheless, Texans faced the need to develop substitutes for some unavailable items, fashioning cotton wicks for candles and homemade straw hats.

(Alwyn Barr, “Change and Continuity in Texas during the Civil War and Reconstruction” in The Texas Heritage 4th ed., p. 109.)

In the fall of 1863, Confederate forces under the command of Lt. Richard Dowling turned back a much larger Union invasion force at the battle of Sabine Pass. (See pp. 140-141.)

"There is no parallel in ancient or modern warfare to the victory of Dowling and his men at Sabine Pass considering the great odds against which they had to contend" Jefferson Davis

The Battle of The Battle of Sabine PassSabine PassSeptember 8, 1663September 8, 1663

In Gainesville (Cooke County), North Texas Confederates—responding to reports of a plot by members of the Peace Party to take over local ordnance depots and to revolt at the same time that Unionists forces invaded Texas from Kansas and Galveston—executed some forty-two alleged conspirators (most of the innocent) in October 1862 and proclaimed martial law in the county. (See p. 145)

The so-called “Battle of Nueces” was actually a massacre of German Unionists near BrackettvilleThe so-called “Battle of Nueces” was actually a massacre of German Unionists near BrackettvilleMany German Texans continued to support the Union and organizations during the war such as the Union Loyal League. Many Texans loyal to the Confederacy targeted German Texans for any outward sign of disloyalty or subversion, even as hundreds of German Texans from West Texas enlisted in the Confederate ranks.

Through the Union Loyal League, “German Unionists endeavored to destabilize the Texas Confederacy and reinstate Union authority, by military means if necessary. Expectedly, Austin officials considered the Union Loyal League a danger to Southern security; in July of 1862 they ordered a company of Confederate cavalry and Texas state troopers into the Hill Country to suppress League activities. Many Germans found the Confederate effort to establish law and order through arrest, detention, and violence so odious, however, that some sixty-one of them opted for flight into Mexico on August 1. Convinced that those fleeing the country were part of the seditious sentiment overrunning the German [west] counties, Confederate troops gave pursuit, overtaking the Unionists on August 10…. In what came to be known as the “Battle of Nueces”—a brief skirmish resulting in fatalities on both sides—the Confederate forced the Germans to surrender. Subsequently, and on their own initiative, a handful of Confederates foully murdered some of the German survivors. (Calvert, De León & Cantrell, 143-144)

At the Battle of Nueces, Confederate forces killed nineteen German Texans were killed and wounded nine. The nine wounded settlers were later caught and executed. The bodies of the nineteen were left unburied and in 1865 after the war had ended, residents from Comfort went and collected the remains and returned them to Comfort for a proper burial. Their remains are now at the site of the Treue der Union ("Loyal to the Union") Monument.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~txcbduv/

Inscribed on the east face of the monument are the words, Treue der Union ( "TROY-der-OON-yen," or "Loyal to the Union"). The west face of the obelisk lists those believed to have died at the Nueces battle site (honors Gefallen am 10 August 1862), the south face those killed at the Rio Grande (Gefallen am 18 Oct. 1862), and the north faces lists those allegedly hanged (Gefangen, genomen, und ermordet --"Captured, taken prisoner, and murdered"). The monument lists thirty-five names, but the exact number killed, and the manner of their deaths, obviously will never be known. (http://www.hal-pc.org/~dcrane/txgenweb/nueces.htm)

Some 24,000 Texans perished during the four years of fighting. The war left a legacy of deep personal hatreds. Many sought to continue to fight the Northern Army of Occupation through terrorist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan.

Politics After the Civil War

Radical Republicans advocated extending full civil rights to ex-slaves.

Conservative Republicans principally wanted to pursue economic development.

Both the Radical and Conservative Republicans agreed that African Americans should have legal equality.

Texans sought to reestablish the Democratic rule redolent of that before the war. Most urgent, for them, was to find a way to keep a newly freed black population (estimated by scholars to have numbered about 250,000) in subordination.

Federal Army Enters Richmond, 1864, by Harper’s Weekly, New York

News of the Confederate surrender in April 1865 resulted in the disintegration of the army and government in Texas. Servicemen deserted in large numbers, and as the army dissolved, chaos erupted. Disbanding soldiers sacked arsenals and government buildings and confiscated Confederate public property of every sort. Scoundrels capitalized on the general disorder to rob and recklessly kill innocent civilians. Unidentified persons pillaged the state treasury on the night of June 11. Simultaneously, government at the state and local level staggered. (pp. 148-149)

Chaos in 18651. Disbanded soldiers

confiscated Confederate property

2. Criminals committed acts of violence and theft

3. State and local governments were powerless

General Gordon Granger - June 19, 1865

1. Declared the acts of the Texas Confederate government illegal

2. Paroled members of the Confederate army3. Announced that all slaves were free

General Gordon Granger

Texas was in a stronger position than other southern states

1. Slaves had been moved into the state2. Trade with Mexico had helped Texas

businesses3. Little wartime devastation

Problems at the end of the Civil War

1. Financial distress2. Property values depreciated3. Legacy of hatred

PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTUCTIONPRESIDENTIAL RECONSTUCTION

President Andrew Johnson offered relatively mild terms for those states which seceded to reenter the Union. He called on them to declare secession null and void, to cancel the debt accumulated during the war, and to approve the Thirteenth Amendment, which ended slavery. However, he did not press further to guarantee the rights of African Americans. Most white Texans who took the oath of loyalty to the United States, as required, could participate in the restoration of home rule. This lenient policy permitted the majority of Texans to assume previous civil rights. (p. 150.)

President Andrew Johnson,A Unionist Democrat from Tennessee, succeeded to the presidency on April 15, 1865, after the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Andrew Johnson's Restoration Plan

1. Declare secession null and void2. Cancel the Confederate debt3. Approve the Thirteenth Amendment4. Amnesty program

Andrew Jackson HamiltonHamilton and his supporters worried that those tied to the Confederate past would attempt to regain their former prominence, and duly block efforts to realize civil rights for black persons.

On June 17, 1865, President Andrew Johnson appointed Andrew Jackson Hamilton, a former U.S. congressman from Texas and a Unionist who had fled to the North, as provisional governor of Texas. As a part of his ongoing plan to implement what historians call Presidential Reconstruction, Johnson instructed Hamilton to call a convention and undertake the necessary steps to form a new civil government in the state. (p. 150.)

Political PartiesPolitical Parties Position Regarding Position Regarding Freedmen’s Civil RightsFreedmen’s Civil Rights

•Republican Party

•Unionists

Proposed basic civil rights for the freedmen.

•Conservative Democrats (formerly the Secessionist Democrats)

•Conservative Unionists

Opposed granting any freedoms to blacks beyond emancipation; they favored new legislation specifically restricting the rights of African Americans.

See pages 150-151.

James Webb ThrockmortonJames Webb Throckmorton

Convention Chairperson Convention Chairperson

Governor of TexasGovernor of Texas

On June 25, 1866, the voters On June 25, 1866, the voters approved the Constitution of approved the Constitution of 1866, which essentially consisted 1866, which essentially consisted of an amended Constitution of of an amended Constitution of 1845…. (p. 152).1845…. (p. 152).

1866 Constitutional Convention1866 Constitutional Convention1.1. Declared secession illegalDeclared secession illegal2.2. Repudiated the war debtRepudiated the war debt3.3. Ratified the Thirteenth AmendmentRatified the Thirteenth Amendment

Federal mandates forced the convention to grant Federal mandates forced the convention to grant certain rights to blackscertain rights to blacks

1.1. Purchase and sell propertyPurchase and sell property2.2. Sue and be suedSue and be sued3.3. Enter into contractsEnter into contracts4.4. Testify in court in cases involving blacksTestify in court in cases involving blacks

The 1866 Constitutional Convention denied blacksThe 1866 Constitutional Convention denied blacks

1.1. The right to voteThe right to vote2.2. The right to hold public officeThe right to hold public office3.3. The right to serve on a juryThe right to serve on a jury4.4. Public schools Public schools

The “Black Code” included a contract labor law The “Black Code” included a contract labor law specifying that laborers wanting to work for more specifying that laborers wanting to work for more than thirty days would have to enter a binding than thirty days would have to enter a binding agreement. Although the “black code” did not agreement. Although the “black code” did not mention race specifically, it clearly intended to mention race specifically, it clearly intended to dictate the way the freemen would earn their dictate the way the freemen would earn their living. (p. 154.)living. (p. 154.)

A contract labor law specified that the freedmen A contract labor law specified that the freedmen were to choose an employer and then sign a were to choose an employer and then sign a binding contract if their work exceeded one month. binding contract if their work exceeded one month. A child apprenticeship law provided that parents A child apprenticeship law provided that parents could indenture their offspring to employers until could indenture their offspring to employers until the age of 21. the age of 21.

The black code legislation prohibited blacks from The black code legislation prohibited blacks from marrying whites, holding office, and voting. African marrying whites, holding office, and voting. African Americans suspected of being truant from their Americans suspected of being truant from their jobs could be arrested and forced to work on public jobs could be arrested and forced to work on public projects without pay until they agreed to return to projects without pay until they agreed to return to their employer.their employer.

In dealing with whites, African Americans could not In dealing with whites, African Americans could not make insulting noises, speak disrespectfully or out make insulting noises, speak disrespectfully or out of turn, dispute the word of whites, or disobey a of turn, dispute the word of whites, or disobey a command. Further, they had to stand at attention command. Further, they had to stand at attention when Whites passed, step aside when white women when Whites passed, step aside when white women were on the sidewalk, address whites "properly" were on the sidewalk, address whites "properly" and remove their hats in the presence of whites. and remove their hats in the presence of whites. Whites insisted upon this behavior because they Whites insisted upon this behavior because they continued to believe in white supremacy. continued to believe in white supremacy. (Calvert, De León, Cantrell, p. 154.)

Black Code Black Code LegislationLegislation

Carpetbagger or Good Carpetbagger or Good Freedman Bureau OfficerFreedman Bureau Officer

In 1865, the U.S. Congress established the Freedman’s Bureau to help African Americans make the transition from slavery to freedom.

White Texans detested the outsiders from the North, looking upon bureau men as “carpetbaggers” who wanted to render the South powerless, as intruders bend on interfering with race relations, and as opportunists working only for the money they derived from their office.

“Carpetbaggers” in Texas were not very numerous and played a very minor role in Texas Reconstruction

(Calvert, De León, Cantrell, p. 155.)

CarpetbaggerCarpetbagger

Freedmen’s BureauFreedmen’s Bureau

•White Texans detested the outsiders from the North.

•“carpetbaggers” and “scalawags”

•With only about 70 field agents and subordinates at its full manpower level, the bureau lacked the personnel to help ex-slaves successfully enter society as free persons.

•Many Texans saw the bureau as an institution thrust upon them by the Radical Republicans

•E. M. Gregory, the first head of the bureau in Texas, asserted that the freedmen had full legal rights and demonstrated a sympathetic attitude toward their aspirations. This incurred so much protest from Texans that the bureau transferred Gregory to Maryland. (Calvert, De León, Cantrell, p. 155.)

How do you reform an enemy who does not want to be reformed?How do you reform an enemy who does not want to be reformed?How do you govern those who view you as a detestable outsider?How do you govern those who view you as a detestable outsider?

Agents of the Freedman’s Bureau faced formidable opposition in carrying out their work. For example, they had to contend with thugs such as Cullen Montgomery Baker in northeastern Texas (Bowie and Cass counties). Baker claimed his enemies were all carpetbaggers, Texas Unionists and freedmen. Baker killed several such persons before being killed himself in 1869.

The southerner’s view that bureau agents were opportunistic carpetbaggers is not substantiated by recent, balanced studies of the Texas bureau. True, some agents were inept. However, many, such as William G. Kirkman, who was stationed in Bowie County in 1867 (and who was murdered by Cullen Montgomery Baker the next year), and Charles E. Culver, enforced laws equally for blacks and whites, refereed labor and apprenticeships contracts, mediated disagreements between the races, and encouraged blacks to be self-sufficient and independent. Overall, agents who served in Texas tended to be men of high principles who worked towards carrying out the intentions of the bureau despite the limitations imposed upon them.

Re-evaluating the Agents of the Freedman’s BureauRe-evaluating the Agents of the Freedman’s Bureau

(Calvert, De León, Cantrell, (Calvert, De León, Cantrell, p. 160.)p. 160.)

The Freemen’s Bureau supported the education of former bondspeople. In 1865, the bureau began operating sixteen schools for freedmen in Texas. (p. 155)

The Freedman’s Bureau made schooling a high priority, and by 1870 the state managed some sixty-six schools, with an enrollment of more than 3,000 black children; approximately 300 blacks students even engaged in “higher” learning. Black literacy had been reduced in the process, and the groundwork for black education in the state had been established.

(Calvert, De León, (Calvert, De León, Cantrell, p. 160.)Cantrell, p. 160.)

During Reconstruction, the church emerged as the focal point of the black community. The most popular religious denomination among Texas blacks was Baptists.

Numerous situations provoked acts of violence by Numerous situations provoked acts of violence by whites against blacks:whites against blacks:

• Political events (historians find a correlation between political setbacks for anti-Unionist Texans and an increase in violence)

• Disagreements over labor relations• Violation of social codes by blacks• A sense of defeatism within the white population• Mindless hatred or sadism (“thin the niggers out and

drive them to their holes.”)

One historian has estimated that close to 1 percent of black men in One historian has estimated that close to 1 percent of black men in Texas between the ages of fifteen and forty-nine met a violent death Texas between the ages of fifteen and forty-nine met a violent death at the hands of whites in the three years following the end of the war.at the hands of whites in the three years following the end of the war.

(Calvert, De León, Cantrell, p. 154.)

At the national level, Radical Republicans believed

1. Southerners should take an oath of allegiance before voting or hold office

2. The southern states were "conquered provinces"3. Blacks should have equal civil rights

Under Andrew Johnson's Restoration Plan

1. Ex-Confederates controlled the southern governments

2. Black codes limited the rights of freedmen 3. White terrorism

1. Divided the South into five military districts

2. Abolished the Restoration governments

3. Required new constitutions with equality for blacks

4. Restricted the political participation of former confederate leaders

A series of congressional acts in 1867 established Radical Reconstruction

In 1867 Congress implemented Congressional Reconstruction when it passed the Reconstruction Acts.

A March 1867 cartoon, following the passage of the Reconstruction Act, shows President Johnson and his southern allies angrily watching African Americans vote.

The Reconstruction ActsThe Reconstruction Acts

Congressional (Radical) ReconstructionCongressional (Radical) Reconstruction

Between March and July 1867, the U.S. Congress passed a series of new Reconstruction Acts that divided the ex-Confederacy into five military districts, suspended existing state governments, and demanded that the ex-Confederate states write new constitutions with all races participating in the selection of delegates to the constitutional convention.

The Reconstruction Acts led to The Reconstruction Acts led to the establishment of the the establishment of the Republican Party in Houston on Republican Party in Houston on July 4, 1867. Texas Unionists July 4, 1867. Texas Unionists now joined Congressional now joined Congressional Republicans in repudiation of Republicans in repudiation of Conservative Democrats.Conservative Democrats.

The new The new constitutions must constitutions must grant suffrage to grant suffrage to black males and black males and permit them to hold permit them to hold public office.public office.

(Calvert, De León, Cantrell, pp. 156-(Calvert, De León, Cantrell, pp. 156-157.)157.)

General Philip

Sheridan

Elisha M. Elisha M. PeasePease

The Election of the Constitutional Convention, February 1868The Election of the Constitutional Convention, February 1868

•Many black voted (Mobilization efforts of George Ruby and the Union League

•Many whites refused to participate. They had hoped to scuttle the convention by not going to the polls, for the Reconstruction Acts stipulated that at least one-half of the registered voters had to cast ballots in favor of the convocation before it could convene.

•The result was the election of delegates (among them ten blacks) sympathetic to Radical Reconstruction.

•Overall, the Republican party of the era was a frail organization of blacks, native white Unionists, and a few northerners.The Constitution of 1869:

1. granted suffrage and general civil rights to black Texans2. extended enthusiastic support for the opportunity of all Texans to

receive a public education3. sought to check local- and county-level interference with state laws by

increasing the power of the governor (who could appoint people to executive and judicial posts)

4. attempted to keep the railroads from plundering the state’s most valuable asset (its public lands) by prohibiting land grants for internal improvements

The Democratic opposition launched a vigorous campaign to undermine the power of black voters. Arsonists victimized centers in which blacks assembled, including offices of the Freedman’s Bureau and Bureau-run schools. An increased number of whites joined the Ku Klux Klan, which made its appearance in Texas about this time; vicious activity became the hallmark of the Klan’s conspiracy against African Americans. Black sections of towns witnessed violence.

A VIOLENT REACTION TO A VIOLENT REACTION TO CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTIONCONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION

(Calvert, De León, Cantrell, p. 159.)(Calvert, De León, Cantrell, p. 159.)

Targets of white terrorism

1. Blacks

2. Freedmen's Bureau agents

3. U. S. Army

A cartoon threatening that the KKK would lynch carpetbaggers, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Independent Monitor, 1868.

Donald Campbell to Pease, August 25, 1868

Ab initio: the belief that all official acts passed under secession to help the Confederacy were null and void.

By the time of the election of 1869, the Republicans had split and consequently fielded two candidates. The Radical Republicans chose Edmund J. Davis, who supported the principle of ab initio and the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. Seeking to attract disaffected Democrats, the Moderate Republicans ran A.J. Hamilton, even though he did not believe in much of their program. (p. 161.)

Radical Republicans vs. Moderate Republicans

The Radical Republicans marshaled the black vote through the efforts of the Union League, in which Ruby’s registration efforts had paid dividends.

Moderate Republican Moderate Republican A.J. HamiltonA.J. Hamilton

Radical Republican Radical Republican Edmund J. DavisEdmund J. Davis

The Election of 1869

REPUBLICAN DIVISIONS: After the establishment of the Republican Party in Texas, the state’s Republicans divided into moderate and Radical factions over the issue of civil rights for blacks.

Edmund J. Davis first got involved in military affairs in 1859, when as a district judge in South Texas, he accompanied the ranger unit of Captain William G. Tobin during the Cortina wars in Brownsville. As the Civil War approached, he supported Sam Houston and opposed secession. After secession, he refused to take a loyalty oath to the Confederacy and was removed from his judgeship.

President Lincoln commissioned Davis a colonel in the Union army. Davis recruited and led the First Texas Cavalry (U.S.), and saw action in Galveston, Matamoros, and the Rio Grande Valley. Promoted to brigadier general in November 1864, he commanded the cavalry of General Joseph J. Reynolds in the Division of Western Mississippi. On June 2, 1865, he was among those who represented the Union at the surrender of Confederate forces in Texas. Source: Texas State Library and Archives Commission (www.tsl.state.tx.us/ governors/war/davis-p01.html) This photograph shows Edmund J.

Davis in uniform as a brigadier general in the federal army.

1. Ab initio: the belief that all official acts passed under secession to help the Confederacy were null and void.

2. Equality for blacks

3. State financing of public schools

4. The use of eastern railroad interests to build railroads in Texas

5. Disenfranchisement of ex-Confederates

6. The division of the state

Radicals supportedThe Election of 1869

•Some whites could not take the loyalty oath required by Congress and thus were disfranchised.

•Some Democrats feared that a Democratic victory at the state level would only prolong Reconstruction should the Congress then reject the state’s readmission into the Union.

•Some Democrats decided to boycott the election and stayed away from the polls.

Democrats did not nominate a separate candidate for a variety of reasons:

The Election of 1869

Edmund  Jackson  Davis

Governor of Texas from January Governor of Texas from January 1870 to January 18741870 to January 1874

Governor Davis organized a state police as well as a state militia, both to be under the governor’s oversight. He also signed a bill financing a public school system with such progressive features as a state superintendent and compulsory attendance. Higher taxes were imposed on property to finance these efforts…. (p. 164.)

The Radical Republican Governor Edmund Jackson Davis establishes a policy to bring order to the state, and also establishes the state’s first system of public education.

George T. Ruby:

• Born & educated in the North

• Educator in Louisiana

• Arrived in Texas in 1866

• Freedman’s Bureau teacher in Galveston

• Agent for the Freedman’s Bureau

• Organizer of the Union League

• President of the Union League (1868)

• Vice President of the Republican state convention (1868)

• State Senator from Galveston (1869-1874)

• Served on several influential committees for the state legislature

Matt Gaines:

Self-educated former slave

Preacher of the Baptist church after the Civil War

Courageous advocate for African American causes in the state legislature

State Senator

Calvert, DeLeón, Cantrell, p. 163.

Two black senators and twelve black representatives sat in the Twelfth Legislature (1870-1871): they constituted about 12 percent of the body’s entire membership.

Overall, black legislators who served during the era of Reconstruction in Texas amassed political savvy and performed as well as did their black counterparts throughout the South.

Black Legislators during Black Legislators during ReconstructionReconstruction

Republicans were weakened by

1. Internal divisions2. White terrorism

Governor Davis Faces Strong Opposition

Governor Davis’s opponents managed to mold public opinion into associating the Radical administration with corruption and extravagant spending. Recent research suggests that the greatest percentage of the state’s revenue went to law enforcement, the common school system, and frontier defense and that the Radicals were not in fact wasteful with the taxpayers’ money. But Texans (among them the members of the planter class, allies of the Democrats), opposed what they considered arbitrary taxation, while others condemned what they believed to be a central government’s usurpation of local autonomy. As Democrats campaigned in the special congressional election of 1871, they stressed the issues of high taxes, corruption, fraud, and misgovernment.

 

In November of 1872, the Democrats won a majority in both chambers of the State Legislature. When the new legislature met in 1873, it abolished the state police and overthrew Davis’s public school system. (p. 165)

Richard Coke (1829-1897)

In the gubernatorial election in December 1873, Davis again ran on the Republican ticket, while Richard Coke, an ex-Confederate, campaigned as a Conservative Democrat. During the campaign, Davis highlighted the programs he had initiated, while Coke and his followers talked of “redemption,” of restoring strong states’ rights and of overthrowing the coalition of Republicans and freedmen. Coke took the election 100,415 to 52,141.

Edmund  Jackson  Davis

Gubernatorial Election Gubernatorial Election of 1873of 1873

Composite photo of the 1875 Constitutional Convention, Archives and Composite photo of the 1875 Constitutional Convention, Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

THE REDEMPTION NEEDS A THE REDEMPTION NEEDS A NEW CONSTITUTION!NEW CONSTITUTION!

With the conservative Democrats back in power, a majority of the state’s citizens wanted to erase all vestiges of Reconstruction, and they demanded the replacement of the Constitution of 1869. A new document, they figured, would overturn Republican successes on behalf of blacks and let the state return to the limited concept of government that had prevailed before the Civil War.

Governor Coke eventually convened the constitutional convention in 1875.

The Constitution of 1876 included provisions that prohibited the state from chartering banks, empowered the state to regulate corporations and railroad companies, established a state debt ceiling of $200,000, put a strict limit on the maximum ad valorem tax rate, and all but abolished the public school system. Many delegates to the constitutional convention argued that parents should bear sole responsibility for the education of their children. The argument came in part from those who rejected the idea that white landowners should pay taxes for the education of black children. The Constitution of 1876 eliminated the office of superintendent and compulsory education. It also mandated segregated schools.

Despite its flaws, the Constitution of 1876 reflected fairly well the political views of most white southerners, displaying a general distrust of activist government and a desire to limit its powers.

The constitution of 1876 The constitution of 1876 decentralizeddecentralized government power government power

in the state and greatly in the state and greatly weakened public education.weakened public education.