| September 22 |  |
Editor says, what if Texan secessionists heeded Sam Houston's dire warning during the 1860 crisis? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1860, Texas Governor Sam Houston delivered a fiery speech, "The Folly of Disunion" on this day at an anti-secessionist rally in Austin.
Lone StarMany Texans heeded Houston's warning, narrowly voting to remain in the Union on February 23, 1861; Texas would not after all become the seventh star in the Confederate flag.
Born in 1793 in Virginia, Houston was a pivotal figure in the history of Texas. Not only did he sign the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico, but he also served periods as President of the Republic of Texas, Senator for Texas after it joined the United States, and finally as governor.
"Are we to sell reality for a phantom?"Although married to a Cherokee, and a slaveowner and opponent of abolitionism, he refused, because of his unionist convictions, to swear loyalty to the Confederacy and thus had a decisive role in preventing Texas from seceding from the Union.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Berg, Gordon. "Texas under the microscope. (The Seventh Star of the Confederacy: Texas in the Civil War)" reviewed in America's Civil War Magazine, September 2009Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Civil War AL Source: Wikipedia Labels: Sam Houston, Confederacy, America, Texas, Civil War. Editor says, please note that extensive amounts of content have been repurposed from the source article which concludes: "On March 16, 1861, the Texas Secession Convention called for all the state's elected officials to take a loyalty oath to the new government. Sam Houston, twice president of the Republic, as well as U.S. senator, governor and slave owner, sat silent. He never did pledge allegiance to the Confederacy, and he died in 1863 still convinced that his fellow Texans had made a terrible mistake".
~ Unfortunately, it's been way too long since my last Texas history class, so I don't remember the sane Texans in the state who wanted to resist secession If you hadnt guessed already, the Reverend Robbie is a Texan.
~ Now this is an interesting scenario. I wonder how the civil war would be fought if a Union Texas lay to the south of the Confederacy. Either Texas would be occupied, by the Rebs, or the Union would base large scale operations out of the state to the detriment of the Confederacy.
~ My thoughts too sir. Because in OTL Houston refused to lead a rebel army to fight for the Union to avoid bloodshed, I assume that a Houston led Govt would have tried to stay neutral in the war of the states. But then again, what if the Confederacy launched a pre-emptive strike?
~ If you'd had more Germans, who tended to be strongly antislavery and actually furnished Texas regiments to the US Army, this might have worked. As it was, Texas was nearly as badly divided as Missouri or the other border states were.
If Texas had stayed Union, the war would have been much shorter---a lot of the CSA's best troops and officers came from there.
~ East Texas would have counterseceded. The rump of Texas probably would have declared neutrality in the manner of Kentucky.
~ Suggesting the possibility of a civil war within the Civil War, as Texan fought Texan. This would have taken the state out of the larger fight--at least until one side or the other tried occupying it, at which point the balance would have tilted, I think, to the would-be occupiers' opponent. In any event it would have been an extra burden for the CSA.
~ It would certainly secure the frontier for the north but no doubt Texas would have internal problems like Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, as well Tennesse and Virginia with a population very much divided and each faction determined to fight.
~ Maybe Scott is on to something? A split up of Texas much like Virginia, the Unionist portion becoming a US State a la West Virginia. Where would have such a split occurred geographically? Maybe like the map of the Alt US on the last episode of Fringe?
~ Perhaps the C.S.A would have confined itself to itself. No Ken,Miso or Ten battles.
~ Geographically, the ole rule of thumb is I-35. East Texas and West Texas are pretty different places. Divide or not, this would definitely change the western theater for the Civil War, perhaps even enough to pull reinforcements from the East.
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
