1850

The Civil War

Fighting to Control Galveston

The Texas Home Front

A Divided Nation

Birth of the Confederacy

Slavery (MAIN CAUSE OF THE CIVIL WAR)

• The issue of slavery divide the nation. The South's economy was based on slavery, the North's was primarily industry
• 1850: The new Republican Party was gaining political control. Many opposed slavery in the Western territories and some opposed slavery all together
• Many Democrats in the South believed that the Republicans wanted to "end their way of life" and end slavery

Tariffs and Sectionalism (OTHER FACTORS BUT ITS STILL ALL ABOUT SLAVERY)

• The Republican Party supported tariffs (taxes) on imported goods, the South imported most of their goods
• Southerns sought to defined their states rights. They did not believe they had to follow laws passed by the federal government if they disagreed with them
• Southerns and Northerners only wanted to benefit themselves and not the nation. This is called sectionalism

Union Blockade

• Union forces had a three-part plan to defeat the Confederacy
• They planned to create a blockade around the entire Confederate coastline
• October 4, 1862: Texas was vulnerable to attack. Union forced sailed into Galveston and took the city
• The Confederacy needed to regain the city in order to access supplies

Retaking Galveston

• New Year's Day 1863: Confederate troops, led by General John B. Magruder attacked Union forces in Galveston
• Using gunboats, the Union ship surrendered

• February 1861: The Montgomery Convention, in Alabama, formed a new government, the Confederate States of America
• It gave more power to the states and protect slavery by law
• Jefferson Davis was named as the first president

Houston is Removed from Office

• The Texas Secession Office ordered all government officials to swear allegiance to the Confederacy. When Houston refused he was removed from office.
• In his final speech we warns the state, "The North is determined to preserve the Union... they will overwhelm the South with defeat."

War Begins

• 1861: Confederate troops took the U.S. base, Fort Sumter
• The struggle marked the begging of the U.S. Civil War

Women in the War Effort

• Women, children, and slaves maintained the properties and did the work the men left behind
• Some women turned their homes into hospitals for the wounded, others used bedsheets as bandages

Supplying the Army

• Due to shortages of war supplies, food, and other needs, the Confederacy had to manufacture most goods

Texans Face Shortages

• Unable to get fabric from the North, Southern states had to make their own, cheaper cloth
• Food shortages led to malnutrition of soldiers and civilians
• Medicines were in short supply resulting in deaths from the spread of diseases

1861

1860

1863

1850

The War Ends

Texas Secession

Defending Texas

Texans Go To War

Sabine Pass

• Union forces hoped to gain access to Texas by capturing Sabine Pass
• If successful, the Union could attack from inside the Confederacy
• September 8, 1863: Union forces unsuccessfully attacked Fort Griffin, losing 350 soldiers. Sabine Pass remained in Confederate control

Fighting at Brownsville

• Brownsville, TX, was able to send cotton to Mexico, which then shipped it to Europe in exchange for supplies
• November 1863: Union forces captured Brownsville and Brazos Island

The Confederates are Defeated

• March-April, 1865: Union forces attacked tired and hungry Confederate troops
• Lee and his men retreated but Union forces followed them
• April 9, 1865: Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant

The Challenge of Rebuilding

• Five days after the surrender of the Confederacy, President Lincoln was killed by John Wilkes Booth
• The Texas government collapsed when government officials fled to Mexico
• Andrew Jackson Hamilton was appointed governor but was seen as a traitor to many Texans

• Texas argued it was a sovereign state and had the right to secede (leave) the Union
• Governor Sam Houston was asked to call a meeting to vote on secession but did not believe the South would win
• Without permission, secession supporters held a meeting to vote on secession
• Many who did not want to secede did not attend the meeting, thinking it was illegal and refused to go

Ordinance of Secession

• January 28, 1861: Texas issued an Ordinance of Secession
• Claiming the U.S. government abused its power by interfering with the interest of Texas and had the right to free itself from allegiance to the U.S.
• February 23, 1861: voters approved the secession.
• Only 10 voted against secession in El Paso

Supporting the Confederacy

• April 16, 1862: Governor of TX, Francis Lubbock, passed the Conscription Act requiring men 18-35 to serve in the Confederate army
• 70,000 Texans were drafted or volunteered
• Most Texans served in the cavalry (on horseback)

Supporting the Union

• Some Texans supported the federal government were called Unionist
• Over 2,000 Texans joined the union
• This included some Mexican Americans and slaves