In state politics Texas was divided between a loosely organized
Democratic Party and the followers of Sam Houston. Houston's strong
anti-sectional views cost him the gubernatorial election in 1857. Two
years later, however, the aging hero of San Jacinto capitalized on a
general reaction against sectional extremists and was elected governor
on a nationalist platform. When Abraham Lincoln won the Republican
presidential nomination in 1860, Governor Houston urged his fellow
Texans to keep cool heads and to avoid taking drastic steps that might
later be regretted.[4]
In the national election of November, 1860, the voters of the Lone Star
State cast a three to one majority for John C. Breckinridge (Southern
Democrat) over John Bell (standard bearer of the conservative
Constitutional Union Party.) The names of Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas
(Northern Democrat) did not appear on Texas ballots. When it was learned
that the Republican candidate had won the presidency, Texans, like other
Southerners, went into mourning and many replaced United States flags
with state banners. Then, when other states of the South called for
secession conventions, Texans demanded that the same action be taken in
their state.[5]
Governor Houston managed to block all secession calls until December,
when Attorney General George M. Flournoy, Associate Justice O. M.
Roberts of the State Supreme Court, and lawyer William P. Rogers and
John S. Ford took the lead in calling for a state-wide election of
secession convention delegates to meet in Austin on January 28, 1861. A
subsequent statement explaining this move cited a Texas Constitutional
provision that the people "have at all times the unalienable right to
alter, reform, or abolish their form of government" as a source of
authority for the convention call.[6] It was also at this time that the
voters of Texas were promised a popular referendum on the secession
assembly's work; and of the original seven Confederate states, Texas was
the only one to hold such an election on the question of secession.
Seventy-two prominent citizens, including Lieutenant Governor Edward
Clark, signed this second call.
As provisions for the forthcoming election of delegates were being made,
Sam Houston called for a special session of the legislature to meet on
January 21. The Governor desperately hoped to use the legislative body
to neutralize the work of the convention. But this remote possibility
was stifled when the House and the Senate promptly adopted an
anti-Houston attitude and enthusiastically welcomed the assembling
convention.[7]
On Monday. January 28, 1861, the secession delegates organized under the
presidency of Judge O. M. Roberts. As late comers kept arriving, the
body eventually came to number one hundred seventy-six members. Elected
from state legislative districts, the delegates were mainly lawyers,
planters, and farmers.[8] In short order a heavy majority approved a
resolution to withdraw Texas from the Union, and an Ordinance of
Secession was passed by a vote of 166 to 7. This ordinance basically
charged that the United States government had failed to meet its
responsibilities under the "compact of Union." Specifically, it was
asserted that Federal authority had neglected to give "protection either
to the persons of our people upon an exposed frontier, or to the
property of our citizens." The document also condemned the Northern
states for attempting to make the central government into "a weapon with
which to strike down the interests and prosperity of the people of Texas
and her Sister Slaveholding States." Therefore, concluded the Ordinance,
the people of Texas chose to withdraw from the Union and to reclaim all
sovereignty delegated to the Federal government when Texas joined the
United States.[9]
The convention established a Committee of Public Safety to oversee
security matters while the main delegation recessed to await popular
approval of secession. Just before being disbanded until March 2, the
Austin assembly named seven representatives[10] to the Montgomery,
Alabama, convention of the seceding states. These men were to journey to
Alabama where they would speak for Texas in the forming of the new
Confederate government.[11] With his hand thus forced, Governor Houston
ordered an election to be held on February 23 to determine whether or
not the Secession Convention's work would be approved by the people.[12]
Shortly before this election was held, the Committee of Public Safety
decided that for purposes of state security the almost 3,000 Federal
soldiers stationed in Texas must be surrendered. This delicate matter
was settled on February 15, when the followers of Colonel Ben McCulloch
suddenly surrounded military departmental headquarters in San Antonio.
McCulloch's strong show of force was sufficient to cause the bloodless
surrender of Brevet Major General David E. Twiggs--aged commander of all
United States forces in the state. According to the terms of his
capitulation, Twiggs was to evacuate his soldiers and turn over all
station property to the state.[13]
A week later in the midst of fiery editorials and heated discussions.
the mandate on secession was held and county results were forwarded to
Austin. On March 2, the anniversary of Texas independence, the Secession
Convention re-assembled to canvass the result of the election. Because a
quorum was lacking, however, this task had to be postponed until Monday,
March 4.[14] Of the one hundred twenty-two counties reporting, only
nineteen, located mainly in northern Texas or along the middle of the
frontier line, showed a preference to stay with the Union. In overall
figures, secession was endorsed by a vote of 46,129 to 14,697. When
these results were certified to the convention. President Roberts
proclaimed Texas to be "a free, sovereign and independent nation of the
earth."[15] Later that same day a disgruntled Governor Houston
officially admitted to his people that a large majority had favored
secession.
The convention next considered the complex problem of defending Texas,
and at the same time, rushed instructions to the Texas delegation in
Montgomery, Alabama, to secure admission of the state to the
Confederacy. Sam Houston, when he learned of these actions, charged that
the convention was completely overstepping its authority. To counter
such protests, the determined secession delegates developed a plan that
would ultimately cause Houston to remove himself from office. A
resolution was passed requiring all high state officials to swear
allegiance to the Confederacy at noon on March 16. When Houston failed
to appear at the oath-taking ceremony, the convention declared his
office to be vacant. Pro-secessionist Lieutenant Governor Edward Clark
assumed the gubernatorial position for the nine months remaining in
Houston's term. Finally, with its work accomplished, the Texas Secession
Convention adjourned _sine die_ on March 26.[16]
Meanwhile, the Confederate States government had been organized and
Judge John H. Reagan of Texas was named Postmaster General. In late
April news reached Texas that Fort Sumter had been fired on. With war
between the sections now a reality, Governor Clark promptly set about
gearing the state for military action. Measures were taken to capture as
prisoners of war all federal troops who had been surrendered by General
Twiggs and who were still in the process of leaving the state.[17] Also,
the Governor asked for 3,000 volunteers to supplement several existing
regiments that had been called into service by the Secession Convention.
Later in April, Clark called for an additional 8,000 volunteer
infantrymen to serve the South.[18]
Not all Texans were confident that the state had been wise in seceding
and in joining the Confederacy. German settlers in the San
Antonio-Fredericksburg-New Braunfels areas were especially disturbed
over the turn of events. They had never accepted the idea of slavery and
they now came to be looked on with distrust when some of their numbers
elected to leave the state. A group of North Texans similarly decided to
abandon their homes for the security of the United States. Still other
malcontents, who wished to escape from the Confederate government or the
dangers of war, moved to the Far West or across the Mexican border.[19]