Although many men from slave-owning families were serving in the military, slaves’ work and bondage remained very much intact during the war. For some, there was an awareness of the fight for their freedom – an awareness captured in memories like those of Mose Smith, a former slave from Texas who spoke of hearing about the conflict but being too far away to have direct knowledge of the war. The Civil War years saw an increase in the number of slaves in the state. Many traveled to Texas as refugees, often bringing slaves with them. Still, for many people fleeing the Deep South, Texas was safer ground. But without larger trade networks, the residents of Texas suffered from shortages of many kinds. Imports of goods from northern factories ceased, transportation networks were damaged, and Union blockades made it difficult for cotton growers to export their crops. But by New Year’s Day of 1863, Confederate forces had retaken the city, which remained in Confederate hands for the remainder of the war.īarriers to trade continued until the war’s end. Union troops seized the port in the fall of 1862. Traffic through the state’s major port at Galveston was halted by a Union blockade early in the war. Although only a few battles were fought in the state, the effect of the war was widespread. A small number joined the Union army.įor Texans on all sides, the war brought hardships. Many others joined but stayed in Texas, with some defending the coastline, some guarding against possible Union attack, and others pushing into New Mexico Territory. Many Texas men immediately joined the war effort, traveling east to fight with other Confederate soldiers. Although only about one in four Texas families owned slaves, support for secession was strong, with about three quarters of voters supporting secession. Texas responded to the election of Abraham Lincoln by joining the Confederacy in early 1861, a few weeks before the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter. On January 26, 1870, Secretary of State Hamilton Fish wrote this letter to Governor Gilbert Walker, informing him that an act "to admit the state of Virginia to representation in Congress" had passed that day.Ĭitation: Letter from Secretary of State Fish to Governor Walker, January 26, 1870, Gilbert Walker Executive Papers, Accession 40233, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.Explore Texas by Historical ErasCivil War and Reconstruction 1861-1870 by Katie Whitehurst ![]() As a result, Virginia's elected representatives and senators were readmitted to Congress (often described as Virginia being readmitted to the Union). Virginia had rejected the Fourteenth Amendment in 1867, but after adopting a new state constitution that acknowledged the rights of Black men to vote and run for office, the General Assembly ratified the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments in October 1869. Despite his vetoes, Congress passed the acts. President Andrew Johnson notably opposed the Reconstruction Acts, believing that they would hamper the autonomy of state governments and stand in the way of a peaceful reconciliation between the states. Constitution, which defined citizenship and the rights of citizens. The former Confederate states were also required to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. ![]() The acts created military districts to oversee the civilian governments of those states and required that new state constitutions be written before representatives and senators of those states would be readmitted to Congress. ![]() As a result, reformers in Congress passed in 18 what are known as the Reconstruction Acts to help preserve the civil rights of African Americans. White leaders of the former Confederate states sought to preserve their control of government, the economy, and society and passed many laws limiting the rights of formerly enslaved men and women. After President Lincoln's assassination in 1865 the task of reconstruction was placed on President Andrew Johnson. After four years of war and the Confederacy’s defeat, the slow process of reconstructing the nation began. The war began after eleven southern states, including Virginia, seceded from the United States in the months after Abraham Lincoln was elected president in November 1860. ![]() The American Civil War was fought between 18.
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