While far from the
major battlefields of the American Civil War, Texas contributed large numbers
of men and equipment to the rest of the Confederacy. Union troops briefly
occupied the state's primary port, Galveston. Texas's border with Mexico was
known as the "backdoor of the Confederacy" because trade occurred at
the border, bypassing the Union blockade. The Confederacy repulsed all Union
attempts to shut down this route, but Texas's role as a supply state was
marginalized in mid-1863 after the Union capture of the Mississippi River. The
final battle of the Civil War was fought near Brownsville, Texas at Palmito
Ranch with a Confederate victory.
Texas descended
into anarchy for two months between the surrender of the Army of Northern
Virginia and the assumption of authority by Union General Gordon Granger.
Violence marked the early months of Reconstruction. Juneteenth commemorates the
announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston by General Gordon
Granger, over two and a half years after the original announcement. President
Johnson, in 1866, declared the civilian government restored in Texas. Despite
not meeting reconstruction requirements, Congress readmitted Texas into the
Union in 1870. Social volatility continued as the state struggled with
agricultural depression and labor issues.
PREFACE.
“In narrating the process of reconstruction in any of the
Southern States, one is naturally drawn into a sympathetic attitude toward the people whose social and
political system was being "reconstructed." But, though this is
essential to a clear understanding and a just portrayal of their problems,
their motives, and their acts, it is equally necessary to keep in mind the
great and pressing problems that confronted the national government and the
forces that determined its policies.
“An exposition of the national point of view is, of course, precluded
here by the character and limitations of the subject, but the author has been
careful to keep it in a corner of his mind, and has often found it a valuable corrective.
It is hoped that this monograph may present in fairly clear outline a period
that has left a deep impress upon the later history, the political organization
and the public mind of Texas.
“Chapters III to VI, with slight modifications, are reprinted
from the Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, with the kind
permission of the editor. . .”
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I The Secession Movement ii
CHAPTER II Texas during the War 21
CHAPTER III The Break-Up.
1. Decline and Collapse of Confederate Military Power 27
2. Confusion about Cotton 41
3. The Negro Question and Labor Conditions 44
PART I— PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION
CHAPTER IV The State under Provisional Government.
1 . Inauguration of the New Regime 55
2. Loyalty and Disloyalty in the State 62
3. The Freedmen and the Freedmen's Bureau 70
4. Relations of the Civil and the Military Authorities •]•]
CHAPTER V The Constitutional Convention of 1866 8s
CHAPTER VI The Restoration of State Government.
1 . The State Elections of 1866 108
2. Inauguration of the New Government 112
3. The Eleventh Legislature 114
4. Problems and Policies of Throckmorton's Administration 116
PART II— CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION
CHAPTER VII The Undoing of Civil Government.
1. The Reconstruction Acts I45
2. The Provisional State Government and the Military Commanders 149
CHAPTER VIII Radical-Military Rule.
1 . Radical Politics and Factions
2. Removal of Sheridan; Reversal of Military Policy by Hancock. 180
CHAPTER IX The Reconstruction Convention of 1868-1869.
1. First Session 200
2. Conditions during the Recess ; Presidential Election 230
3. Second Session 242
CHAPTER X The Campaign and Election of 1869.
1 . The Appeal to Congress 261
2. The Formation of Tickets 267
3. The Canvass: Radicals Supported by Grant 273
4. The Election 283
CHAPTER XI The Final Act of Reconstruction 288
EPILOGUE
CHAPTER XII Radical Rule and its Overthrow.
1 . Policies and Legislation 295
2. Growth of the Opposition 301
3. Election of 1873 and the End 313
Bibliography 319
Index 321