Essay/Term paper: Texas involvment in slavery

Essay, term paper, research paper:  American Civil War

One of the most unique

situations during the period of the Civil War in America was

the involvement of the state of Texas in the Confederacy.

Although it was once its own Republic separate from the

United States of America through annexation, Texas was not

entirely unique when it came to the institution of slavery. Just

like in all other southern states, slavery, and the use of slave

labor, was a major factor of the states agricultural economy.

During the years around and through the Civil War, Texas

became a home for many transient southerners in search of

sanctuary from the almost enviable furthering of

emancipation. Long before the war, Texas had been the

stomping ground for runaway slaves enroute to Mexico and

in search of freedom. The state of Texas was not only one of

the new frontier territories toward the west but it became

one of the final places in America were slavery was

practiced. Because of its geography much of Texas

remained untouched and unsettled. Many adventurous

plantation owners felt it necessary to keep news of the war

and emancipation from their slaves as much as a year after

the end of the war.(Campbell 249) The topic I have chosen

for my research to discuss the history of slavery in Texas

during the years of the Civil War. How the institution was

altered because of the Civil War and the process by which

emancipation was handed to black -Texans is the focus of

my report. I would like to uncover how and why slave labor

was used to both protect the state, the Confederacy and the

institution that held the future of the American Negro forever.

Well before the beginning of the Civil War, Texas and some

of its surrounding territories were property of Spain just like

its southern neighbor, Mexico. Soon after realizing their

particular suppression by Spain, Mexico fought for, and won

its independence from its mother country. Mexico now had

control of their country and the territory of Texas. As more

Americans moved west and into Texas it became evident

that there was going to be a continued clash between

Mexico and the white frontiersmen who quickly flooded

certain areas. The American government wanted to purchase

this valuable land but eventually it was taken by American

frontiersmen where it was declared its own realm. Fearful of

the loss of power if allowed into the Union, Texas expressed

in 1836 the right to join the Union under the condition that

Texas would have " free and unmolested authority over their

slave population"( Goodell P.278) Unable to come to an

agreement with the rest of the United States, Texas became

recognized as independent from the United States of

America. Although it was separate from the rest of the

United States politically, Texas was becoming more and

more similar to the rest of the South as Northerners moved

into the state and brought their position of anti-slavery with

them. Worried about the future of slavery in Texas, many

slave owners petitioned the immigration of Northerners and

expressed concern that the state might be overrun by pro-

abolitionists. Texas had a history richly imbedded in slavery

and there was little opposition from many of its original

inhabitants. Before long, continued tension between the

Northern states and the slave states began to strengthen as

more people in the North began to desire that the entire

country move towards complete emancipation. Many

citizens and leaders in Texas approached the legislature in

Texas to provide reasoning as to why Texas should continue

to be a slave state. Many of these Texans quoted the bible

as a reference and reasoning as to why it was "right" that

they continue to use "heathen" and "inferior" blacks as labor

for the superior "white dominant" masters. Like all whites in

the South many in Texas feared slave uprisings and revolts

as word of Northern slave emancipation traveled into the

border areas of Texas. Lynch mobs hung and killed people

they thought were pro- abolitionists who were organizing

anti-slavery groups and uprisings. Texans were firm in their

position that no one was going to destroy their God-given

right to have slaves and keep them. Fearful of the power of

the North over the Southern states, many states began to

consider the idea of secession as a means of both protecting

their economy and slave- aided lifestyle. When secession

from the Union started, Texas declared its position and

joined the Confederacy after declaring its secession from the

United States of America. Knowing the peculiarity of

Texas's situation there was ample room made by the state in

these declarations for it to seceded from the Confederacy if

it realized a better position in the near future. As the war

loomed ahead Texas wondered where it would stand when

the dust cleared. As Texas embarked into the Civil War era

on the side of the Confederacy, the government of Texas

soon realized that it had little to worry about for the time

being. Protected from Federal forces on three of its sides,

Texas needed to prepare for the inevitable assault on its

southern coast. It is the use of slaves for military purposes

that we see the institution of slavery in Texas altered to fit the

states new situations during the Civil War. Around the

beginning of the Civil War statistics that I have read state

that the slave population of Texas was between 150,000 t0

250,00 black men, women and children. This number could

not include the thousands of "refugees" living in Texas who

were escaping southern masters and in many cases going

along with their masters to start up plantations in Texas after

they abandoned their old ones in other southern states. Most

of these refugees were from Arkansas and Louisiana even

though some were from the North before abolition. Although

the majority of these non- refugee blacks were not affected

by the Civil war, many slaves in the areas around the

southern coast were. The most important port in Texas was

located in the south- eastern coastal city of Galveston. Not

only was it Texas's major port, but unfortunately it was the

Unions major target resulting in a Federal Naval assault

during the first year of the Civil War. Knowing the

importance of Galveston to Texas, Federal troops in 1862

took the port and surrounding areas thus making it one of

only a handful of Union victories in the Lone Star state.

Fearful of losing their "property", many slave owners in the

areas surrounding Galveston, fled the area into the North of

Texas to avoid any clash with Union troops. Although the

port was recaptured within a few short months, the result of

the Unions temporary seizure gave many military leaders all

the excuse they needed to try to enlist the aid of slave labor

to build fortifications and help in other military related

projects. Generals began to insist that they be allowed to

gather slave labor for the protection of Texas. Knowing that

more labor was needed to protect Texas, General Paul

Herbert ordered that the military go into the unaffected

interior of Texas and gather slaves for the purpose of the

war effort.(Campbell p.234) It was this initial order that

eventually led to the impression of slaves by the military. Due

to the lack of response by slave owners in the interior, few

slaves were acquired on loan to the Texas military. Angered

and furthered by the lack of response of slave owners to

give up their workers, the Confederate Congress in March

1863 authorized the impressment of slaves by the Texas and

Confederate military under the grounds that slaves were

personal property and that all personal property deemed

helpfull to the war effort be made available to the military for

purposes in war times.(Campbell 234) These men were paid

for their services. Or shall it be said, there owners, were

compensated with cash and insurance that their slaves would

be returned in less than two months. As slave owners saw

more of their slaves being lent to the government many

feared that they would not be fully reimbursed for their labor

loses. Many slave owners felt that there slaves were going to

mistreated and misused based on the fact that they were

being taken to do the most extremes of military labor outside

of actual combat as did some former slaves in the North.

The general distrust of the slave owners of the military also

led them to worry that there slaves might be killed, lost, or

escape if Union forces invaded Texas. Despite their worries

most of the slave laborers in the military were under the

watchful eyes of generals who knew their importance to the

protection of Texas was more than just simple labor. One of

the most important military leaders in Texas was general

John Magruder. Being one of the original military leaders to

call for slave impressment, Magruder wanted Texas to allow

the impressment of more slaves for the war effort.

Concluding that the slave holders were not properly

accounting for their labor force and refusing to provide

slaves, Magruder demanded that he be allowed to impress

slaves in amounts greater than before. Magruder's actions

caused some of the biggest disruptions in the institution of

slavery in Texas during the Civil War. As Magruder became

more insecure about the strength of the Confederacy he

assumed that more fortifications would be needed if the state

of Texas was to remain virtually unscathed by Union forces.

Eventually near the end of the war the Confederate

Congress agreed to meet Magruder halfway by allowing the

employment of a large number of slaves that were to be paid

the same wages as privates in the Confederate

Army.(Campbell 238) As more slaves were being taken into

the military for labor, refugees were arriving by the hundreds

from war ravaged southern states. Trying to escape the

inevitable fact that they were going to lose their slaves,

plantation owners steamed towards the seclusion of Texas in

hopes that slavery would continue there. " Jus' before

freedom come, de new overseer am 'structed to take us to

Texas and takes us to Kaufman county and we is refugees

dere," recounts former slave and refugee Fred Brown

concerning his removal from Louisiana. Even though all these

new slaves were coming in, not too many problems arose

from such an increase of slaves in relation to the extremely

low influx of whites on average. Many of these "refugees" in

Texas were put on new plantations and or hired out to

families who could not have afforded a slave before at a

higher rate. With all these new slaves, many whites found

attaining a slave a bit easier and hired them from their

owners resulting in a better than average sum for the owner.

Other refugees upon hearing about Mexico's anti- slavery

position fled across the border were they planned to start life

over away from all white men whether they be Southern or

Northern. When the war finally came to an end, the people

of Texas were read the General Order number three which

stated that "all slaves are free" and now have the same rights

as their former owners.( Campbell p.249) What was also

stated in the order was that "freemen"(former slaves) are

advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work

for wages". This statement leads us into the post Civil War

era as the former slave in Texas and across the southern

states searched for his and her new identity under the title of

"freemen". Although they were now officially free, many

slaves in Texas felt the need to stay on as laborers on the

plantations, in the houses, and in the fields. Seizing the idea

of newfound freedom, some slaves traveled back into the

South from Texas and into the North in search of family and

opportunity. Some went running to Mexico and even farther

west into Indian country embracing the white man's dream of

western expansion. Realizing little hope off the plantations

where they had worked all of their lives, most of the slaves

stayed with their old masters and enjoyed all of their new

freedoms while remaining idle(in movement not labor) on the

plantations for wages and less harsh working conditions.

More than happy to be free, many slaves embraced the idea

of continuing on with their former masters mainly because of

fear of what might happen to them as they left the plantation.

Without hardly any education or the experience of being on

their own, former slaves knew that they would have to

express their newfound freedom as much as possible without

threatening the relationships with their new "employers". A

few former slaves reached the point a couples of decades

after the war were they could be self sufficient and owned

land. The slave in Texas throughout the war did not face the

threat of being set free after battle into an area of almost

uncaring wartime confusion. Because of their seclusion,

slaves and refugees in Texas lived in a world almost

completely unchanged by wartime activates. Although

thousands of slaves were impressed for wartime use only a

few lost their lives while fortifying and working along the

front lines of southern Texas. As for the vast majority of

slaves who were not impressed they went along with their

normal production during the Civil War as if freedom was

the last thing they expected in the next few years. Some

slaves in Texas did not even know about the war until it had

been over for months, some revolted long before. As the

armies of Texas argued over whether it should send its

troops to other states to fight, the institution of slavery went

full steam ahead. After the end of the war many blacks

began to realize the hatred that faced them and how many

whites in Texas would do anything in order to ensure that

they(whites) would always be the ruling class. Opportunity

did not come easy to blacks, but prejudice did. Almost until

the very end of the Civil War, Texans seemed to be denying

the fact that an end coming to their precious "right" to own

and oppress their "inferior" and "heathen" God-given

servants. Courtesy of chew (1995) University of Maryland