Civil War and Texas Mini-Q

The Civil War:

Why Did Texans Fight?

Overview: On February 23, 1861, the voters of Texas overwhelmingly approved a referendumcalling for secession from the United States of America. Just two months later, the Civil Warbegan and Texas was engaged in a bloody battle of lifestyles and beliefs that cost both the Northand South dearly. This Mini-Q asks why Texans fought in this devastating war.

The Documents:

Document A: The Growth of Slavery

Document B: The Texas Secession Convention and Slavery

Document C: States' Rights

Document D: A Soldier's Perspective: John Rabb's Letters Home

A Mini Document Based Question (Mini-Q)

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Civil War and Texas Minl-Q

Hook Exercise: Texas and Secession

Background: As youmayknow, Abraham lincohi's main reason forgoing to waragainstthe Southin 1861 was to keepthe UnitedStates in one piece. He strongly opposedsecession.He believed that when individual states chose to join the Union, they were doing so forever.Not everybody agreed,especially in Southern states like Texas.

Directions: Below are three situations that could face the people of Texas sometime in thefuture. In groups of twoor three, discuss eachcaseanddecide whether or not you wouldsupport secession. In eachcase, be ready to explain your thinking.

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Situation #1: Congress, by a slim majority in both the Senate and the House, votes tomake west Texas the dumping ground for the nation's nuclear waste. Theargument is that few people live in westTexas and the area is far from largepopulation centers. A few talk show hosts in Odessa, Midland andEl Pasoraise the possibility of secession. Wouldyou support their cause?

Situation #2: In a five-to-four vote, the U.S. Congress votes to repeal the SecondAmendment to the Constitution, replacing it with an amendment that forbidsthe sale and possessionof all firearmsexcept old collector items. Texas andten other Southem and Western states do not ratify the amendment, but theamendment is approved by the necessary three-quarters majority. Some angryTexans go so far as to organize a secession convention.Would you supporttheir cause?

Situation #3: Congress passes a three-dollars-a-gallon federal tax on gasoline. This makesgas about the same price that it is in Europe. The goal is to fight globalwarming by reducing gas consumption and raising money for alternativeenergy research. This could hurt parts of the Texas economy. There is talkof secession. Is that going too far?

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Background Essay Civil War and Texas Minl-Q

The Civil War: Why Did Texans Fight?

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In 1787,13 American states pledged to jointogether to "create a more perfect union." Thewriters of the Constitution hoped this unionwould last forever, but they knew it would notbe easy.

The glue that held America together beganto unstick in 1820. At this time, the United

States had an equal number of slave states andfree states. Missouri would tip the balance.Trouble was avoided when Congress passed theMissouri | i i —^Compromise. Missouri |Msc«d.dbcf.«Tc«, kJ , "

- I"r. I Seceded afterTmm

was admitted as a slave ' VQQ ' ' •« II • Iim I iiaai

State and Mame was hrr. S ..KS MO

admitted as a free state. — jThis kept the number ^ indian t ^of slave and free states

equal. Even moreimportant, a boundarywas established that

would not allow future

slave states north of mexico, ^Missouri's southern I ^^border. This was the famous latitude line of 36"

30'. With the Missouri Compromise in place, thecountry let out a deep breath and tried to relax.

But the hard feelings between North andSouth would not go away. A mini war broke outin 1854 when Congress voted to repeal theMissouri Compromise and passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The act gave Kansas andNebraska settlers the right to vote on whether ornot they wanted slavery. This idea of people'schoice was called popular sovereignty. TheMissouri Compromise was now dead and gone.Most Texans were happy with the Kansas-Nebraska Act but angry at their own U.S.Senator, Sam Houston, who had voted against it.Houston didn't think slavery should be allowedto expand into the Northern prairies, an unusualposition for a Southerner to take.

Tensions continued to build. Then, in 1859,

a white abolitionist named John Brown tried to

start a slave uprising by attacking a federalarsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. SomeSoutherners felt invaded and many feared awidespread slave revolt. A nervous nation wasnow holding its breath.

A year later, an anti-slavery man namedAbraham Lincoln was elected president. By thistime, a number of Southerners had had enough.

I y Led by South Carolina,PA ^ six Southern states left

,L IN / Union to form the

I Confederate States ofAmerica. This alarmed

I ^ Houston, now thegovernor of Texas.Houston believed that

oc£AN Civil War would be a

IKT tragedy for the nationCutfofMcdco ^ I and a disaster for the

t. South. In his mind,0 IdlooMtcn ^

1 there was no way theSouth could win. Most Texans disagreed. OnMarch 2, 1861, Texas became the seventh state

to secede from the Union. Houston refused to

take an oath of loyalty to the new Confederacyand was forced to resign.

The war began one month later. Over thenext four years, about 65,000 Texans served inthe Confederate military. Most were in theirtwenties and thirties. Some were boys as youngas 13. Nearly one-fifth of these soldiers -between 12,000 and 15,000 - died, mostly fromdisease. These were devastating numbers. Itraises the question "Why?" When a young manfrom a small Texas farm marched off to join thefighting in faraway Tennessee or Virginia, whydid he go? What made him risk his life, andoften give his life, in a war his own governorsaid could not be won? Put simply: Why didTexansfight the Civil War?

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Civil War and Texas Mini-Q

Background Essay Questions

1. How did the Missouri Compromise limit the growth of slavery?

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2. How did Sam Houston's opinions compare with those of most Texanson the Kansas-NebraskaAct and secession?

3. What event in 1859 increased tension between the North and the South?

4. How many Southern states seceded before Texas?

5. What evidence is there that Governor Houston felt strongly against secession?

6. Define each of the following:

Missouri Compromise

repeal

Kansas-Nebraska Act

popular sovereignty

secede

1860 - Lincoln elected President of the United States

1861 - Texas secedes from the Union

1862 - 42 Union sympathizers hanged in Gainsville, Texas

1863 - Sam Houston dies in Huntsville, Texas

1865 - May 12-13: Last battle of Civil War fought at Palmito Ranch near Brownsville more than amonth after Civil War was over

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Civil War and Texas Mini-Q

Understanding the Question and Pre-Bucl(eting

Understanding the Question

1. What is the analytical question asked by this Mini-Q?

2. What terms in the question need to be defined?

3. Rewrite the question in your own words.

Pre-Buciceting

Directtons: Using any clues from the Mini-Q question and the document tides on the coverpage, predict the analytical categories and 1^1 the buckets.

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Civil War and Texas MInl-Q

Document A

Source: Bureau of the Census. Washington, D.C., 1860; and Randolph CampbeO, Gone to Texas,Oxford University Press, 2003.

Slave Statistics, 1860 /

Seceding Slave States Slave Population % of Population % ofWhite Familiesin Slavery that Owned Slaves

South Carolina 402,406 57 47

Florida 61,745 44 35

Alabama 435,080 45 35

Mississippi 436,631 55 49

Georgia 462,198 48 38

Louisiana 331,726 47 31

Texas 182,566 30 29

Virginia 490,865 31 27

Aiicansas 111,115 28 20

North Carolina 331,059 33 29

Tennessee 275,719 25 25

Growth ofSlave Population in Texas:

1836: 5,000 1850: 58,161 1860: 182,566

Prices in Texas, 1860:

One acre of farm land $6.00

One healthy male field slave $1,200.00

Document Analysis1. What was the slave population of Texas in 1860?

2. What percentage of the Texas population were slaves in 1860?

3. What percentage of white Texas families owned slaves in 1860? What percentage did not?

4. What economic fears might have led slave-owning Texans to fight for the South?

5. Do these statistics suggest why non-slave-owning Texanswould want to fight for the South?

Explain.

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Civil War and Texas Mini-Q

Document B

Sourca: Texas Secession Convention, Austin, Texas, F^ruaiy 2,1861.

Resolution:

We hold as imdeniable truth that the governments of the various States ... wereestablished exclusivelyby the white race for themselves and their posterity; thatthe African race had no (part) in their establishment; that they were rightfullyheld as an inferior and dependent race....

That in this free government all white men are and of right ought to be entitledto equal civilandpolitical rights; that the servitude of theAfrican race ... ismutually beneficial to both bond (slave) and free, and is ... justified by theexperience of mankind, and the revealed will of theAlmighty Creator.

Note: The Constitution of 1836 stated that free blacks coukJ live in Texas onty with the permission of the legislature.Permission was seldom granted. The free-black population of Texas in the 1860 census was under 400.

Document Analysis1. To whom do the authors of this resolution give credit for establishing the governments

of the states and the nation? Who had no part?

2. What two adjectives are used near the end of paragraph one to describe people of African origin?

3. According to this resolution, who benefits fix>m slavery?

4. According to this resolution, what justifies slavery?

5. Were frw blacks allowed to live in Texas? Explain.

6. How can this document be used to help explain why Texans fought in the Civil War?

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Civil War and Texas MIni-Q

Document C

Source: Fix>m an editorial in the Texas State Gazette, October 20.1860.

This is a Union of equal states, and no state can forceanother state either to remain in it or withdraw from it

Source: From a speech t)y O.M. Roberts, president of the Texas SecessionConvention, January 28,1861.

The crisis upon us involves not only the right of self govenunent, but themaintenance of a greatprinc^ inthelawof nations... thetniedieoiyof our(national) govenmient as an association of sovereignties (independentstates), and not a blended mass ofpeople in one social compact

Note: On Fdi)niary 1,1861, the call for secession passed the Texas Secession Conventionby a vote of 166 to 8. weeks later, a statewide secession referendum passed by avote of 46,154 to 14,747.

Source: From Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address, March 4,1861.

I hold that... the Union of these States is perpetual.... (N)o stateupon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union.

Note: Abraham Lincoln was elected president in November 1860. He was not on theballot in nine Southern states.

Document Analysis1. Does the Texas State Gazette editorial support the right of secession? Explain.

2. Who was O. M. Roberts?

3. Does Roberts agree with the TexasState Gazette! Explain.

4. The theory of government thatRoberts is describing is oftencalled**states* rights.*'What is states*rights?

5. What doesAbraham Lincoln think about a state's right to secede? Explain.

6. If you only hadthis document to refer to, how would you explain why Texans fought inthe Civil War?

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Civil War and Texas Mini-Q

Document D

Source: The Civil War lettera of John Wesley Rabb.

Note: John Wesley Rabb was one of about 65,000 Texans who fought for the South in the CivaWar. He sen/ed withafsumxjs cavalry unit called Terr/s Texas Rangere (see photo on the cover page of this unit) from September 9,1861through March1885. At the time of his enlistment, Rabb was 28 years old. Despite gunshot wounds in the stomach andchest, he sunrived the war. These are short excerpts from his many lettere home. The spelling is his.

NashYiUe, Teim. Dec 5th 1861

Dear Sister pJssy],

... Tell ^ige not to leave there upon any consideration to go war. Tell him not to inlist tilljust before they go to draft him and only enlistfor Texas service.

Huntsvllle^Ala. March llth/62

My Dear Ma,

... Our army is still going on. We will retreattill we find a sutible plase in Ala to make astand and then there will be a big fight....The last letter I got from Lissy was datedJanuary 30th Tell Lissy not to talk to meabout marring up here, for if I ever marry itwill be in Texas, I think.

Chatinooga,Tenn. Jiinel6th/62

Dear Ma,

... I wanto be home so bad.... I here that the

Yanks are in Texas. We here that the Yanks are

in Wharton County. The boys are talkingabout it now. I think that most of the Rangerswanto be in Texas.... Do the best you can. Ma.Do not be oneasy about me. Good by. Ma.

In Camp near Murfineesborrow, Tenn.Nov. 23/62

My Dear Ma ma,

... I am getting very oneasy about you all nowI hear that the Yankeys are getting in toTexas.... If the Yanks come, m^ you hadbetter send the negros up in the mountains....If they come up to Austin they will take whatever they see that they want such as Bacon,com, horses, wagons, beef, & negroes & anything. You must do the best you can.

Document Analysis1. How many years did Rabb serve with his cavahy unit?

2. Do you think Rabb is mostly fighting for Texas or for the South as a whole? What evidencesupports your position?

3. Is there any evidence that Rabb was fighting to preserve slavery?

4. It is quite clear that the Rabb family owned slaves. Is there evidence in Rabb's letters that hewould have fought even if his family didn't own slaves?

5. In your mind,what is the main reason Rabb fought?

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Civil War and Texas Mini-Q

Bucketing - Getting Ready to Write

Bucketing

Look over all the documents and organize them into your final buckets.Write l^ls under eachbucket and place the letters of the documents in the buckets wheretheybelong. It is O.K. to puta document in more than one bucket. That is called multi-bucketing, but you need a good reasonfor doing so. Remember, your bucketsare going to become your body paragraphs.

Thesis Development and Road IMap

On the chicken foot below, write your thesis and your road map. Your thesis is always anopinion and answers the Mini-Qquestion. The road map is created fromyour bucket labelsand lists the topic areas you will examine in order to prove your thesis.

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Guided Essay: The Civil War: Why Did Texans Fight?

1. INTRODUCTION

A. Grabber

B. Background information (e.g. give the years of theCivil War andhow many Texans fought)

C. Restatement of the question

D. Thesisand Road Map: Texans fought in the CivilWar for at least three reasons:

and the main reason,

n. BODY PARAGRAPH#! (Reason One:

A. Baby Thesis: One reason Texans fought was

B. Evidence from the documents that reason one was probably on soldiers' minds:1.

2.

C. Argument: Texans were willing to fight over (states'rights,their love of Texas, slavery) because

in. BODY PARAGRAPH #2 (Reason Two:

A. Baby Thesis: Another reason many Texans fought was

B. Evidence from the documents that reason two was probably on soldiers' minds:1.

2.

C. Argument: This reason would cause Texans to fight because

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IV. BODY PARAGRAPH #3 (Reason Three:

A. Baby Thesis: A third and main reason many Texans fought was

B. Evidence from the documents that reason three was likely on soldiers' minds:1.

2.

3.

C. Argument (Explain why reason three was more important than reasons one and two)

V. CONCLUSION

A. "Although" statement and restatement of your thesis:

Although (Reason One) and

(Reason Two) help explain why many Texans fought in the

Civil War, it is clear that was most important.

B. Without repeating yourself, add a closing thought that clinches your idea.

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From Thesis to Essay Writing

Civil War and Texas Mini-Q

Mini-Q Essay Outline Guide

Working Title

Paragraph #1

Grabber

Background

Stating the questionwith key terms defined

Thesis and load map

Paragraph #2

Baby Thesis for bucket one

Evidence: supporting detail from documents with documentcitation

Argument: In this Mini-Q, savethe argument for paragraph #4.

Paragraph #3

Baby Thesis for bucket two

Evidence

Argument* Save the argument for paragraph #4.

Paragraph #4

Baby Thesis for bucket three

Evidence

Argument: Qear argument why you choose this reason to be the most in^rtantThis will be the most important part of you essay.

W Paragraph #5

Conclusion

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