Why Did Texas Fight In The Civil War Research Paper

799 Words4 Pages

The Civil War: the bloodiest, most deadly battle of U.S. history. Through hard occurrences, the torn-apart nation fought an enduring war, with more than 600,000 brave soldiers perishing along the way. Beginning in the 1860’s, many states began to secede from the once unified United States of America, to create a new country: the Confederate States of America. Thus, the U.S. separated, due to each sides’ different policies. The secession of the Southern states split the nation, acting as a trigger for the Civil War. Soldiers from many states fought for their side in the battle. This brings up a confounding question. Why did Texans fight in the Civil War? Firstly, Texans were willing to fight in the Civil War because of their loyalty to Texas. …show more content…

Conforming to the Texas Secession Convention (DOC B), “...the governments of the various states…were established exclusively by the white race for themselves and their posterity; that the African race had no (part) in their establishment; that they were rightfully held as an inferior and dependent race…” This quote shows that most Texans had no respect for the African American race, and supported slavery, because they thought that slavery was beneficial to them and the slaves. According to the Bureau of the Census and Randolph Campbell, Gone to Texas (DOC A), the population of slaves in Texas increased by 177,566 between the years of 1836 and 1860. This indicates that Texas had a growing need for slaves as the Civil War approached. Also presented by the Bureau of the Census and Randolph Campbell (DOC A), the price for an acre of farmland in 1860 was only $6.00, but the price for a healthy slave was $1,200.00. This implies that slaves were extremely valuable in Texas and were a large investment for many Texans. Texans fought in the Civil War, not only to preserve slavery, but to also save the money they invested in the slaves (if the slaves were freed, the slave owners would lose money). Slavery was the biggest reason that Texans fought in the Civil War. Slavery was a large part of the Southern economy. Also, many Texans were afraid that if they lost slavery, they would lose the money that they invested in