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Why Did Texas Fight In The Civil War Dbq

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Fight For Rights

Why did Texans fight in the Civil War? This war lasted almost 4 years between the Union and the Confederacy. Many Texans thought they should take part in the war and they had a lot of reasons. Texans fought in the Civil War because they wanted to preserve slavery, support state’s rights, and because of their love for Texas.

Slavery was a big part of Texas’ economy. Texans had to do everything in their power to help win the war and preserve slavery. Texas had a big population of slaves in Texas almost 183,000 slaves.(Doc A) 29% of white families owned slaves and that helped economic growth.(Doc A) This shows how much Texas depended on slave labor and agriculture. Some owners hid away their slaves so that the Union wouldn't …show more content…

This was called state’s rights which were the rights withheld by a state rather than the federal government. Even though most of them did believe they had the right to withdraw, Abraham Lincoln didn’t agree. He said during his inauguration,“I hold that the Union of these states is perpetual. No state upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union”. (Doc C) The editorial, Texas Gazette, mentions that the Union is of equal states,and that no country can force a state to stay or withdraw from it. (Doc C)

Texans had such a huge love of Texas that they would fight for their state. Many have been in battles against powerful countries like Mexico. They wouldn’t go down without a fight. A soldier who served throughout the war said, “I hear that the Yankees are getting into Texas...If they come up to Austin they will take whatever they want such as bacon, corn, horses, wagons, beef, and negroes and anything”.(Doc D) This shows how much Texans really cared about their home.

Texans would fight because of their need to preserve slavery, their state’s rights, and their love for Texas. Texans played a big part in the Civil War, helping out the Confederacy to win the war but lost. Even though they lost, they still had many goals and were very determined to come out victorious. There secession from the U.S. affected their friendship between Texas and the U.S. from all the help they’ve

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