Reconstruction in Texas

When South Carolina seceded from the Union, sparking the start of the American Civil War, a committee opened in Austin, Texas to decide the fate of Texas’s allegiance in the war. With only eight opposing votes, Texas seceded from the Union on February 1, 1861 to join the Confederate States of America. While far away from most of the battles in the war, Texas contributed many men and a lot of equipment to aid the Confederacy. When Union troops occupied the state’s primary port, Galveston, Texans were able to continue delivering supplies via the trade routes in Mexico. This Texas-Mexico border became known as “the backdoor to the Confederacy.” After the surrender of Robert E. Lee and the end of the Civil War, Texas spent two months in a state of anarchy. With no leadership and people desperate for food and work, many died of starvation while others turned to crime. To begin the true Reconstruction of the state, President Lincoln sent Union General Gordon Granger to take over the state’s government. Texans worked together with the Union government to persevere through the economic struggles of agricultural depression and labor issues and even made Juneteenth, the official announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, an annual state holiday. In 1866, just a few months after the end of the war, President Johnson declared the civilian government restored in Texas.