Texas had not been successfully invaded, except Galveston, or defeated on our state's land, for the entirety of the war. Additionally, I have not seen any data saying we had to give up our rights to become a state, because the South LOST. In fact I don't believe it was ever addressed, specifically it was such a unique situation that it was probably overlooked after the war by the Yankee lawyers. Yes, we all lost the war. The North won. All of us suffered under the reconstruction policies of the Washington politicians. I sometimes ask how the North faired during this period or how they might have had it better if the pols had not stripped the south do dramatically of its wealth. The north retained its clothing, ship building, steel manufacturing, and economic, banking, insurance, and investment banking dominance of the country, based on really cheap labor and lack of competition from the destruction of the burgeoning manufacturing and agricultural gains occurring in the south prior to 1860. The slaves were freed, a LONG Overdue fact. A lack of provisions to educate the ex slaves, allow them land ownership, allow new business ownership to help the slaves get a start after leaving the farms. Except, for some slaves and freed blacks in the south, who had been allowed training and education from their homes on the plantations and businesses that the white ownerships helped them learn before the war, in spite of the laws against education, that would allow all to become a part of the country that they then would had the same opportunities as the rest of the citizenry. They did have the opportunity to become cheap labor for the northern sweatshops along with the immigrants from Europe, while the south was plunged into economic chaos for the next 100 years. Several Northern Generals stationed in North Texas, Fannin and Upshur Counties, were not happy about being stationed in Texas, because of the hostilities visited on them by the ex confederates. It looks as if we are still a little touchy abut the outcome of the war today. John Philip Adams [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Kiracofe Sent: Monday, February 26, 2007 11:32 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Secession and the Constitution What do you mean by "duress?" -- being defeated militarily? compelled to surrender? ordered to repudiate slavery? By that standard, all of the readmissions to the union on the conditions of accepting the 13th and 14th amendments were under duress. I assume the Texans _wanted_ to end the reconstruction, and so came to terms. They didn't have to. DJK David Kiracofe History Tidewater Community College Chesapeake Campus 1428 Cedar Road Chesapeake, Virginia 23322 757-822-5136 >>> John Philip Adams <[log in to unmask]> 02/26/07 9:35 AM >>> Yes, but we were under duress when we agreed to this codicil. Therefore, it was an illegal action, civil statutes, and we as Texans cannot be held to that contract or at least this clause of that agreement. John Philip Adams Baytown, Texas 77520 -----Original Message----- From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sam Treynor Sent: Monday, February 26, 2007 8:22 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Secession and the Constitution I believe Texas forfeited its claim to a right of secession when it was readmitted to the Union. Sam Treynor, Kingwood, Texas -----Original Message----- From: Clara Callahan [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Friday, February 23, 2007 8:01 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Secession and the Constitution Doesn't Texas maintain her right to secede in her constitution? Where's the Texan in this group? David Kiracofe <[log in to unmask]> wrote: I remember reading this essay some time ago and agree with Kevin that the question of perpetual union was not a settled one in 1861. Looking at everything from the Dopctinres of 1798 to the New England Federalists in the 1805-1814 period to the Nullifiers in 1832 and the Massachusetts "personal liberty laws" in the 1850s makes it clear that Lincoln's notion that the states were truly subsumed into one whole was not a universally held one. I always thought it was a telling choice on the part of the founders to depart from the assertion made in the Articles of Confederation which aimed at a "perpetual union" -- the founders were content to aspire merely to a "more perfect union." Lincoln's assertion strikes me as one of his great pieces of political innovation on a par with the new formulations in the Gettysburg Address. Of course in the end, Lincoln and his armies settled the matter of secession with military victory (and then there was a legal decision in, I think ,1867 that finally removed the legal possibility of secession.) The essay is "The Concept of a Perpetual Union," by Kenneth M. Stampp, published in The Journal of American History, Vol. 65, No. 1. (Jun., 1978), pp. 5-33. It is available readily via JSTOR, or in any good academic library. David Kiracofe History Tidewater Community College Chesapeake Campus 1428 Cedar Road Chesapeake, Virginia 23322 757-822-5136 To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.3/700 - Release Date: 2/24/2007 8:14 PM -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.4/702 - Release Date: 2/25/2007 3:16 PM To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html