I don't have the text of the 1867 Reconstruction Act here, but it seems prety clear that the US Congress, in fact, quite consciously stripped the former Confederacy of their rights to be states (hence, Texas was lumped together with Louisiana as Military District Number 5 and Virginia, shorn of her western counties, became District 1). By seceding, the Congress declared, the Confederate states had abdicated their rights. By treating the former Confederacy as "conquered territories," the implicit mesaage (or threat?) was that the conquerors could redraw the lines, or re-constitute the territories as they wished. I imagine it must as crossed some northern minds that they could make such troublesome states as South Carolina simply "disappear." In the end, however, the Congress permitted the states to be re-admitted without suffering dismemberment (excepting Virginia). David Kiracofe 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 11:43 PM >>> 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. To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html