-
Election of Lincoln
Lincoln was elected president in 1860.The United States had been divided during the 1850s on questions surrounding the expansion of slavery and the rights of slave owners. In 1860, these issues broke the Democratic Party into Northern and Southern factions, and a new Constitutional Union Party appeared. In the face of a divided opposition, the Republican Party, dominant in the North, secured a majority of the electoral votes, putting Abraham Lincoln in the White House with almost no support from -
Texas Secedes from the Union
Texas seceded from the Union in early 1861 and joined the Confederate States of America. Texas was the seventh state to secede and the last to secede before the firing at Fort Sumter signaled the start of the Civil War and forced citizens of the upper South to choose between fighting against or with their Southern brethren. The election of a Republican, Abraham Lincoln, to the presidency of the United States and fears that Republican control of the executive branch would threaten slavery and the -
Houston kicked out of Office
As Governor in 1861, Houston was strongly opposed to the secession of Texas from the Union. Because he was much in the minority on this issue, Houston was removed from office in March of 1861, ending his illustrious carrier in public service. -
Battle at Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter, that started the American Civil War. Following declarations of secession by seven Southern states, South Carolina demanded that the US Army abandon its facilities in Charleston Harbor. On December 26, 1860, Major Robert Anderson of the U.S. Army surrendered Fort Sumpter and the Confederate States won. -
Battle of Galveston
The First Battle of Galveston was a naval engagement fought on October 4, 1862, during early Union attempts to blockade Galveston Harbor. On The Second Battle of Galveston Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder attacked and expelled occupying Union troops from the city of Galveston, Texas. -
Battle of Gettysburg
On June 24, 1863, General Robert E. Lee led his Confederate Army across the Potomac River and headed towards Pennsylvania. In response to this threat President Lincoln replaced his army commander, General Joseph Hooker, with General George Mead. As Lee's troops poured into Pennsylvania, Mead led the Union Army north from Washington. Meade's effort was inadvertently helped by Lee's cavalry commander, Jeb Stuart, who, instead of reporting Union movements to Lee, had gone off on a raid deep in the -
Battle of Sabrine Pass
The Battle of Sabine Pass took place on September 8, 1863, the result of a Union Army expedition into the Confederate state of Texas during the American Civil War. It has often been credited as the most one-sided Confederate victory during the War. -
Red River Campaign
The Red River Campaign or Red River Expedition comprised a series of battles fought along the Red River in Louisiana during the American Civil War from March 10 to May 22, 1864. The campaign was a Union initiative, fought between approximately 30,000 Union troops under the command of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, and Confederate troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor, whose strength varied from 6,000 to 15,000. The campaign was primarily the plan of Union General-in-Chief Henry W. -
Battle of Palmito Ranch
Union and Confederate forces in Southern Texas had been observing an unofficial truce, when Union Colonel Theodore H. Barrett ordered an attack on an enemy camp near Fort Brown, for reasons unknown. Although they took some prisoners, the attack was repulsed the next day by Confederate Col. John Salmon Ford near Palmito Ranch, and the battle is claimed as a Confederate victory. -
End of the Civil War
The Union won the civil war against the Confederates. It lasted from April 12,1861 to April 9, 1865. General Lee surrendered to the Union forces, and ended the war -
Juneteenth
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. With the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance. -
Reconstruction Ends
In the 1870's, violent opposition in the South and the North's retreat from its commitment to equality, resulted in the end of Reconstruction. By 1876, the nation was prepared to abandon its commitment to equality for all citizens regardless of race. As soon as blacks gained the right to vote, secret societies sprang up in the South, devoted to restoring white supremacy in politics and social life
